Xuanwu, why are turtles and snakes together?

In ancient times, people thought snakes were witty, clever and good at collecting money, and popular belief believed that dreaming snakes predicted money; However, the turtle has hard armor on its abdomen and back, and its head, tail and limbs can be retracted into the armor, so it is hungry and thirsty, and its life span is very long. So these two can be combined.

Xuanwu's original intention is to declare the Ming Dynasty. In ancient times, the words "martial arts" and "ghosts" were interlinked. Xuan means black, and ghost means the underworld. Ancient people in China used black tortoise shells for divination, commonly known as "tortoise divination". Its general meaning is to ask Xuanzang some questions to his ancestors in the underworld, and then bring back the answers and show them to the world in the form of divination. It can be seen that the original Xuanwu refers to a simple black turtle and does not involve snakes.

Because the ancients found that snapping turtles among turtles liked to eat snakes, if they met snakes when crawling, they would go up and fight with them. After winning, the snapping turtle will carry the snake on its back and take it to a hidden place to enjoy food. Inspired by this phenomenon, the ancients derived the simple tortoise pattern of Xuanwu into a pattern of tortoise and snake entangled and fighting at both ends to highlight the bravery of Xuanwu.

Extended data:

Turtles and snakes were regarded as sacred animals in ancient China, symbolizing longevity. Before the Han Dynasty, nobles often wore jade turtles. In Japan, influenced by ancient China, turtle patterns are often used to name and make badges.

The ancients divided twenty-eight lodgings into four groups, namely, seven lodgings in East Black Dragon, seven lodgings in North Xuanwu, seven lodgings in West White Tiger and seven lodgings in South Suzaku. This is a reflection of the totem worship of our ancestors in ancient astronomy. The ancestors regarded the dragon as the length of the scale worm, the phoenix as the king of all birds, the tiger as the length of all beasts, and the turtle as the king of worms, which were collectively called the four spirits. As early as the primitive society, the four spirits have appeared in different tribes as a form of totem worship. On the bronzes of Shang Dynasty, there are often family emblems with these animals as clan names, which is a reflection of totem worship.

From the end of the Spring and Autumn Period to the beginning of the Warring States Period, dragons, phoenixes, tigers and turtles were regarded as "four-sided beasts" and became gods in charge and protection of the four sides. The four spirits are the whole worship representing four directions, and the product of the combination of totem worship, auspicious worship and spiritual worship of ancestors. Among them, the dragon and phoenix totem is a symbol of the magnificent national integration of the Chinese nation, while the turtle and tiger may be a unique totem creatively created according to the thrilling war.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Xuanwu