Basalt of the Four Spirit Holy Beasts

Xuanwu, also known as "Zhenwu" and commonly known as "Zhenwu Emperor", is a spiritual object composed of turtles and snakes and a god worshipped by Taoism. Xuanwu, the god of the north in ancient mythology, is located in the north for seven nights: fighting, cattle, women, air, danger, houses and walls.

Its five elements naturally belong to water, and there are also snakehead turtles or leading turtles in mythology.

Xuanwu originally meant Xuanming, and the ancient sounds of Wu and Ming are interlinked. Wu means black; Ghost means yin. At first, Xuan Ming described the turtle divination as follows: the turtle's back is black, and the turtle divination first invited the turtle to ask questions in the underworld, brought back the answers and showed them to the world in the form of divination. Therefore, the earliest Xuanwu is the tortoise. Since then, the meaning of Xuanming has been expanding. Turtles live in rivers, lakes and seas (including turtles), so Xuan Ming became a water god; The tortoise lives long, and Xuan Ming has become a symbol of immortality; It turned out that the underworld was in the north, and the divination of Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty was' its divination will be in the north', so Xuan Ming became a northern god again.

Xuanwu is also said to be a big turtle in the North Sea. This turtle was once used as a pillar to support the whole Penglai Fairy Mountain. Because of its profound spiritual awareness, after years of hearing and seeing, it finally came to fruition. Therefore, there are many tortoise-borne tablets in the imperial mausoleum, which is the secret of Xuanwu. In addition, Xuanwu is also called Xuanming, so it is also called Beiming. Hearing this name, it is estimated that many readers will associate it with Bei Ming's return to the sea and the magical power of Bei Ming, whose characters are carefree in Mr. Jin Yong's works.

However, people after ancient times have the following explanations for Xuanwu. Xuanwu' is a tortoise.

"Book of Rites. "Quli Shang" says:' Zhu bird before departure, then Xuanwu ...'' Xuanwu' is a tortoise and snake.

Supplementary Notes on Hong Xingzu's Songs of the South. Travel far:' Xuanwu is called tortoise and snake. Located in the north, it is called Xuan. With a scale, it is called martial arts. Xuanwu is a combination of snakes, turtles and snakes.

"Selected Works" Volume 15 Zhang Heng's "Four Fu Xuan" said: "Xuanwu leaves its shell, and the snake bends and corrects itself." Shan Li notes the cloud:' When a turtle meets a snake, it is called Xuanwu.'

Wang Liangchuan in the History of the Later Han Dynasty: "Hong Fu Nv" says: "Wang Liang is the Lord of Xuanwu." Li Xian pointed out: "Wu Wu, the God of the North, is a combination of tortoise and snake." Xuanwu is the god of water and the god of the north.

Wang Liangchuan in the later Han Dynasty: "Xuanwu is the name of the water god."

Reconstruction of Weft Book Integration Volume 6:' Born in Xuanwu, North of ... Town, main wind and rain.'

However, Xuanwu was upgraded to the "Zhenwu Emperor" in the north by later Taoist priests. Different from the other three spirits. Other green dragons and white tigers only became the gatekeepers of the mountain temple, and Zhu Bird became the Xuan Nv of another day.

Xuanwu gained value in the Song Dynasty and was personified. This is inseparable from the help of the emperors of the Song Dynasty. In the early Song Dynasty, Zhenwu and Tian Peng were legendary generals in heaven. In the first year of Tianxi, something happened in the military camp. In "The Original" for seven years:' Someone saw a snake in the camp, and the sergeant built a real martial arts school because of it. In April of the following year, the spring was inexhaustible, and the sick people drank more. When Zhenzong heard this, he wrote a letter and built a landscape there, named it' Xiangyuan'. This is probably the earliest Zhenwu Temple in China.

According to legend, the prince of Gu Jing Le Wang was born fierce and traveled in the East China Sea. When he met the immortal, he gave him a sword and went to Wudang Mountain in Hubei Province to practice. After 42 years of success, it rose during the day and became the Northern Xuanwu Army of Weizhen. But in the Song Dynasty, it was renamed Zhenwu because it was forbidden to use mysterious figures.

It is often said by later generations that during the reign of Yang Di, the Jade Emperor became one of his three souls, Empress Lezheng, tired of the world, abandoned Wudang Mountain for practice, and successfully ascended to heaven, defended the north and lived in Xuanwu, posthumous title.