Editing Cardinal direction (section)

==Cultural variations==
In many regions of the world, prevalent winds change direction seasonally, and consequently many cultures associate specific named [[wind]]s with cardinal and intercardinal directions. For example, [[Ancient Greece|classical Greek culture]] characterized these winds as [[Anemoi]].

In [[Modern history#Pre-modern|pre-modern]] Europe more generally, between eight and 32 [[points of the compass]] – cardinal and intercardinal directions – were given names. These often corresponded to the directional winds of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] (for example, southeast was linked to the ''[[Sirocco]]'', a wind from the Sahara).

Particular [[color]]s are associated in some traditions with the cardinal points. These are typically "[[Basic Color Terms|natural colors]]" of human perception rather than optical [[primary color]]s.{{vague|date=December 2016}}

Many cultures, especially in [[Asia]], include the center as a '''fifth cardinal point'''.

===Northern Eurasia===

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-right:0; margin-left:1em"
!Northern Eurasia !!width="30"| N !!width="30"| E !!width="30"| S !!width="30"| W !!width="30"| C !! Source
|-
| [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]]
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#009246"|
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|align="center" | —
|<ref>Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedic dictionary, Kiev, 1987.</ref>
|-
| China
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#fec200"|
| <ref name="ChiTra">
  {{Cite web 
 |url=http://www.colorsystem.com/projekte/engl/63chie.htm 
 |title=Cardinal colors in Chinese tradition 
 |access-date=2007-02-17 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221184205/http://www.colorsystem.com/projekte/engl/63chie.htm 
 |archive-date=21 February 2007 
 }}</ref><ref name="ChiCo"/><ref name="Nickel2004">{{cite journal |title=Black against white: What color was King Arthur's horse? |author=Helmut Nickel |journal=Arthuriana |volume=14 |number=2 |date=2004 |pages=69–72 |doi=10.1353/art.2004.0089 |jstor=27870606 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27870606|url-access=subscription }} Nickel also claims that at the 201 BC [[battle of Baideng]], [[Modu Chanyu|Mo-tun]]'s cavalry were segregated by color: "red (brown) horses formed the vanguard, blacks the rear, whites the right wing, greys (the closest to blue) the left [... and] in the center of the trap the hapless Chinese emperor, whose sacred color was the Imperial yellow." Nickel cites {{cite journal |author=I.P. Potapov |title=Uber den Pferdekult bei den turksprachigen Volkern des Sajan-Altai-Gebirges |journal=Abhandlungen und Berichte des Staatlichen Museums für Volkerkunde Dresden |volume=34 |date=1975 |page=486}}</ref>
|-
| [[Ainu people|Ainu]]
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#fec200"|
| <ref name="CofD">{{Cite web
  | url = http://sites.google.com/site/colorsofthefourdirections/
  | title = Colors of the Four Directions
  | access-date = 2010-05-16
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100913042259/http://sites.google.com/site/colorsofthefourdirections/
  | archive-date = 13 September 2010
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref><ref name="McNeill">
  {{cite journal |title=Review: 'Two Studies of Color' by Nancy P. Hickerson |author=Nobuko B. McNeill |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=48 |number=3 |date=July 1982 |pages=339–342 |doi=10.1086/465744 |jstor=1264798 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1264798 |quote=In Ainu [...] ''siwnin'' means both 'yellow' and 'blue' and ''hu'' means 'green' and 'red'.|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
|-
| [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]]
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#009246"|
| <ref name="CofD"/>
|-
| [[Kalmyk people|Kalmyks]]
|style="background:#fec200"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|align="center" | —
| <ref>Krupp, E. C.: "Beyond the Blue Horizon: Myths and Legends of the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Planets", page 371. Oxford University Press, 1992</ref>
|-
| [[Tibet]]
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|style="background:#fec200"|
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#009246"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
| <ref name="CofD"/>
|}
[[Central Asia]]n, [[Eastern Europe]]an and [[North East Asia]]n cultures frequently have traditions associating colors with four or five cardinal points.

