Black Turtle-Snake

This article is about Chinese constellations. For the actual turtles, see Indian black turtle.
Black Turtle-Snake
The Black Tortoise depicted on a Chinese tile
Chinese name
Chinese玄武
Literal meaningMysterious ~ Dark ~ Black Warrior
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXuánwǔ
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationyun4 mou5
Southern Min
Hokkien POJgôan-bú
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetHuyền Vũ
Chữ Hán玄武
Korean name
Hangul현무
Hanja玄武
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationHyeon-mu
Japanese name
Kanji玄武
Hiraganaげんぶ
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnGenbu
Kunrei-shikiGenbu
Black Warrior of the North
Gilded copper, early 15th century. Hubei Provincial Museum.
A copper Black Tortoise from the Yongle era of the Ming dynasty (early 15th century)
Chinese北方玄武
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinBěifāng Xuánwǔ

The Black Tortoise is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is usually depicted as a tortoise intertwined with a snake.[1] The character '武' can mean 'martial' or 'warrior.' The two characters 玄 and 武 do not have any literal meaning of tortoise and snake. But both tortoise and snake are known to hibernate during winter. The image of intertwined tortoise and snake likely symbolizes a state of inner struggle[citation needed] or a state of hibernation, and thus implies the season of winter. So the English translation Black ~ Dark ~ Mysterious Warrior[a] is a more faithful translation.[4][5]

It represents the north and the winter season, thus it is sometimes called Black Warrior of the North (Chinese: 北方玄武; pinyin: Běifāng Xuánwǔ).

In Japan, the characters 玄武 are pronounced as Genbu. It is said to protect Kyoto on the north side, being one of the four guardian spirits that protect the city. It is represented by the Kenkun Shrine, which is located on top of Mount Funaoka in Kyoto.

An important Taoist priest also has 玄武 Xuanwu as his clergy name. He is sometimes (as in Journey to the West) portrayed in the company of a turtle and a snake.

  1. ^ Chen, Sanping; Mair, Victor H. (2017-04-02). "A "Black Cult" in Early Medieval China: Iranian-Zoroastrian Influence in the Northern Dynasties". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 27 (2): 208. doi:10.1017/s1356186316000584. ISSN 0035-869X. S2CID 164550058.
  2. ^ Liu An (compiler), Xu Shen (annotator). Huainanzi, "Survey Obscurities". Main text: 「夫死生同域, 不可脅陵, 勇武一人, 為三軍雄.」; Annotation: 「武士也; 江淮間謂士曰武.」; Siku Quanshu version. vols. 4–7, p. 96 of 160
  3. ^ Liu An (2010) The Huainanzi: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China. Translated and edited by John S. Major, Sarah A. Queen, Aandrew Seth Meyer, and Harold D. Roth. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. p. 215
  4. ^ Zhang, Qian (2017). "China's guardians of the galaxy". Shanghai Daily. The four beasts are Qing Long (Azure Dragon), the guardian of the East; Bai Hu (White Tiger), the guardian of the West; Zhu Que (Vermilion Bird), the guardian of the South; and Xuan Wu (Black Warrior), the guardian of the North. This quartet originated from the 28 xingxiu ("mansions") in the Chinese constellation system.
  5. ^ Pregadio, Fabrizio (editor) (2008). The Encyclopedia of Taoism A–Z: Volume 1 & 2. pp. 119, 194, 223, 478, 909, 1266


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