Year of the Snake Themed Card - Si Ping An

▣ The Image of the Black Tortoise and the Northern Mansions The term "Black Tortoise" first appeared in the Warring States period text "Chu Ci" (Songs of Chu) in the chapter "Yuan You" (Far-off Wanderings). By the Western Han Dynasty, the "Tian Wen Xun" (Treatise on Astronomy) chapter of "Huainanzi" clearly stated: "The North is water, its emperor is Zhuanxu, its minister is Xuanming, who governs winter with authority; its spirit is the morning star, its beast is the Black Tortoise, its sound is 'yu', its day is ren and gui. When Taiyin is in the four central months, Sui Xing travels three mansions. When Taiyin is in the four corners, Sui Xing travels two mansions. Two eights are sixteen, three fours are twelve, thus in twelve years it travels through the twenty-eight mansions." This established a clear connection between the image of the Black Tortoise and the North, the Five Elements, celestial bodies, seasons, and the Heavenly Stems. It also explained that Jupiter (Sui Xing) completes one cycle of the twenty-eight mansions in twelve years, laying the foundation for later theories in astronomy, feng shui, and geography. Later, during the Xin Dynasty established by Wang Mang, designs for Four Symbols roof tiles emerged. These tiles, used as house decorations, served as totems to ward off evil and protect homes. They were deeply integrated into the imagery of Eastern Han daily life artifacts and tomb murals. In the tomb murals of Hetao and the Xi'an Jiaotong University Eastern Han tomb, the constellations of Xu and Wei are depicted as a combination of a tortoise and a snake. According to ancient legends, the Xia ethnic group resided in the North and revered Emperor Zhuanxu as their distant ancestor. The totem of Zhuanxu's clan was the tortoise, while his wife's clan was the snake. Combining these two, and on the "Shang Fang Shou Dai Jing" (Beast-Belt Mirror) from the reign of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there is an inscription: "Left Dragon, right Tiger ward off ill fortune; Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise harmonize Yin and Yang." It can be confirmed that in Eastern Han culture, the union of the tortoise and the snake had become the image of the Black Tortoise, carrying a belief in protection and peace.