Black Tortoise/Black Warrior/Xuánwǔ/Genbu/Chih Ming

The Black Tortoise is a creature that was initially a Chinese symbol and was later adapted into Japanese myth. It is one of the Shijin along with the Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and the Azure Dragon. It is connected to the North, the color black, water, and winter. It was thought to represent cold, harshness, and power, and was also connected to the Funaoka-Yama Mountain. Sometimes it was represented as a traditional Chinese warrior with turtle and snake motifs, and other times it was depicted as a turtle and snake mating, combining into one singular animal. The reason for the snake and turtle being intertwined has been lost to time. It has the associated mansions (these being associated with the phases of the moon) Hikitsu-Boshi, Iname-Boshi, Uruki-Boshi, Tomite-Boshi, Umiyame-Boshi/Umiya-Boshi, Hatsui-Boshi. These mansions lie in the constellations Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pegasus. New cities were structured in accordance with this creature and the other Shijin, who were replaced by the Four Kings of Buddhism, with the Black Tortoise specifically being replaced by Tamonten/Bishamonten.

Citations:

10,000 Chinese Numbers. N.p., Lulu.com.

Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2016.

Frydman, Joshua. The Japanese Myths: A Guide to Gods, Heroes and Spirits. United Kingdom, Thames and Hudson Limited, 2022.

Hartmann, Sieglinde, and Grafetstätter, Andrea. Islands and Cities in Medieval Myth, Literature, and History: Papers Delivered at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Austria, Peter Lang, 2011.

Japanese Mythology: Discover the Great History of Japan! Get ready to face Monsters, Spirits and the Strangest Creatures of the Rising Sun. Bonus: 3 Stories of Warriors from Nippon Folklore. N.p., Bruce Simons, 2023.

Okuyama, Yoshiko. Japanese Mythology in Film: A Semiotic Approach to Reading Japanese Film and Anime. United Kingdom, Lexington Books, 2015.