Tortoiseshell Maori Plum Garden 《Plum Garden Introduction》
Hawksbill turtle, also known as turtle, a kind of turtle, four feet for flesh fins, the mouth resembles an eagle hook, so it is also called eagle-billed turtle. In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there is already a suspected tortoiseshell "spinning turtle": "The mountain of the sun, the strange water comes out, and the east flow is injected into the water of the xian wing, of which there are many turtles, which are shaped like turtles and the head and tail of the bird, and their names are known as the spiny turtles." Its sound is like a judgment wood, and it is not deaf. "The shape of the turtle is a bird's head and snake's tail, and wearing the turtle will not be deaf. The so-called spiny turtle is suspected to be a tortoiseshell.
People first noticed the tortoiseshell, in addition to the peculiar appearance of its bird-billed turtle body, pay more attention to its back shell, that is, the bright mirror bone armor, brownish red background color and light yellow cloud spots, polished after there is a translucent texture, once used as an ornament, Han Le Fu "Peacock Southeast Flying" described Liu Lanzhi's makeup: "Under the feet of the silk shoes, the head of the tortoiseshell light." "It's about tortoiseshell ornaments.
From the Zhou Dynasty onwards, tortoiseshells appeared on the list of tributes, alongside ivory, rhino horns and other objects. This is a rare treasure from the South China Sea, it is extremely difficult to harvest, there are thirteen pieces of tortoiseshell back armor, "Haicha Yulu" mentions the method of taking the tortoiseshell back armor, it looks extremely cruel, the tortoiseshell is hung upside down, with boiling vinegar splashed on the back armor, you can "piece by piece down". The young tortoiseshell armor is soft and thin, unusable, and the large ones are extremely rare. Coupled with the long distance of transportation, it is expensive and luxurious, and it is difficult for ordinary people's homes to be cared for. The "History of Chunshen Jun" mentions a story of using tortoiseshell to show off wealth, the Plain King of the State of Zhao sent emissaries to the Chu State Chun Shen Jun, Chun Shen Jun arranged the envoys to stay in the pavilion, the envoys of the State of Zhao wanted to boast, they wore tortoiseshell hairpins, the sword was decorated with beads and jade, and when they saw Chun Shen Jun's disciples, "More than three thousand people of the Chun Shen Jun, and their guests all crept to see the Zhao Envoy", the Chu State's extravagant arrogance made the Zhao Envoy feel ashamed.
Tortoiseshell Nie Huang "Sea Mistake Map"
Fantastic beasts from exotic places often carry divine attributes. The brilliance of the tortoiseshell is said to absorb the essence of the moonlight, according to the "Guangdong New Language", the tortoiseshell "night volt satin, gaze upwards, compete with the moon for the light, the essence of the moon because of the yan, and the text." "When fishermen catch a tortoiseshell, they have to cover its back with something, and the tortoiseshell cannot move, and in the daytime, its pattern will be more vivid, as if it is sealing the moonlight in the shell."
In addition to external beauty, tortoiseshell also has intrinsic value. From the beginning of the "Pei Zhi Is Not Deaf" in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, tortoiseshell has appeared as a precious medicinal material in Materia Medica. It is generally believed that tortoiseshell can detoxify hundreds of poisons, similar to the effect of rhinoceros horn, it is said that the tortoiseshell back nail is ground into powder, water can be detoxified, a saying can stab blood to drink, can detoxify.
hawksbill
What is even more amazing is that the "Compendium of Materia Medica" believes that the tortoiseshell back armor has the miraculous effect of predicting food toxicity, "where the diet is poisonous, it will shake itself." "Moreover, this must be the back armor removed from the live tortoiseshell, and when it sees poison, it will shake itself as a warning, and if the tortoiseshell is dead, it will no longer be effective." It can be seen that the ancients regarded the tortoiseshell back armor as a spiritual living creature, and although it left the mother body, it still maintained its vitality. The Qing Dynasty painter Nie Huang also mentioned in the "Sea Mistake Map" that "Tang Si Xue Wang Zhen Nanhai, the sea people have sacrificed life to the turtle, Wang Ling unveiled a small piece of armor on his back, tied to the left arm", is to see the detoxification function of the tortoiseshell, the prince and nobles tied the tortoiseshell armor on the arm, when the vibration can be felt at any time, in order to prevent poisoning.
The warning function of the tortoiseshell is nothing more than the wishful thinking of the ancients, and the real tortoiseshell loves to eat the sponge in the coral reef and can also digest the glass, which is also a surprise. Tortoiseshell is now an endangered animal, and may it live in the world rather than in legend.