Black Tortoise

This article is about Chinese constellations. For the actual turtles, seeIndian black turtle.

Black Tortoise
The Black Tortoise depicted on a Chinese tile
Chinese name
Chinese	Huyền Vũ
Literal meaning	Mysterious ~ Dark ~ Black Warrior
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization yun4 mou5 Southern Min HokkienPOJ gôan-bú
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese Alpha bet	Huyền Vũ
Chữ Hán	Huyền Vũ
Korean name
Hangul	현무
Hanja	Huyền Vũ
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Hyeon-mu
Japanese name
Kanji	Huyền Vũ
Hiragana	げんぶ
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Genbu Kunrei-shiki Genbu

Black Warrior of the North
A copper Black Tortoise from theYongle eraof theMing dynasty(early 15th century)
Chinese	Phương bắc Huyền Vũ
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Běifāng Xuánwǔ

TheBlack Tortoiseis one of theFour Symbolsof theChinese constellations.It is usually depicted as atortoiseintertwined with asnake.The character ' võ ' can mean 'martial' or 'warrior.' The two characters huyền and võ do not have any literal meaning of tortoise and snake. But both tortoise and snake are known to hibernate during winter. The image of intertwined tortoise and snake likely symbolizes a state of inner struggleor a state of hibernation, and thus implies the season of winter. So the English translationBlack ~ Dark ~ Mysterious Warrioris a more faithful translation.

It represents thenorthand thewinterseason, thus it is sometimes calledBlack Warrior of the North(Chinese:Phương bắc Huyền Vũ;pinyin:Běifāng Xuánwǔ).

In Japan, the characters Huyền Vũ are pronounced asGenbu.It is said to protectKyotoon 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 Mt Funaoka in Kyoto.

An importantTaoistpriest also has Huyền VũXuanwuas his clergy name. He is sometimes (as inJourney to the West) portrayed in the company of a turtle and a snake.

History

During theHan dynasty,people often worejadependants 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 palaceswere often named after the Xuanwu. Most famously, theIncident at Xuanwu Gate,whereLi Shiminkilled his brothersJianchengandYuanjiand seized power in a coup, took place at the north gate of theTaiji Palace,in the north ofChang'an.

Legends

Black Tortoise with Snake. Southern Dynasties Brick Relief 11.

In ancientChina,thetortoiseand theserpentwere thought to be spiritual creatures symbolizing longevity. TheMin peoplecustom of buildingturtle-shaped tombsmay have had to do with the desire to place the grave under the influence of the Black Tortoise.

Xuanwu

Xuanwu subduing the tortoise. Wudang Palace,Yangzhou.

Main article:Xuanwu (god)

See also:Chinese alchemy

In theclassic novelJourney to the West,Xuanwuwas 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 MountainsofHubeiand there are now a "Tortoise Mountain" and a "Snake Mountain" on opposite sides of a river nearWuhan,Hubei's capital.Taoist legendhas 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 legendsalso 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 godthen 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 demonsand 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,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.

Seven Mansions of the Black Tortoise

As with the other threeSymbols,there are seven astrological "Mansions" (positions of theMoon) within the Black Tortoise. The names and determinative stars are:

Mansion no.	Name	Pinyin	Translation	Determinative star
8	Đấu	Dǒu	(Southern)Dipper	φ Sgr
9	Ngưu	Niú	Ox	β Cap
10	Nữ	Nǚ	Girl	ε Aqr
11	Hư	Xū	Emptiness	β Aqr
12	Nguy	Wēi	Rooftop	α Aqr
13	Thất	Shì	Encampment	α Peg
14	Vách tường	Bì	Wall	γ Peg

A characteristic "turtle-back tomb"inQuanzhou,Fu gian

See also

• Ao- the great turtle of early Chinese mythology
• Bixi- the son of theDragon Kingwho supports Chinesestelæ
• Cetus in Chinese astronomy-Cetusand Black Tortoise correspond onastrology,and both creatures possess affinities to waters and travel to underworlds to guide people
• Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden
• Gamera- the fictionalkaijubeing repeatedly referenced to the Black Tortoise

External links

• "Star Charts and Moon Stations"
• The Black Tortoise of the North