Bixi, or Bi Xi (), is a figure from
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions.
Much of t ...
. One of the
9 sons of the
Dragon King
The Dragon King, also known as the Dragon God, is a Chinese water and weather god. He is regarded as the dispenser of rain, commanding over all bodies of water. He is the collective personification of the ancient concept of the '' lóng'' in Ch ...
, he is depicted as a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
with the shell of a
turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...
. Stone
sculptures
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
of Bixi have been used in
Chinese culture
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
for centuries as a decorative
plinth
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...
for commemorative
stele
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
s and tablets, particularly in the
funerary complexes of its later
emperors
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
and to commemorate important events, such as an imperial visit or the anniversary of a
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
victory. They are also used at the bases of bridges and archways. Sculptures of Bixi are traditionally rubbed for good luck, which can cause conservation issues. They can be found throughout
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
,
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
,
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, and the
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...
.
History
![Frits-Holm-Chinas-Foremost-Monument-the-Chingchiaopei](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Frits-Holm-Chinas-Foremost-Monument-the-Chingchiaopei.png)
The tradition of tortoise-mounted stelae originated no later than early 3rd century (late
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
).
According to the 1957 survey by Chêng Tê-k'un (),
the earliest extant tortoise-borne stele is thought to be the one at the tomb of Fan Min (), in
Lushan County,
Ya'an
Ya'an (, Tibetan: Yak-Nga ) is a prefecture-level city in the western part of Sichuan province, China, located just below the Tibetan Plateau. The city is home to Sichuan Agricultural University, the only 211 Project university and the largest ...
,
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
.
Victor Segalen
Victor Segalen (14 January 1878 – 21 May 1919) was a French naval doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, writer, poet, explorer, art-theorist, linguist and literary critic.
He was born in Brest. He studied medicine and graduated at the Navy S ...
had earlier identified the stele as a
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
monument; present-day authors agree, usually giving it the date of 205 AD.
The stele has a rounded top with a dragon design in
low relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
- a precursor to the "two intertwined dragons" design that was very common on such steles even in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, over a thousand years later.
[
In the collection of the ]Nanjing Museum
The Nanjing Museum () is located in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province in East China. With an area of , it is one of the largest museums in China. The museum has over 400,000 items in its permanent collection, making it one of the largest ...
there is a ''hunping
The ''hunping'' (), translated as soul jar or soul vase, is a type of ceramic funerary urn often found in the tombs of the Han dynasty and especially the Six Dynasties periods of early imperial China. It was characteristic of the Jiangnan regi ...
'' funerary jar, dating to 272 AD, with a miniature architectural composition on top, depicting, among other objects, a tortoise carrying a stele erected by the Jin dynasty governor of Changsha
Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...
in honor of a local dignitary.
Perhaps the best known extant early example of the genre is the set of four stele-bearing tortoises at the mausoleum of Xiao Xiu
Xiao Xiu (), formally Prince Kang of Ancheng ( (475–518),
was a younger half-brother of Xiao Yan (Emperor Wu), the founder of the Liang dynasty of China. According to the ''Book of Liang'', he was the 7th son of Xiao Yan's father Xiao Shunzhi.
X ...
(475-518), who was the younger brother of the first Liang dynasty
The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...
emperor Wu (Xiao Yan), near Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
.
The ''bixi'' tradition flourished during the Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
and Qing dynasties
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
. The Ming founder, the Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
, in the first year after the dynasty had been proclaimed (1368), adopted regulations, allowing tortoise-based funerary tablets to the higher ranks of the nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
and the mandarinate. He tightened the rules in 1396, leaving only the highest nobility (those of the ''gong'' and ''hou'' ranks) and the officials of the top 3 ranks eligible for ''bixi''-based stelae. The type of dragons
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
crowning the tortoise-born stele, and the type and number of other statuary at the tomb site, were prescribed by the same regulations as well.[.]
