What does the word Xuanwu mean?

Xuanwu is a spiritual thing composed of turtles and snakes. 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 tortoise divination: the tortoise's back is black, and the tortoise divination is to invite the tortoise to ask questions in the underworld first, bring back the answers and show 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 Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Shang Dynasty was' the divination must go north', so Xuan Ming became the northern god again. Like the other three spirits, Xuanwu is also changed from 28 stars in the world: battle, ox, female, empty, danger, room and wall. However, people after ancient times have the following explanations for Xuanwu. Xuanwu is a turtle. "Book of Rites. "Quli Shang" says:' OK, there are Zhu birds in front, then there is 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. It is located in the north and is called Xuan. With scales, it is called martial arts. Xuanwu' is a combination of snakes, turtles and snakes. In ancient times, people imagined some stars in the north as turtles and snakes, and were called gods. In folk beliefs, the deity has the following sacred characteristics: (1) The northern god's "Songs of the South Xuanwu" notes: "Xuanwu is the name of the northern god". "Historical Records" says: "Gong Bei is a place of martial arts, empty and dangerous". "River Map" Volume 6 "Rebuilding the Integration of Weft Books": "North Hei Di, known as Ye Guangji, is good at Xuanwu". (2) Water God Xuanwu Water God According to the theory of yin and yang and five elements, the north belongs to water, so the north god is the water god. Wuyi's "Nine Sentences of Zhang Huai" said: "Turtles are water gods." Wang Liangchuan in the later Han Dynasty: "Xuanwu, the name of water god". "Rebuilding the Integration of Weft Books" Volume 6 "River Map": "The residence of the seven gods in the north actually started from fighting, and the town in the north dominated the storm". Everything needs rain to grow, and water can put out fires, so people attach great importance to and believe in Xuanwu's water god attribute. (3) China, the god of reproduction, is used to comparing the great divine power with the phenomenon of the sympathetic evolution of everything in Yin and Yang, and worshiping the reproductive divine power. The snake itself is a symbol of reproduction and reproduction. Xuanwu, in the shape of a turtle and a snake, was regarded by the ancients as a symbol of male and female mating and reproduction. Wei Boyang in the Eastern Han Dynasty (who lived around 12 1 year) also explained that Yin and Yang must cooperate with each other with the example of tortoise and snake correcting mistakes: "Guan Guan Sui's dove, in the river continent, is a gentle and graceful lady, and the male is not lonely, and the female is not lonely. Xuanwu tortoise and snake help each other. (4) In ancient times, the tortoise, the god of life, was a symbol of longevity and immortality, which could guide the dying breath. There is a cloud in Biography of Qiuci in Historical Records: "In the south, the old man supported his bed with a turtle. In his twenties, the old man died and moved to bed, but the turtle was not dead. Turtles can conduct air. "Bao Puzi" contains: Chengyang hunted when he was frugal, and fell into an empty tomb, hungry and cold. When he saw a chinemys reevesii in the tomb, he counted it, turned around, his direction was uncertain, swallowed his mouth, or squatted or leaned back. Thrift is also known as the tortoise can guide, but it tries to do what the tortoise does, so it is no longer hungry. " In addition, the first night of Gong Bei Xuanwu Seven Nights is also called Nandou. The Star Classic says, "There are six stars in the south, and Emperor Shou is also the prime minister." Gan Bao in Jin Dynasty (living around 3 16) quoted Guan Lu's words: "Nan Dou was reborn, and Beidou died again". Life expectancy can be extended in southern operations. This is very attractive to emperors, bureaucrats and ordinary people who pursue immortality. These divine characteristics of Xuanwu not only won the belief of all social strata, but also laid the foundation for Xuanwu to evolve into a Taoist immortal after the Tang and Song Dynasties. China, one of the Four Spirits, divided the stars in the sky into seven star zones in ancient times: "Three Walls" and "Four Elephants". The so-called "wall" means "city wall". "Three Walls" is the "Wei Zi Wall", which symbolizes the palace; "Taiweiyuan" symbolizes the administrative organization; The "sky wall" symbolizes the bustling market. These three walls are arranged in a triangle around Polaris. There are four elephants around the three walls: East Black Dragon, West White Tiger, South Suzaku and North Xuanwu. That is to say, the stars in the east are like dragons, the stars in the west are like tigers, the stars in the south are like big birds, and the stars in the north are like turtles and snakes. As the earth revolves around the sun, the stars in the sky change with the seasons. Every evening at the turn of winter and spring, the black dragon will appear; At the turn of spring and summer, Xuanwu rises; At the turn of summer and autumn, white tigers emerge; At the turn of autumn and winter, Suzaku rises. Xuanwu originally meant Xuanming, and the ancient sounds of Wu and Ming are interlinked. Xuan means black; Ghost means yin. At first, Xuan Ming described the tortoise divination as follows: the tortoise's back is black, and the tortoise divination is to ask the tortoise to ask his ancestors in the underworld, bring back the answers and show 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 Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Shang Dynasty was' the divination must go north', so Xuan Ming became the northern god again. Like the other three spirits, Xuanwu is also changed from 28 stars in the world: battle, ox, female, empty, danger, room and wall. However, people after ancient times have the following explanations for Xuanwu. Xuanwu is a turtle. "。 In Volume 44 of Tai Shang Huang Ru Zhai Yi, Bei Xuanwu Xing Jun is called "Dou Su Tian Miao Xing Jun, Niu Su Tian Ji Xing Jun, Su Tian Nv Jun, Xu Su Tian Qing Xing Jun, Wei Su Tian Qian Xing Jun, Su Su Tian Qi Xing Jun and Su Bi Shi Tianxing Jun." As for its image, "The Collection of Jiao Tong's Needs" has seven clouds: "North Xuanwu, Taiyin Metaplasia, Virtual and Dangerous Aerosol, Turtle and Snake Terrace, Wandering Nine Clouds, Commanding All Spirits, Coming from My Right." "At the same time, Taoism also used it in alchemy. For example, Volume 72 of Yun Qi Tanabata quoted Dan, the four gods in ancient classics, saying, "Xuanwu people are black mercury in northern China, and they can be soft and firm. "The Classic says: Good is like water. Non-lead, non-tin, non-stone and the like, water is Hedong Shenshui, born before heaven and earth, so medicine can not be abandoned temporarily, and everything can be nourished, so it is called Xuanwu. black