| Bixi | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 TheXi'an Stele (781) is borne by a Bixi in thepedestal. | |||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 贔屭,贔屓 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 赑屃 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Pa-hsia Dragon | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 霸下 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| guifu | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 龜趺 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 龟趺 | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | turtle tablets | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Bí Hí Bá Hạ rùa đội bia | ||||||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 贔屭 霸下 | ||||||||||||
| Chữ Nôm | 𧒌隊碑 | ||||||||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||||||||
| Kanji | 贔屓 | ||||||||||||
| Hiragana | ひき | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Bixi, orBi Xi (Wade–Giles:Pi-hsi), is a figure fromChinese mythology. One of thenine sons of theDragon King,[citation needed] he is depicted as adragon with the shell of aturtle. Stonesculptures of Bixi have been used inChinese culture for centuries as a decorativeplinth for commemorativesteles and tablets,[1] particularly in thefunerary complexes of its lateremperors and to commemorate important events, such as an imperial visit or the anniversary of aWorld War II victory. They are also used at the bases of bridges and archways.[2] Sculptures of Bixi are traditionally rubbed for good luck, which can cause conservation issues.[3] They can be found throughoutEast Asia and theRussian Far East.
The tradition of tortoise-mounted stelae originated no later than early 3rd century (lateHan dynasty).According to the 1957 survey by Chêng Tê-k'un (鄭徳坤), the earliest extant tortoise-borne stele is thought to be the one at the tomb of Fan Min (樊敏), inLushan County,Ya'an,Sichuan.[4]Victor Segalen had earlier identified the stele as aHan dynasty monument. Present-day authors agree, usually giving it the date of 205 AD.[5][6][7]The stele has a rounded top with a dragon design inlow relief - a precursor to the "two intertwined dragons" design that was very common on such steles even in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, over a thousand years later.[4][8]
In the collection of theNanjing Museum there is ahunping funerary jar, dating to 272 AD, with a miniature architectural composition on top, depicting, among other objects, a tortoise carrying a stele erected by theJin dynasty governor ofChangsha in honor of a local dignitary.[9]
Perhaps the best known extant early example of the genre is the set of four stele-bearing tortoises at the mausoleum ofXiao Xiu (475-518), who was the younger brother of the firstLiang dynasty emperorWu (Xiao Yan), nearNanjing.[10][11][12]
Thebixi tradition flourished during theMing andQing dynasties. The Ming founder, theHongwu Emperor, in the first year after the dynasty had been proclaimed (1368), adopted regulations, allowing tortoise-based funerary tablets to thehigher ranks of thenobility and themandarinate. He tightened the rules in 1396, leaving only the highest nobility (those of thegong andhou ranks) and the officials of thetop 3 ranks eligible forbixi-based stelae. The type ofdragons crowning the tortoise-born stele, and the type and number of other statuary at the tomb site, were prescribed by the same regulations as well.[13]
At the Hongwu Emperor'sown mausoleum, a hugebixi holding the so-calledShengde stele welcomes visitors at the Sifangcheng pavilion at the entrance of the mausoleum complex. Three centuries later (1699), theKangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty visited Nanjing and contributed another tortoise, with a stele praising the founder of the Ming, comparing him to the founders of the great Tang and Song dynasties of the past.[14][15]
The Hongwu Emperor's tortoise tradition was continued by the later Ming and Qing emperors,whose mausoleums are usually decorated bybixi-born steles as well.
Even the self-declared emperorYuan Shikai was posthumously honored with abixi-based stele inAnyang,[16] as was theRepublic of China PremierTan Yankai (1880–1930), whose stele nearNanjing'sLinggu Temple had its inscription erased after the Communist Revolution.