Systems with five cardinal points (four directions and the center) include those from [[Dynasties in Chinese history|pre-modern China]], as well as traditional [[Turkic culture|Turkic]], [[Tibetan culture|Tibetan]] and [[Ainu culture|Ainu]] cultures. In Chinese tradition, the five cardinal point system is related to [[I Ching]], the [[Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)|Wu Xing]] and the five [[naked-eye planet]]s. In traditional [[Chinese astrology]], the zodiacal belt is divided into the [[Four Symbols (Chinese constellation)|four constellation groups]] corresponding to the directions.

Each direction is often identified with a color, and (at least in China) with a [[Four Symbols (Chinese constellation)|mythological creature of that color]]. Geographical or ethnic terms may contain the name of the color instead of the name of the corresponding direction.<ref name="ChiTra"/><ref name="ChiCo">{{Cite web |url=http://ignca.nic.in/ps_01005.htm |title=Chinese Cosmogony |access-date=2007-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218044531/http://ignca.nic.in/ps_01005.htm |archive-date=18 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Examples====
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2019}}
'''East:''' [[Green]] ([[wikt:青|青]] "qīng" corresponds to both green and blue); Spring; [[Wood (classical element)|Wood]]
:[[Qingdao]] (Tsingtao): "Green Island", a city on the east coast of China
:[[Green Ukraine]]

'''South:''' [[Red]]; Summer; [[Fire (classical element)|Fire]]
:[[Red River (Asia)]]: south of China
:[[Red Ruthenia]]
:[[Red Jews]]: a semi-mythological group of Jews{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}
:[[Red Croatia]]
:[[Red Sea]]

'''West:''' [[White]]; Autumn; [[Metal (classical element)|Metal]]
:[[Ak Koyunlu|White Sheep Turkmen]]
:[[Akdeniz]], meaning 'White Sea': [[Mediterranean Sea]] in [[Turkish language|Turkish]]
:[[Balts]], [[Baltic languages|Baltic]] words containing the stem ''balt-'' ("white")
:[[Belarus]], meaning 'White Russia'
:[[White Ruthenia]]
:[[White Serbia]]
:[[White Croatia]]

'''North:''' [[Black]]; Winter; [[Water (classical element)|Water]]
:[[Heilongjiang]]: "Black Dragon River" province in [[Northeast China]], also the [[Amur River]]
:[[Kara-Khitan Khanate]]: "Black Khitans" who originated in Northern China
:[[Karadeniz]], literally meaning 'Black Sea': [[Black Sea]] in [[Turkish language|Turkish]]
:[[Black Hungarians]]
:[[Black Ruthenia]]

'''Center:''' [[Yellow]]; [[Earth (classical element)|Earth]]
:[[Huangshan]]: "Yellow Mountain" in central China
:[[Huang He]]: "Yellow River" in central China
:[[Golden Horde]]: "Central Army" of the Mongols

=== Arabic world ===
Countries where Arabic is used refer to the cardinal directions as ''Ash Shamal'' (N), ''Al Gharb'' (W), ''Ash Sharq'' (E) and ''Al Janoob'' (S). Additionally, ''Al Wusta'' is used for the center. All five are used for geographic subdivision names (''[[wilayah]]s'', states, regions, governorates, provinces, districts or even towns), and some are the origin of some Southern Iberian place names (such as [[Algarve]], Portugal and [[Axarquía]], Spain).

