Why did ancient ancestors worship turtles so much? What good moral does it symbolize?

In ancient times, people worshipped turtles for the following reasons: (1) Tortoise symbolizes health and longevity, which has a beautiful meaning; (2) Turtles are used for divination and to measure bad luck; (3) The earliest tortoiseshell is considered as three carriers of writing.

The tortoise symbolizes longevity. In ancient times, people worshipped turtles abnormally. One of the important reasons is that it has the meaning of health and longevity. As the old saying goes: Do pine, cypress, turtle and crane live for a thousand years? Turtles live a long life, which makes people believe that people who worship turtles will live a long life.

Worship of turtles even developed turtle culture. In feudal times, court officials had to wear turtle-shaped bags. Those who have made outstanding contributions will be given a turtle-carrying stone tablet after their death, which is a great honor. At that time, the tortoise was no longer an animal, but an important cultural symbol.

Turtles are used for divination. In ancient times, people were full of doubts about many phenomena in nature. In order to seek explanation and inner peace, religion gradually developed. The main duty of the earliest wizards was divination, predicting the future or bad luck, and turtles were an important tool for divination.

The specific operation is like this. In divination, tortoise shells are burned on the fire, observed when they are cracked, and the luck and the result of things are judged according to the grain. Turtle is the earliest tool for human beings to communicate with God, and its position is very important.

Tortoise shell has been used to record characters since its invention. Tortoise shell is the earliest carrier of writing. Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the earliest writing in China, was carved on tortoise shells by the ancients and became an important tool for the continuation of civilization. From the words recorded on the tortoise shell, we can know the evolution of Chinese characters and how people lived and looked at the world in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Tortoise shell played an important role in this process.

China has always cherished calligraphy, and tortoise shells that also record words will naturally be valued, and the worship of turtles is also inseparable from this. Today, the tortoise still has a beautiful meaning, and works of art and crafts based on the tortoise are still very popular.