Occasionally, a foreign head of state was honored with abixi as well, as it happened to the sultan ofBruneiAbdul Majid Hassan, who died during his visit to China in 1408. Thesultan's grave, with a suitably royalbixi-based monument, was discovered in Yuhuatai District south ofNanjing in 1958.[17]
After anancient Christian stele was unearthed inXi'an in 1625, it, too, was put on the back of a tortoise. In 1907, this so-calledXi'an Stele was moved to theStele Forest Museum along with its tortoise.[18][19]
These days, long-lost bixi continue to be unearthed during archaeological excavations and construction work. Among the most remarkable finds is the discovery of a huge 1200-year-old one inZhengding (Hebei Province) in June 2006. The stone turtle is 8.4 m long, 3.2 m wide, and 2.6 m tall, and weighs 107 tons. It has since been moved to Zhengding'sKaiyuan Temple.[20]
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The concept of a tortoise-borne, dragon-crowned stele was adopted early by China's northern neighbors. The earliest extant monument of theTurkic Kaganate - the so-called "Bugut Stele" of the late 6th century fromArkhangai Province in westernMongolia with aSogdian and (most likely) BrahmiMongolic inscription was installed on a stone tortoise. It is now in the provincial capital,Tsetserleg.[22][23] According to the Turkish researcher Cengiz Alyilmaz, it was the design of this stele that influenced the builders of the important 8th-century stelae withOld Turkic inscriptions, many of which also stood on tortoises.[23][24] Among them, the most accessible one is probablyBayanchur Khan's (Eletmish Bilge Kağan)'sTerhin-Gol stele (753 AD), now in the Mongolian Academy of Sciences inUlan Bator.[25]
Later, theJurchenJin dynasty (1115-1234) and theMongolYuan dynasty erected tortoise-based monuments as well, some of which have been preserved in Russia'sUssuriysk and Mongolia'sKarakorum.
In Japan, this form of tortoise-supported stele is found primarily at the graves of prominentKamakura period (1185–1333) figures, especially in the city ofKamakura. Another large collection of tortoise-borne stelae, spanning the 17th through 19th centuries, can be seen at the cemetery of theTottori Domaindaimyō outsideTottori. Otherwise, the form does not seem to have been particularly popular in earlier or later times.
In Korea, tortoise-borne stelae are known during theThree Kingdoms of Korea period (e.g., the Tombstone of KingMuyeol of Silla, erected 661).[26]Monuments of this type have been preserved from the laterGoryeo dynasty as well, such as theStele of Bongseon Honggyeongsa (1026).[27]
Vietnam also has a long tradition of tortoise-born stelae, where theycommemorate EmperorLê Thái Tổ as well as the graduates of the Confucian academy at Hanoi'sTemple of Literature.
While there is no indigenous tradition of erecting stelae on tortoise-shaped pedestals in the United States, a Qing periodbixi can be seen on the campus ofHarvard University inCambridge, Massachusetts.This bixi was given as a gift to Harvard in 1936 by the members of Harvard Clubs in China; an appropriate text was carved for the occasion on the tablet carried by the tortoise.
According toVictor Segalen's assessment, the early (Han and theSix Dynasties) stone tortoises were artistic images of quite real aquatic turtles.[5] The creatures looked quite realistic through theSong dynasty, when huge tortoise pedestals, such as the ones inShou Qiu nearQufu, or the one inDai Miao atMount Tai, were erected.
The early-Ming specimens, while still definitelychelonian, had sprouted small ears; the sides of their heads and theircarapaces are often decorated by a leaf-like design. They usually have prominent teeth, which real-life turtles don't.[28]By the mid-Qing (the 18th century), however, the stele-bearing tortoise becomes the characteristicdragon-headedbixi.