At the Hongwu Emperor's own mausoleum, a huge ''bixi'' holding the so-called ''Shengde'' stele welcomes visitors at the Sifangcheng pavilion at the entrance of the mausoleum complex. Three centuries later (1699), the Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...
of the Qing dynasty visited Nanjing and contributed another tortoise, with a stele praising the founder of the Ming, comparing him to the founders of the great Tang and Song dynasties of the past.[ Quote regarding the Kangxi's stele text and its meaning: ")"; regarding the dimensions of the stele and its tortoise: ""]
The Hongwu Emperor's tortoise tradition was continued by the later Ming and Qing emperors, whose mausoleums are usually decorated by ''bixi''-born steles as well.
Even the self-declared emperor Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...
was posthumously honored with a ''bixi''-based stele in Anyang
Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively.
It had a ...
, as was the Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
Premier Tan Yankai
Tan Yankai (; ; January 25, 1880 – September 22, 1930) was a Chinese politician.
Biography
Tan Yankai was born on 25 January 1880 in Hangzhou during the waning decades of the Qing dynasty. He was the son of the Qing minister Tan Zhonglin. ...
(1880–1930), whose stele near Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
's Linggu Temple
Linggu Temple () is a famous Buddhist temple in Nanjing. It is now surrounded by a large park.
History
The temple was first built in 515 during the Liang dynasty (502-557). It used to lie at the northeast foot of the Purple Mountain, i.e. ...
had its inscription erased after the Communist Revolution.
Occasionally, a foreign head of state was honored with a ''bixi'' as well, as it happened to the sultan of Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
Abdul Majid Hassan
Abdul Majid Hassan (1380–1408 CE), also known as Maharaja Karna, allegedly was the second Sultan of Brunei. He may have ascended the Brunei throne in 1402.
He was never mentioned in ''Salasilah Raja-Raja Brunei''. A ruler from Boni named M ...
, who died during his visit to China in 1408. The sultan's grave, with a suitably royal ''bixi''-based monument, was discovered in Yuhuatai District south of Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
in 1958.
After an ancient Christian stele was unearthed in Xi'an
Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...
in 1625, it, too, was put on the back of a tortoise. In 1907, this so-called Xi'an Stele
The Xi'an Stele or the Jingjiao Stele ( zh, c=景教碑, p= Jǐngjiào bēi), sometimes translated as the "Nestorian Stele," is a Tang Chinese stele erected in 781 that documents 150 years of early Christianity in China. It is a limestone block ...
was moved to the Stele Forest
The Stele Forest or Beilin Museum is a museum for steles and stone sculptures in Beilin District in Xi'an, Northwest China. The museum, which is housed in a former Confucian Temple, has housed a growing collection of Steles since 1087. By 194 ...
Museum along with its tortoise.
These days, long-lost bixi continue to be unearthed during archaeological excavations and construction work. Among the most remarkable finds is the discovery of a huge 1200-year-old in Zhengding
Zhengding (), originally Zhending (), is a county in southwestern Hebei Province, North China, located approximately south of Beijing. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shijiazhuang, the capital of the province, and h ...
(Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
Province) in June 2006. The stone turtle is 8.4 m long, 3.2 m wide, and 2.6 m tall, and weighs 107 tons. It has since been moved to Zhengding's Kaiyuan Temple.
Outside China
The concept of a tortoise-borne, dragon-crowned stele was early adopted by China's northern neighbors. The earliest extant monument of the
Turkic Kaganate - the so-called " Bugut Stele" of the late 6th century from Arkhangai Province
The Arkhangai Province or Arkhangai Aimag ( mn, Архангай аймаг, Arhangai aimag, ; "North Khangai") is one of the 21 aimags of Mongolia. It is located slightly west of the country's center, on the northern slopes of the Khangai Moun ...
in western Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
with a Sogdian and (most likely) Brahmi Mongolic inscription was installed on a stone tortoise. It is now in the provincial capital, Tsetserleg Tsetserleg ( mn, Цэцэрлэг, ''garden'') may signify:
* Tsetserleg (city), the capital of Arkhangai aimag in Mongolia
* two sums (districts) in different aimags of Mongolia:
** Tsetserleg, Arkhangai
** Tsetserleg, Khövsgöl
Tsetserleg ( mn, ...