===North America===
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-right:0; margin-left:1em"
!North America !!width="30"| E !!width="30"| N !!width="30"| W !!width="30"| S !!width="30"| C !! Source
|-
| [[Anishinaabe]]
|style="background:#fec200"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|align="center" | —
|<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pitawanakwat |first1=Lillian |title=Ojibwe/Potawatomi (Anishinabe) Teaching |url=https://fourdirectionsteachings.com/transcripts/ojibwe.html |website=Four Directions Teachings |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Apache]]
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#fec200"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|align="center" | —
|<ref>{{cite web |title=Our Language: The Meaning of Our Apache Name "Lipan" |url=https://www.lipanapache.org/LAT/e-name.html |website=Official Website of the Lipan Apache Tribe |publisher=Lipan Apache Tribe |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Aztecs]]
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|align="center" | —
| <ref>{{cite web |title=What was the symbolism of the four directions? |url=https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/ask-us/what-was-the-symbolism-of-the-four-directions |website=Mexilore |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Iowa people|Báxoje]]
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|style="background:#009246"|
|align="center" | —
| <ref>{{cite web |title=Colors and Directions |url=https://ioway.nativeweb.org/culture/colors_and_directions.htm |publisher=Ioway Cultural Institute |department=Baxoje, the Ioway Nation |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Cherokee]]
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#009246"|
| <ref>{{cite web |title=Sacred Colors |url=https://www.northerncherokeenation.com/sacred-colors.html |website=Northern Cherokee Nation |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Cheyenne]]
|style="background:#fec200"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#000000"|
|align="center" | —
| <ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Hodge |editor1-first=Frederick W. |title=The North American Indian: Volume 19 |page=20 |url=http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/viewpdf/default.aspx?article-title=The%20Southern%20Cheyenne.pdf |access-date=21 October 2024 |chapter=The Southern Cheyenne}}</ref>
|-
| [[Lakota people|Lakota]]
|style="background:#fec200"|
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|align="center" | —
| <ref>{{cite web |title=Native American Four Directions |url=https://aktalakota.stjo.org/lakota-culture/native-american-four-directions/ |website=Aktá Lakota |publisher=Aktá Lakota Museum & Cultural Center |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Maya peoples|Maya]]
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#fec200"|
|style="background:#009246"|
| <ref>{{cite web |last1=Hopkins |first1=Nicholas A. |last2=Josserand |first2=J. Kathryn |title=Directions and Partitions in Maya World View |url=http://www.famsi.org/research/hopkins/DirectionalPartitions.pdf |publisher=Florida State University |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Navajo]]
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#fec200"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|align="center" | —
| <ref>{{cite web |last1=Carey Jr |first1=Harold |title=The Navajo Four Sacred Colors |url=https://navajopeople.org/blog/the-navajo-four-sacred-colors/ |website=Navajo People |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Puebloans]]
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#fec200"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|align="center" | —
| <ref>{{cite book |last1=Roediger |first1=Virginia More |title=Ceremonial Costumes of the Pueblo Indians: Their Evolution, Fabrication, and Significance in the Prayer Drama |date=1991 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA, USA |page=93 |url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft8870087s&chunk.id=d0e1699&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e1688&brand=ucpress#:~:text=Colors%20were%20related%20to%20the,and%20black%20to%20the%20nadir. |chapter=Color}}</ref>
|-
| [[Purépecha]]
|style="background:#bc1e47"|
|style="background:#fec200"|
|style="background:#ffffff"|
|style="background:#000000"|
|style="background:#0081cd"|
| 
|}
In [[Mesoamerica]] and [[North America]], a number of traditional [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous]] cosmologies include four cardinal directions and a center. Some may also include "above" and "below" as directions, and therefore focus on a cosmology of seven directions. For example, among the [[Hopi]] of the [[Southwestern United States]], the four named cardinal directions are not North, South, East and West but are the four directions associated with the places of sunrise and sunset at the winter and summer solstices.<ref name = "Hopi_Dictionary">{{citation |author=Hopi Dictionary Project (University of Arizona Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology)|year=1998|title=Hopi dictionary: Hopìikwa Lavàytutuveni: A Hopi-English dictionary of the Third Mesa dialect with an English-Hopi finder list and a sketch of Hopi grammar|location=Tucson, Arizona|publisher=[[University of Arizona Press]] | page = 890 | isbn=978-0-8165-1789-3 | quote = '''The cardinal directions''' … are "solstitial" in that places on the horizon of sunrise and sunset on the solstices correlate with these directions: On the summer solstice the sun rises in the northeast, ''hoop'', and sets in the northwest, ''kwiningya''; on the winter solstice the sun rises in the southeast, ''tatkya'', and sets in the southwest, ''taavang''. | url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/hopidictionaryho0000unse}}</ref><ref name = "Hopi_Raum"/><ref>{{Citation | last = Curtis | first = Edward S. | author-link = Edward S. Curtis | editor-last = Hodge | editor-first = Frederick Webb | editor-link = Frederick Webb Hodge | year = 1922 | title = The Hopi | series = The North American Indian | volume = 12 | publisher = The Plimpton Press | publication-place = Norwood, Mass. | page = 246 | url = http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/curtis/viewPage.cgi?showp=1&size=2&id=nai.12.book.00000333&volume=12#nav | access-date = 23 August 2014 | quote = Hopi orientation corresponds only approximately with ours, their cardinal points being marked by the solstitial rising and setting points of the sun.... Their cardinal points therefore are not mutually equidistant on the horizon and agree roughly with our semi-cardinal points. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222155759/http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/curtis/viewPage.cgi?showp=1&size=2&id=nai.12.book.00000333&volume=12#nav | archive-date = 22 December 2015 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{ Citation | last = Fewkes | first = Jesse Walter | author-link = Jesse Walter Fewkes | date = 1897 | title = The Group of Tusayan Ceremonials Called Katcinas | periodical = Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology | volume = 15 | publisher = Government Printing Office | place = Washington, DC | page = 258 | url = https://archive.org/details/tusayankatcinas00fewk/page/258/mode/1up?q=cardinal | accessdate = 22 August 2022 | quote = The names of the four horizon cardinal points are, kwiniwi, northwest; tevyü'ña, southwest; tatyúka, southeast, and hopokyüka (syncopated hópoko), northeast. }}</ref> Each direction may be associated with a color, which can vary widely between nations, but which is usually one of the basic colors found in nature and natural pigments, such as black, red, white, and yellow, with occasional appearances of blue, green, or other hues.<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Anderson | first1 = Kasper Wrem | last2 = Helmke | first2 = Christophe | year = 2013 | title = The Personifications of Celestial Water: The Many Guises of the Storm God in the Pantheon and Cosmology of Teotihuacan | journal = Contributions in New World Archaeology | volume = 5 | pages = 177–179}}</ref> There can be great variety in color symbolism, even among cultures that are close neighbors geographically.

