The four animals protecting the compass directions—the Blue Dragon (seiryū) of the East, the White Tiger (byakko) of the West, the Phoenix (suzaku) of the South, and the Black Turtle-Snake (genbu) of the North—are collectively know as the “Four Deities” (shijin). The ideology behind the four directional animals is thought to have begun during the Warring States period (403–221 B.C.E.) in China when directional constellations took on animal associations. By the following dynasties of the Han, the Three Kingdoms and the Six Dynasties, it had been generally accepted. Well known depictions of the four directional animals have been painted on the walls of Goguryeo (37 B.C.E.–668 C.E) tombs in northern Korea, and on the walls of the Takamatsu tomb in Nara, as well as appearing as relief figures around the dais of the main statute in the Golden Hall at Yakushiji in Nara.