. According to the Turkish researcher Cengiz Alyilmaz, it was the design of this stele that influenced the builders of the important 8th-century stelae with Old Turkic
Old Turkic (also East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic language, Old Uyghur) is the earliest attested form of the Turkic languages, found in Göktürks, Göktürk and Uyghur Khaganate inscriptions dating from about the eighth to the 13th century. It ...
inscriptions, many of which also stood on tortoises.[ Among them, the most accessible one is probably ]Bayanchur Khan )''Heavenborn State Founding Wise Qaghan'', birth_name=Yàolúogě Mòyánchùo (藥羅葛磨延啜)
Mo-yun Chur (磨延啜) (b. 713 - d.759) or Eletmish Bilge Qaghan was second qaghan of Uyghur Khaganate. His Tang dynasty invested title was Yingwu ...
's (Eletmish Bilge Kağan)'s Terhin-Gol stele (753 AD), now in the Mongolian Academy of Sciences in Ulan Bator
Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north cen ...
.
Later, the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115-1234)
Jin is a toneless pinyin romanization of various Chinese names and words. These have also been romanized as Kin and Chin (Wade–Giles). "Jin" also occurs in Japanese and Korean.
It may refer to:
States Jìn 晉
* Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), ...
and the Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
erected tortoise-based monuments as well, some of which have been preserved in Russia's Ussuriysk
Ussuriysk (russian: Уссури́йск) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located in the fertile valley of the Razdolnaya River, north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about ...
and Mongolia's Karakorum
Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in the ...
.
In Japan, this form of tortoise-supported stele is found primarily at the graves of prominent Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...
(1185–1333) figures, especially in the city of Kamakura
is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939.
Kamak ...
. Another large collection of tortoise-borne stelae, spanning 17th through 19th centuries, can be seen at the cemetery of the Tottori Domain
270px, Ikeda Yoshinori
270px, Front gate of the Tottori Domain residence in Edo
was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Tottori Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It controlled all of Inaba Provi ...
''daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...
'' outside Tottori. Otherwise, the form does not seem to have been particularly popular in earlier or later times.
In Korea, tortoise-borne stelae are known during the Three Kingdoms of Korea
Samhan or the Three Kingdoms of Korea () refers to the three kingdoms of Goguryeo (고구려, 高句麗), Baekje (백제, 百濟), and Silla (신라, 新羅). Goguryeo was later known as Goryeo (고려, 高麗), from which the modern name ''Kor ...
period (e.g., the Tombstone of King Muyeol of Silla
King Taejong Muyeol (604–661), born Gim Chunchu, was the List of monarchs of Korea, 29th ruler of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. He is credited for leading the unification of Korea's Three Kingdoms.
Background
King Taejong Muyeol ...
, erected 661).
Monuments of this type have been preserved from the later Goryeo
Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...
dynasty as well, such as the Stele of Bongseon Honggyeongsa
{{Infobox Korean name ,
img=Stele of BongseonHonggyeongsa temple in Cheonan, Korea.jpg,
hangul=봉선홍경사사적갈비 ,
hanja=奉先弘慶寺事蹟碣碑 ,
rr=Bongseon Honggyeongsa Sajeok Galbi ,
mr=Pongsŏn Honggyŏngsa Sajŏk Kalbi
The ...
(1026).
Vietnam also has a long tradition of tortoise-born stelae, where they commemorate emperor Lê Lợi
Lê Lợi (, Chữ Hán: 黎利; c. 10 September 1384/1385 – 5 October 1433), also known by his temple name as Lê Thái Tổ (黎太祖) and by his pre-imperial title Bình Định vương (平定王; "Prince of Pacification"), was a Vietname ...
as well as the graduates of the Confucian academy at Hanoi's Temple of Literature.
While there is no indigenous tradition of erecting stelae on tortoise-shaped pedestals in the United States, a Qing period ''bixi'' can be seen on campus of the Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
. This bixi was given as a gift to Harvard in 1936 by the members of Harvard Clubs in China; an appropriate text was carved for the occasion on the tablet carried by the tortoise.
Development as an art form
According to Victor Segalen
Victor Segalen (14 January 1878 – 21 May 1919) was a French naval doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, writer, poet, explorer, art-theorist, linguist and literary critic.
He was born in Brest. He studied medicine and graduated at the Navy S ...
