| Black Turtle-Snake | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The Black Tortoise depicted on a Chinese tile | |||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 玄武 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Mysterious ~ Dark ~ Black Warrior | ||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Huyền Vũ | ||||||||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 玄武 | ||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 현무 | ||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 玄武 | ||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 玄武 | ||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | げんぶ | ||||||||||||||
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| Black Warrior of the North | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A copper Black Tortoise from theYongle era of theMing dynasty (early 15th century) | |||||||
| Chinese | 北方玄武 | ||||||
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TheBlack Tortoise (Chinese:玄武;pinyin:Xuánwǔ) is one of theFour Symbols of theChinese constellations. It is usually depicted as a tortoise intertwined with asnake.[1]
According toEastern Han philologistXu Shen, the characterwu (武) meant "knight" (士;shì ) in theJianghuai dialect.[2] So the English translationBlack ~ Dark ~ Mysterious Warrior is a more faithful translation.[3][4]
It represents thenorth, thus it is sometimes calledBlack Warrior of the North (北方玄武;Běifāng Xuánwǔ).
While neither characterxuan (玄) orwu (武) literally means tortoise or snake, tortoises and snakes are known to hibernate during winter, soxuanwu (玄武) as a whole represents the season of winter.
The image of intertwined tortoise and snake likely symbolizes a state of inner struggle.[citation needed]
In Japan, the charactersxuanwu (玄武) are pronounced asGenbu. It is said to protectKyoto on the north side, being one of the four guardian spirits that protect the city. It is represented by theKenkun Shrine, which is located on top of Mount Funaoka in Kyoto.
An importantTaoist priest also hasXuanwu (玄武) as his clergy name. He is sometimes, as inJourney to the West, portrayed in the company of a turtle and a snake.
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During theHan dynasty, people often worejade pendants that were in the shape of turtles. Originally, there was a legend that said that turtles could not mate with other turtles, only snakes. This is why the Black Tortoise is depicted with a snake on its back.
The northern gates ofChinese palaces were often named after the Xuanwu. Most famously, theIncident at Xuanwu Gate, whereLi Shimin killed his brothersJiancheng andYuanji and seized power in a coup, took place at the north gate of theTaiji Palace, in the north ofChang'an.
In ancientChina, the tortoise and the serpent were thought to be spiritual creatures symbolizing longevity. TheMin people custom of buildingturtle-shaped tombs may have had to do with the desire to place the grave under the influence of the Black Tortoise.[5][6]
In theclassic novelJourney to the West,Xuanwu was a king of the north who had two generals serving under him, a "Tortoise General" and a "Snake General". This god had a temple in theWudang Mountains ofHubei, and there are now a "Tortoise Mountain" and a "Snake Mountain" on opposite sides of a river nearWuhan, Hubei's capital.Taoist legend has it that Xuanwu was the prince of a Chinese ruler but was not interested in taking the throne, opting instead to leave his parents at age 16 and study Taoism. According to the legend, he eventually achieved divine status and was worshiped as a deity of the northern sky.
Other Chinese legends[citation needed] also speak of how the "Tortoise General" and a "Snake General" came to be. During Xuanwu's study to achieve enlightenment and divine status, he was told that, in order to fully achieve divinity, he must purge all human flesh from his body. Since he had always eaten thefood of the world, despite all his efforts, his stomach and intestines were still human. A god[which?] then came and changed his organs with divine ones. Once removed, the original stomach and intestines were said to have become a tortoise and a snake, respectively. The tortoise and snake became demons[citation needed] and terrorized people. Now divine, Xuanwu heard of this and returned to slay the monsters he had unleashed on the countryside. However, as the snake and tortoise showed remorse, he did not kill them but instead let them train under him to atone for their wrongdoings. They then became the Tortoise and Snake generals and assisted Xuanwu with his quests (another legend held that the mortal organs were tossed out to become Wuhan's Tortoise and Snake mountains).
According to another source,[citation needed] once Xuanwu had begun his study of theWay, he discovered that he must purge himself of all of his past sins to become a god. He learned to achieve this by washing his stomach and intestines in the river. Washing his internal organs, his sins dissolved into the water in a dark, black form. These then formed into a black tortoise and a snake who terrorized the country. Once Xuanwu learned of this, he returned to subdue them as in the other story.
As with the other threeSymbols, there are seven astrological "Mansions" (positions of the Moon) within the Black Tortoise. The names and determinative stars are:[7][8]
| Mansion no. | Name | Pinyin | Translation | Determinative star |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 斗 | Dǒu | (Southern)Dipper | φ Sgr |
| 9 | 牛 | Niú | Ox | β Cap |
| 10 | 女 | Nǚ | Girl | ε Aqr |
| 11 | 虛 | Xū | Emptiness | β Aqr |
| 12 | 危 | Wēi | Rooftop | α Aqr |
| 13 | 室 | Shì | Encampment | α Peg |
| 14 | 壁 | Bì | Wall | γ Peg |
The four beasts are Qing Long (Azure Dragon), the guardian of the East; Bai Hu (White Tiger), the guardian of the West; Zhu Que (Vermilion Bird), the guardian of the South; andXuan Wu (Black Warrior), the guardian of the North. This quartet originated from the 28 xingxiu ("mansions") in the Chinese constellation system.
