Going fishing in the river, the farmer accidentally racked up the 'mysterious' turtle' with 4 back arrows

When it comes to turtles, the Chinese have the proverb "The eighteen-year-old millennium" to visualize the enormous life span of turtles. Even in ancient times, among the divination tools were turtles. In 2003, the National Museum of China called on people to return the artifacts they had.

At that time, many people enthusiastically handed back the antiques and historical relics that they kept to the state. Among the treasures that the state has repossessed, there is an object that caught the attention of archaeologists. It was a copper turtle with four arrows on its back from an old farmer who accidentally caught it while fishing in the river.  

According to investigations and research by experts, this rusty "turtle" is made of copper and belongs to the national treasure level.

 Experts say it dates back more than 3000 years of history. What's especially confusing for this bronze turtle is that it has an arrow on its back. After discussion, the national museum decided to publish the photo of this "copper turtle" on its official website, in order to attract discussion and research of many circles for a long time. Some people believe that the arrows on the back of the turtle radiate in 4 directions, so this treasure name should be "Center of the four". 

According to the middle-aged man who handed over the copper turtle, he farmed along the river year-round. At that time, when he was preparing to fish, he saw something like a wounded turtle lying on the river bank, so he intended to bring it back for treatment. When he approached, he discovered that it was an ancient bronze item. At the same time receiving a notice that the National Museum called for people to return the artifacts, the old man did not hesitate to take the item and hand it over.  

Through expert judgment, this bronze piece has the shape of a "turtle" , in fact it is not called "turtle" (rules) but is called "tortoise " (original) . This is one of the tortoise family, because of its size, some can weigh up to 100kg. Therefore, the museum has named this treasure " Book of the council converged" (the book is the name of a kind of ancient history). On the back of this tortoise there are 4 lines, a total of 32 words: 32 lines in four lines: "Binh Than, Vuong Vu Hoan, Plan. Wang Nhat radiation, radiation tam, law (countless) waste. command (par) impregnate (kneel) brother (situation) choreographed the book ban, Japanese: through vu vu, female author (Nhu) said ". 

The entire body of the bronze tortoise is clearly displayed, the head and tail protrude to the right, the four legs are spread out, below the heels are a solid square foot support, above the shoulder is a nose. arrow, the left back has 2 arrows, the lower body has 1 arrow. This has led archaeologists to spend a long time deciphering.

The things described in the 32 inscriptions on the tortoise's back are also very legendary.

According to legend, Emperor Xinzhuang (the last king of the Shang Dynasty in Chinese history) held an arrow shooting competition in Anyang (Anyang), Henan Province more than 3,000 years ago. The king had come to the Hoan River (also known as the An Duong River), he fired the first arrow into the river, just hit the arrow or a turtle traveling on the river at that time. The book author stood next to the king at this time (name of an ancient mandarin - ban) pretending to praise the Emperor Thuong Tan martial arts. The king mercifully shot another 3 arrows, then ordered the person to pick up the tortoise's body to give it back to the officer.

This person, after bringing the tortoise's body home, has stored it well. Then he looked for some skilled craftsmen in the neighborhood to make a bronze turtle based on a model of a tortoise's body awarded by the king. In order to allow his descendant to know the origin of the tortoise, he asked to engrave on the back of three or three paragraphs telling the story that happened that day, also 32 words. found on the back of the tortoise 

The things described in these 32 inscriptions are also very legendary, and provide an important basis for the study of archery during the Shang and Zhou dynasties . Archaeological experts said that the word "ban" also appeared on many bronze artifacts of the Shang Dynasty, showing that it was a different reward for those who stood side by side with the king. conquered South and North, made many victories.