's assessment, the early (Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
and the Six Dynasties
Six Dynasties (; 220–589 or 222–589) is a collective term for six Han-ruled Chinese dynasties that existed from the early 3rd century AD to the late 6th century AD. The Six Dynasties period overlapped with the era of the Sixteen Kingdoms, ...
) stone tortoises were artistic images of quite real aquatic turtles.[ The creatures looked quite realistic through the ]Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
, when huge tortoise pedestals, such as the ones in Shou Qiu
Shou Qiu () is a historical site on the eastern outskirts of the city of Qufu in Shandong Province, China. According to the legend, Shou Qiu is the birthplace of the Yellow Emperor.
Shou Qiu itself is today marked only by a pyramidal monument, ...
near Qufu
Qufu ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, and a total population of ...
, or the one in Dai Miao
Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the ''Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being ta ...
at Mount Tai
Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the '' Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being t ...
were erected.
The early-Ming specimens, while still definitely chelonian, had sprouted small ears; sides of their heads and their carapace
A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...
s are often decorated by a leaf-like design. They usually have prominent teeth, which real-life turtles don't.[
By the mid-]Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
(the 18th century), however, the stele-bearing tortoise becomes the characteristic dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
-headed ''bixi''.
File:Segalen-39-Xiao-Xiu-Tortoise-and-column.jpg, Xiao Xiu
Xiao Xiu (), formally Prince Kang of Ancheng ( (475–518),
was a younger half-brother of Xiao Yan (Emperor Wu), the founder of the Liang dynasty of China. According to the ''Book of Liang'', he was the 7th son of Xiao Yan's father Xiao Shunzhi.
X ...
mausoleum, Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, Liang dynasty
The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...
, ca. 518. Photo by Victor Segalen
Victor Segalen (14 January 1878 – 21 May 1919) was a French naval doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, writer, poet, explorer, art-theorist, linguist and literary critic.
He was born in Brest. He studied medicine and graduated at the Navy S ...
File:Khabarovsk stone tortoise.JPG, Tortoise from the grave of the Jurchen general Asikui. Originally near Ussuriysk
Ussuriysk (russian: Уссури́йск) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located in the fertile valley of the Razdolnaya River, north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about ...
, now in Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...
Museum. Jin dynasty (1115-1234)
Jin is a toneless pinyin romanization of various Chinese names and words. These have also been romanized as Kin and Chin (Wade–Giles). "Jin" also occurs in Japanese and Korean.
It may refer to:
States Jìn 晉
* Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), ...
File:Ussuriysk-Stone-Tortoise-S-3542.jpg, Ussuriysk
Ussuriysk (russian: Уссури́йск) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located in the fertile valley of the Razdolnaya River, north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about ...
, Jin dynasty (1115-1234)
Jin is a toneless pinyin romanization of various Chinese names and words. These have also been romanized as Kin and Chin (Wade–Giles). "Jin" also occurs in Japanese and Korean.
It may refer to:
States Jìn 晉
* Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), ...
File:Karakorum - Tortue Sud.jpg, Karakorum
Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in the ...
ruins, Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
(13th century)
File:Stone Sifangcheng.jpg, The Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398.
As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...
's mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
, Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, ca. 1400
File:Linggu-Stone-Tortoise-2901.jpg, Near Linggu Temple
Linggu Temple () is a famous Buddhist temple in Nanjing. It is now surrounded by a large park.
History
The temple was first built in 515 during the Liang dynasty (502-557). It used to lie at the northeast foot of the Purple Mountain, i.e. ...
, Nanjing, Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
File:Kangxi-Lugou-rebuilding-stele-3581.jpg, Stele in honor of the rebuilding of the Marco Polo Bridge
The Marco Polo Bridge or Lugou Bridge () is a stone bridge located 15 km southwest of Beijing's city center in the Fengtai District. It bridges the Yongding River, a major tributary of Hai River. Situated at the eastern end of the bridge ...
by the Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...
, Beijing, 1668
File:Nanjing-Drum-Tower-Kangxi-stele-3042.jpg, Drum Tower, Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
. Commemorates visit by the Kangxi Emperor, 1684
File:MingXiaoling ZLTS01 rotated.jpg, The Kangxi Emperor's stele at Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum
The Ming Xiaoling () is the mausoleum of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty. It lies at the southern foot of Purple Mountain, located east of the historical centre of Nanjing. Legend says that in order to prevent robbery of the tom ...
