What does the tortoise symbolize?

The tortoise is considered as a symbol of good luck.

In the traditional culture of China, myths and stories related to turtles abound. For example, in the myth of the goddess mending the sky, "a broken turtle is enough to stand four poles"; In the well-known story of Dayu's water control throughout the ages, "Yuan Gui is behind"; Guo Pu in Jin Dynasty said "ten friends and ten turtles" in Er Ya Gui Zan, and so on. The ancients always regarded Lin, phoenix, dragon and turtle as the four spirits of the world. Song Dynasty's Notes to Thirteen Classics says: "Like things, there are elephants in the sky ... Lin, phoenix, dragon and turtle are collectively called the Four Spirits."

The ancients always regarded the tortoise as a symbol of good luck. Many clans and tribes regard the turtle as their national emblem and consider it their ancestor and protector, so the turtle has become the supreme sacred thing in people's minds, and the turtle pattern has become the most auspicious pattern. During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the Shang Dynasty cast tortoise patterns on bronzes. Before the Song Dynasty, there were turtle crafts in the hall, which were used for weddings, childbirth, birthday celebrations, building houses and other festive occasions.

The ancient currency was called turtle currency; During the Warring States period, the flags of generals were decorated with turtles; The gold seal pliers used by big officials in the Han dynasty are all turtle-shaped; In the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian deliberately changed the official's purse from fish-shaped to turtle-shaped, and the troops were also copper-turtle-shaped. Tortoise shell was also used by the ancients for divination. Among them, The Book of Rites on Quli said: "The tortoise is divination, and the strategy is divination", which is an indispensable thing in ancient people's life.

Turtle (Chincmys reevesii? ) is one of the turtles. Sometimes specific? Turtles are also called golden turtles, grass turtles, mud turtles and mountain turtles. Taxonomically, it belongs to reptiles, turtles and turtles, and is one of the common turtles. This is an ancient reptile. Its characteristic is that its shell is very strong. When attacked, turtles can retract their heads, tails and limbs into their shells (except turtles and snapping turtles).

Most sea turtles are carnivores, feeding on worms, snails, shrimp and small fish, as well as stems and leaves of plants. Turtles are distributed almost everywhere in China, but the yield in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is higher. It is also produced in various parts of Guangxi and Shandong, especially in southeastern and southern Guangxi. Foreign countries are mainly distributed in Japan, Brazil and North Korea.

This species has been listed in Appendix III of CITES and the List of Terrestrial Wild Animals with National Key Protection or Important Economic and Scientific Research Value issued by China State Forestry Administration in August 2000 1.

Extended data:

Turtle is a temperature-changing animal, and its life is greatly affected by the environmental temperature. 165438+ 10 to March of the following year, when the temperature is below 10℃, the tortoise still lies in the mud at the bottom of the pond or in the loose soil covered with straw, and hibernates without eating. At this time, its metabolism is very slow and weak.

It was not until early April that the temperature rose above 15℃ that the turtles began to resume their activities, eating a lot, and they did not need to feed food or change water during hibernation. The main work in this period is to keep warm, such as covering the open space around the pool and between the pool and the fence with straw; The second is to prevent tortoises from being attacked by natural enemies.

Before hibernation 10 days or so, turtles are not allowed to eat, so that the feces in the body can be discharged. When it completely goes into hibernation, just cover it with a wet towel and put it in a quiet place.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-tortoise