According to some 19th-century western authors, the Chinese tradition of using a tortoise as a pedestal may have a common source with the Indian legend of the world being held up by a giant turtle.[29]
The wordbi贔 orbixi贔屭 (also written with a variant character,贔屓) is translated by Chinese dictionaries as "strong", "capable to support great weight". The wordbixi is attested already inZhang Heng's (78-139) "Western Metropolis Rhapsody" (Xi Jing Fu), which mentions "the great strides" of the giant divinebixi.[30]Zhang Heng's follower,Zuo Si (250 - 305), in hisWuCapitalRhapsody (Wu Jing Fu), explicitly associates the attributebixi with the legendary giant turtleao, whose head supports a sacred mountain.[31]
The termbixi became associated with the stele-carrying tortoises no later than theMing dynasty. The terminology, however, did not immediately become stable. The earliest known Ming-era list of fantastic creatures appearing in architecture and applied art is given byLu Rong (1436–1494) in hisMiscellaneous records from the bean garden (菽園雜記,Shuyuan zaji). Thebixi, with the syllables swapped (屭贔,xibi), appears in the first position in that list:
Thexibi looks like a tortoise. By its nature it likes to carry heavy weights. It used to be employed to support stone tablets.[32]
Lu Rong claims that his list (including the total of 14 creatures) is based on the ancient books of beasts and supernatural creatures, theShan Hai Jing and theBo Wu Zhi (博物志); however, as the modern researchers Yang Jingrong and Liu Zhixiong note, that is not the case, and the names, much more likely, were taken by Lu Rong from the folklore of his time.[33]
Soon after Lu Rong, the mighty tablet-carrying tortoise appears in various lists of the "Nine children of the Dragons", compiled by several Ming authors. However, bothLi Dongyang (1441–1516), in hisHuai Lu Tang Ji, and Xie Zhaozhe (謝肇淛, 1567–1624), in hisWu Za Zu (五雜俎,Five Assorted Offerings, ca. 1592), refer to the tortoise that carries the stele by the namebaxia (霸下), rather thanbixi; at the same time they apply the namebixi to the "literature-loving" dragons that appear on the sides of the stele:
Thebaxia has an innate love for carrying weights; the creature [that] now [is] under tablets is its image. ... Thebixi has an innate love for literature; the dragons [that] now [are] on the sides of tablets are its image.[34]
The namebixi, however, is given to the table-carrying tortoise in the more popular version of the list of the "Nine Children of the Dragon". In this form of the list, given e.g. byYang Shen (1488–1559), thebixi is given the first position:
Thebixi looks like a tortoise, and likes to carry heavy weights; [he] is the tortoise-carrier (guifu) now [seen] under stone tablets.[35]
It is said that an old legend of the stone tortoise made byLu Ban that went to swim in the ocean every summer, and came back to its seaside hill in the fall, inspiredLu Ji's lines:[36][37]
The stone tortoise cherishes in its heart the love of the sea.
How can I forget my home village?
The opening chapter of the 14th-century novelWater Margin involves Marshal Hong releasing 108 spirits imprisoned under an ancient stele-bearing tortoise.[38]
Abixi plays a key role in a ghost story, "The Spirit of the Stone Tortoise" (贔屭精,Bixi jing), fromYuan Mei's (1716–1797) collectionWhat the Master does not Speak of.[39]
The French poet and researcherVictor Segalen (1878–1919), who published both a scholarly book about China's stelae[40] and a book of poetry-in-prose about them,[41]was also impressed by the "truly emblematic" stone tortoises, their "firm gestures andelegiac posture".[42]
Today, the image of thebixi continues to inspire modern Chinese artists.[43]
As with other stone (particularly, marble and limestone) statuary,bixi turtles and their stelae are vulnerable toacid rain (or, in winter, acid snow). On the Harvard University campus, the curators ofits turtle protect it against "acid snow" by wrapping it with a waterproof cover for the winter.[44]
A morebixi-specific concern is the wear to the creatures' noses from the people who touch them for good luck. At Hanoi'sTemple of Literature, highly popular with visitors, this has become a sufficient concern to the site's managers as to make them develop plans for introducing creative landscaping and structural obstacles to keep visitors from touching the temple's 82 stone turtles.[28][45]
The conception is probably derived from the same source with that of the Hindoo legend of the tortoise supporting an elephant, on whose back the existing world reposes. Mayers is also quoted in:Williams, Charles Alfred Speed (1988) [1941],Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs: An Alphabetical Compendium of Antique Legends and Beliefs, as Reflected in the Manners and Customs of the Chinese, Tuttle Publishing, p. 405,ISBN 0-8048-1586-0
綴以二華，巨靈贔屓，高掌遠蹠，以流河曲，厥跡猶存. Quoted also inYang Jingrong and Liu Zhixiong (2008)
巨鼇贔屓，首冠靈山(GiantAobixi [i.e. 'mighty'], [his] head holds up a sacred mountain). Quoted also inYang Jingrong and Liu Zhixiong (2008)
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