, Nanjing 1699
File:LugouQiao-Qianlong-bridge-rebuilding-stele-3610.JPG, The Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...
's Marco Polo Bridge
The Marco Polo Bridge or Lugou Bridge () is a stone bridge located 15 km southwest of Beijing's city center in the Fengtai District. It bridges the Yongding River, a major tributary of Hai River. Situated at the eastern end of the bridge ...
rebuilding stele, Beijing, 1785
File:Linggu-Shensong-Bixi-2911.jpg, Tan Yankai
Tan Yankai (; ; January 25, 1880 – September 22, 1930) was a Chinese politician.
Biography
Tan Yankai was born on 25 January 1880 in Hangzhou during the waning decades of the Qing dynasty. He was the son of the Qing minister Tan Zhonglin. ...
tomb, near Linggu Temple
Linggu Temple () is a famous Buddhist temple in Nanjing. It is now surrounded by a large park.
History
The temple was first built in 515 during the Liang dynasty (502-557). It used to lie at the northeast foot of the Purple Mountain, i.e. ...
, Nanjing, ca. 1930
File:Minzu-zhengqi-haoran-changcun-Bixi-3563.jpg, World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
monument in Wanping Castle, Beijing, 1995
File:Graves of Shimazu Tadahisa and Mori Suemitsu, Kamakura.jpg, Gravesites of samurai Shimazu Tadahisa (d. 1227) and Mōri Suemitsu (1202-1247), the founders of the Shimazu clan, Shimazu and Mōri clans respectively, Kamakura period, Kamakura, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
File:Bixi in Harvard University - IMG 8960.JPG, The Harvard Bixi in the United States was produced in China in the 18th century.
File:Bixi Lingyin.jpg, The ''bixi'' at Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou, with the characters "Lingyin" () written on the stele.
According to some 19th-century western authors, the Chinese tradition of using a tortoise as a pedestal may have a common source with the Indian legend of the world being held up by a giant turtle.
Name
The word ''bi'' or ''bixi'' (also written with a variant character, ) is translated by Chinese dictionaries as "strong", "capable to support great weight". The word ''bixi'' is attested already in Zhang Heng's (78-139) "Western Metropolis Rhapsody" (''Xi Jing Fu''), which mentions "the great strides" of the giant divine ''bixi''.
Zhang Heng's follower Zuo Si (250 - 305) in his ''Eastern Wu, Wu Jiankang, Capital Fu (poetry), Rhapsody'' (''Wu Jing Fu'') explicitly associates the attribute ''bixi'' with the legendary giant turtle ''ao (turtle), ao'', whose head supports a sacred mountain.
The term ''bixi'' became associated with the stele-carrying tortoises no later than the Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
. The terminology, however, did not immediately become stable. The earliest known Ming-era list of fantastic creatures appearing in architecture and applied art is given by Lu Rong (1436–1494) in his ''Miscellaneous records from the bean garden'' (, ''Shuyuan zaji''). The ''bixi'', with the syllables swapped (, ''xibi''), appears in the first position in that list:
The ''xibi'' looks like a tortoise. By its nature it likes to carry heavy weights. It used to be employed to support stone tablets.
Lu Rong claims that his list (including the total of 14 creatures) is based on the ancient books of beasts and supernatural creatures, the ''Shan Hai Jing'' and the ''Bo Wu Zhi'' (); however, as the modern researchers Yang Jingrong and Liu Zhixiong note, that is not the case, and the names, much more likely, were taken by Lu Rong from the folklore of his times.[#yang2008, Yang Jingrong and Liu Zhixiong (2008)]
Soon after Lu Rong, the mighty tablet-carrying tortoise appears in various lists of the "Chinese dragon#Nine sons of the dragon, Nine children of the Dragons", compiled by several Ming authors. However, both Li Dongyang (1441–1516) in his ''Huai Lu Tang Ji'' and Xie Zhaozhe (, 1567–1624) in his ''Wu Za Zu'' (, ''Five Assorted Offerings'', ca. 1592), refer to the tortoise that carries the stele by the name ''baxia'' (), rather than ''bixi''; at the same time they apply the name ''bixi'' to the "literature-loving" dragons that appear on the sides of the stele:
The ''baxia'' has an innate love for carrying weights; the creature [that] now [is] under tablets is its image. ... The ''bixi'' has an innate love for literature; the dragons [that] now [are] on the sides of tablets are its image.
