东南西北中

東南西北中
dōngnánxīběizhōng
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 the five directions: east, south, west, north, and center
  2. 2 (by extension) every direction; everywhere

Examples

Dōng nán xī běi zhōng, wǔ fāng zhī shén gè sī qí zhí.
East, south, west, north, and center — the gods of the five directions each have their duties.
Májiàng lǐ dōng nán xī běi zhōng shì jīběn pái.
In mahjong, East-South-West-North-Center are basic tiles.

Tips

culture
The cosmology adds (center) to the four cardinal directions, mapping to the 五行 (Five Phases): wood/east, fire/south, metal/west, water/north, earth/center. Mahjong's wind tiles 东南西北 are this set minus , with reappearing in the dragon tiles .

Stroke Order

dōng
nán
西
běi
zhōng