It is understandable that Qin Gui suffered this kind of pain, but it is really puzzling that the tortoise had a bad reputation since it entered the Yuan Dynasty. Why did the tame tortoise, which symbolizes longevity, fall into such a situation?
First, the turtle before the Yuan Dynasty: it represents longevity and means peace.
Looking at the turtle images before the Yuan Dynasty, there are many sacred meanings. For example, the sacrifice is called "turtle sacrifice" and the tripod symbolizing the throne is called "turtle tripod", which shows that the turtle has the metaphor of "divine right". For example, the ancient official seal is called "turtle seal", the ancient coin is called "turtle coin" and the ancient bronze mirror is called "turtle mirror", which shows that turtles are closely related to the lives of the ancients.
In fact, the ancients worshipped turtles. Tortoise can always be seen in major historical events in ancient times. It is mentioned in Taiping Yu Lan that when Emperor Fuxi deduced the law of all things, there was a "negative river turtle", so the eight diagrams became their own. According to Shang Zhong Shuhou, when the Duke of Zhou gave a gift, "there was a mysterious turtle green and pure pale light, and the back armor was engraved on the altar", so Zhou Li became a family of its own.
From Fuxi's gossip and Duke Zhou's book of rites, we can see that turtles always carry the ancient people's beautiful long-cherished wishes. From a scientific point of view, these two historical materials are not credible, but to some extent they reflect the ancient people's worship of turtles. In addition, turtles often appear in legends and stories such as women's snails mending the sky, Dayu controlling water, and Cangjie creating characters. This is enough to show that turtles always play an important role in the evolutionary history of human civilization imagined by the ancients.
When the tortoise comes into reality and is accepted by the general public, many auspicious meanings are naturally derived. Among them, the meaning of longevity is the most popular. "Biography of Qiuci in Historical Records" mentioned that turtles "have covered the world for a long time, and they are the best." In the Central Plains and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, there is a traditional custom that elders often leave a lock of long hair on the back of their children's heads. Because it looks like the tail of a turtle, it is also called "turtle tip" or "hundred-year-old hair"
In addition, the tortoise also represents peace and evil spirits. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, an iron-faced censor named Zhao Bian appeared in North Korea. This man hates evil, distinguishes right from wrong, and never clings to powerful people. Every time he is transferred to other places, he always brings a turtle, a crane and a piano. The image of "Qin He" symbolizes the wind of ancient gentlemen; And Zhao Bian, the "Qin He Zhi Fu" in the mouth of ordinary people, brought a turtle with him, which means peace and good luck.
To sum up, turtles before the Yuan Dynasty had the meaning of longevity and peace, and were sought after by countless literati.
Second, the turtle descended to the Yuan Dynasty: it fell to the altar and suffered all kinds of grievances.
Since the Yuan Dynasty, turtles have fallen from the altar and are no longer loved by the world. It has become an animal that everyone can't avoid. Why is Yuan Dynasty the turning point of tortoise image? Look at the following two examples:
First, most of the ancient official seals were turtle buttons. "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Yufuxia" records: "The prince and the vassal king, the golden seal turtle button." Not only princes and princes, but also senior officials with more than 2,000 yuan enjoy the treatment of "silver and silver ribbons, all of which are turtle buttons". But this situation came to an abrupt end in the Yuan Dynasty. In Yuan Dynasty, the official seal was not graded, with three straight buttons as the main form. It can be seen that it was the ruler of the Yuan Dynasty who took the lead in belittling the tortoise.
Second, become history in the name of turtle. Before Yuan Dynasty, there were many people named after turtles, such as Li Guinian and Lu Guimeng. Liu, a scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, should be the last scholar named turtle in Historical Records. After Kublai Khan ascended the throne, Liu entered Nanshan to live in seclusion and never heard of the world again. At the beginning of the article, it is also mentioned that the tortoise and Qin Gui have become two taboos in the naming of later generations. It can be seen that the notoriety of turtles has been from top to bottom, which has been widely circulated among the people.
As can be seen from the above, the sharp decline of the tortoise elephant is indeed a phenomenon that appeared after the Yuan Dynasty. So why did the tortoise, a symbol of longevity and peace, suffer so many grievances in the Yuan Dynasty?
The fundamental reason should be that the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty didn't like turtles. There are two main reasons:
First, different civilizations. The Central Plains society is a farming civilization, advocating four ancient spirits, namely dragon, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise. On the other hand, Mongolians are traditional nomadic civilizations, and there are no turtles in the "Ten Elephants" they admire. Moreover, among the four ancient spirits, the first three are empty objects, and only the tortoise really exists, so it is the most vulnerable to attack.
Second, the concept is different. Many warring factions in the Southern Song Dynasty were believers in turtle culture. For example, Zhang Jiucheng, a representative of hawks, was influenced by his teacher, Yang Guitang, and his style was extremely tough. As a result, Mongols entered the Central Plains at great cost. Therefore, after the Mongols entered the Central Plains, they naturally could not sit back and watch the old Song people dream again. So they started from their spiritual beliefs and attacked the integrity of the literati with the derogatory turtle image.
In addition, with the continuous progress of human society, the ancients' understanding of turtles has gradually become clear and clear. Therefore, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the mysterious veil of the tortoise has been unveiled. Pi Rixiu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said in his poem "Returning to Shaogui": "Naughty people have to drill everywhere when they die, because they are not in their lives."
It can be seen that the turtles in the Tang Dynasty were timid. However, it should be pointed out that the royal family in the Tang Dynasty still attached importance to the worship of turtle culture. They changed the tiger symbol to the turtle symbol and the northern capital to the turtle forest house, indicating that turtle culture worship still dominates the hearts of the world. However, after being deliberately derogated by the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, the turtle's image ushered in a rebound and deepened the derogatory connotation.
It is still an unjust case to let the tortoise sink into the quagmire completely.
Third, the most unjust animal in history was unjustly accused.
In Wuzhong's old place, people often associate people wearing green headscarves with prostitutes, which is what modern people call "green hats". It's a pity that there is a green turtle living in the river in Wuzhong area, so someone forcibly explained that the green stripe on the turtle's head means green headscarf.
Under the false information, the tortoise has become synonymous with prostitutes. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Tao wrote in a poem "Poem of Losing Home" in "The Record of Dropping Out of Farming in the South Village": "All the family members are beautiful rabbits, and others always pretend to be cowards." Tao also made a comment: "A wife is having an affair, and a turtle is like a husband." It can be seen that in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, turtles were regarded as prostitutes, so they suffered various stigma.
Until now, there are people who use turtle as a word of humiliation. It can be seen that the most wronged animal in history is the tortoise.