===India===
Ten [[Hindu deities]], known as the "[[Guardians of the directions|Dikpālas]]", have been recognized in classical Indian scriptures, symbolizing the four cardinal and four intercardinal directions with the additional directions of [[zenith|up]] and [[nadir|down]]. Each of the ten directions has its own name in [[Sanskrit]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mahavidya.ca/2016/04/22/the-dikpalas/|title=The Dikpalas|date=22 April 2016|author=H. Rodrigues|website=mahavidya.ca|access-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812181751/http://www.mahavidya.ca/2016/04/22/the-dikpalas/|archive-date=12 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Indigenous Australia===
Some [[indigenous Australians]] have cardinal directions deeply embedded in their culture. For example, the [[Warlpiri people]] have a cultural philosophy deeply connected to the four cardinal directions<ref>''Ngurra-kurlu: A way of working with Warlpiri people'' Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu WJ, Holmes M and Box L. 2008, Desert Knowledge CRC Report 41, Alice Springs</ref> and the [[Guugu Yimithirr people]] use cardinal directions rather than [[relative direction]] even when indicating the position of an object close to their body. (For more information, see: [[Body relative direction#Cultures without relative directions|Cultures without relative directions]].)

The precise direction of the cardinal points appears to be important in [[Aboriginal stone arrangement]]s.

Many aboriginal languages contain words for the usual four cardinal directions, but some contain words for 5 or even 6 cardinal directions.<ref>Orientations of linear stone arrangements in New South Wales [http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris/papers/n278.pdf Hamacher et al., 2013, Australian Archaeology, 75, 46–54] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617045058/http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris/papers/n278.pdf |date=17 June 2013 }}</ref>