The name ''bixi'', however, is given to the table-carrying tortoise in the more popular version of the list of the "Nine Children of the Dragon". In this form of the list, given e.g. by Yang Shen (1488–1559), the ''bixi'' is given the first position:
The ''bixi'' looks like a tortoise, and likes to carry heavy weights; [he] is the tortoise-carrier (''guifu'') now [seen] under stone tablets.
Stone tortoises in art and popular lore
The great stone tortoises, whose antiquity sometimes went farther into the history than anyone could remember, often made impression on people who saw them, and excited their curiosity. It is said that an old legend of the stone tortoise made by Lu Ban that went to swim in the ocean every summer, and came back to its seaside hill in the fall, inspired Lu Ji (Shiheng), Lu Ji's lines:
[. The legend, and the reference to Lu Ji (Shiheng), Lu Ji, comes from the book ''Shu Yi Ji'' (, "Extraordinary stories"), commonly ascribed to Ren Fang (460—508). The story from the tortoise from a seaside hill (), as well as the one about another sea-going stone turtle from Linyi County (), and their translations to Modern Standard Mandarin, can be found at .
]
The opening chapter of the 14th-century novel ''Water Margin'' involves Marshal Hong releasing 108 spirits imprisoned under an ancient stele-bearing tortoise.
A ''bixi'' plays a key role in a ghost story, "The Spirit of the Stone Tortoise" (, ''Bixi jing''),
from Yuan Mei's (1716–1797) collection ''Zi Bu Yu, What the Master does not Speak of''.
The French poet and researcher Victor Segalen
Victor Segalen (14 January 1878 – 21 May 1919) was a French naval doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, writer, poet, explorer, art-theorist, linguist and literary critic.
He was born in Brest. He studied medicine and graduated at the Navy S ...
(1878–1919), who published both a scholarly book about China's stelae and a book of poetry-in-prose about them,
was also impressed by the "truly emblematic" stone tortoises, their "firm gestures and elegy, elegiac posture".
Today, the image of the ''bixi'' continues to inspire modern Chinese artists.
Preservation concerns
As with other stone (particularly, marble and limestone) statuary, ''bixi'' turtles and their stelae are vulnerable to acid rain (or, in winter, acid snow). On the Harvard University campus, the curators of Harvard Bixi, its turtle protect it against the "acid snow" by wrapping it with a waterproof cover for the winter.
A more ''bixi''-specific concern is the wear to the creatures' noses from the people who touch them for good luck. At Hanoi's Temple of Literature, highly popular with visitors, this has become a sufficient concern to the site's managers as to make them develop plans for introducing creative landscaping and structural obstacles to keep visitors from touching the temple's 82 stone turtles.[The custom of rubbing ''bixi'' for good luck (or protection from bad luck) is attested in:
]
Notes
See also
* :commons:Tortoise stelae in the Temples of Confucius and Yan Hui in Qufu, Tortoise stelae in the Temples of Confucius and Yan Hui in Qufu - twenty-five ''bixi'' from the Temple of Confucius, Qufu, Temple of Confucius and Temple of Yan Hui in Qufu, from five dynasties, from Song dynasty, Song to Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
.
* Turtle-back tombs, Turtle-shell tombs
* Chinese dragon
References
* (Posthumous publication, based on research done in 1909–1917)
* Includes Segalen's original text and the English translation Timothy James Billings and Christopher Bush. The original was published in 1912; its text can be also found at http://www.steles.net/
*
Section 1
.
External links
(an overview of the ''Bixi'' tradition)
{{Chinese mythology
Chinese iconography
Chinese architectural history
Chinese sculpture
Chinese legendary creatures
Fictional turtles
Animals in art
Chinese dragons