"What's the connection between turtles and humans?

Turtles have lived on the earth for more than 200 million years and are one of the oldest animals. In ancient China, people called dragons, phoenixes, forests and turtles "Four Spirits", among which the first three were all imagined by people, and only turtles were real reptiles, turtles and turtles.

As early as primitive society, turtles were worshipped as totems of tribal clans. In the long history of mankind, the ancients used burning tortoise shells to split them into various "tortoise elephants" to predict good or bad luck. Since the Shang Dynasty, all major events, such as the celebration of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the emperor's accession to the throne, expeditions, sacrifices, etc. , through the crack of tortoise shell divination, its content was carved into words with a knife and passed on to future generations, forming the earliest tangible writing in China-Oracle Bone Inscriptions. This is an extremely precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. The emperor of the Han Dynasty gave the princes, prime ministers and generals gold seals, the seals (handles) were turtle-shaped, the military symbols for mobilizing troops were also called "turtle symbols", and the "turtle ding" was cast as a national instrument. In the Tang Dynasty, the dress of officials with more than five products was decorated with turtles, and tortoise shells were used as currency.

In the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, stone turtles were carved in temples and emperors' mourning halls to suppress evil spirits, to show that auspicious turtles were long-lived animals. Because turtles are the most tenacious animals, they are resistant to hunger, hypoxia, infection and diseases, so their life span can generally reach 1000 years old, and it is not uncommon for old turtles to be over1000 years old. Hubei Wuchang Park once collected a yellow-banded scarab from Shennongjia, with a total length of 1.4m and a weight of over 30kg. According to experts' estimation, it is about 3200 years old, so it can be called the "longevity star" in the animal kingdom. Therefore, people use "turtle age" as a metaphor to praise respected old people. Birthdays are often presented with plaques such as "Common Birthday for Tortoise and Crane" or "Common Birthday for Tortoise and Crane", which are more precious than any other gifts.

Turtles have spirituality and feelings. The turtle itself is a timid animal, but the domestic turtle can approach its owner actively and express feelings such as happiness and begging. Reunion after a long separation is even more reluctant. According to reports, the story of turtles released for many years going home to "visit relatives"; Ding Wencang, Ding Cun, Beizhang Township, Feixi County, Anhui Province, has been going home to visit relatives every spring for 77 years since his father bought an injured turtle from the market at the age of 7. There are also legendary stories such as "Strange Tortoise shed tears to thank benefactor" in Tianjin, "Old Tortoise waved" in Shenyang, "Sailor Searching for a Turtle in a Hundred Miles", "Old Tortoise had an operation in tears" and "Old Tortoise knew the way".

Turtle is a kind of precious animal beneficial to human beings, which integrates ornamental, edible and medicinal functions. Carassius auratus is tender, crisp, nutritious, high in protein, low in fat, low in calories and cholesterol, and it is a good food therapy product. Tortoise shell is a traditional precious Chinese herbal medicine, and its head, blood and organs are all used as medicine. It has many functions such as nourishing yin and tonifying kidney, clearing away heat and removing dampness, strengthening stomach and bones, strengthening body and tonifying deficiency. Has remarkable curative effect on asthma, tracheitis, tumor and various gynecological diseases. In particular, turtle blood has a special effect of inhibiting cancer cells, and the special longevity cells that make up turtle body can help people prolong life. There are 37 species of turtles in China, belonging to 5 families 18 genera, including 7 species of national first-class protected animals (tortoise with four claws) 1 species. In recent years, some rare species, such as snapping turtles, have been introduced from overseas. People usually regard turtles as the representative names of more than 30 kinds of turtles. In fact, turtle is a kind of turtle in the family Tortoise, also called grass turtle or mud turtle.