Visitors to Tainan can see many unusual historic sights, but perhaps none is so unique as the "Stone Turtle Tablets," which stand nine abreast in front of the Chihch'ien Building. These massive, well-maintained tablets remind one that China has long held a special place for the turtle, which ranked among the Four Souls and the Four Spirits in the Chinese supernatural universe.
Ancient myths often refer to the turtle's burden. Early legends said that the turtle's shape represented the cosmos, with the round top part of the shell being the heaven and the flat bottom being the earth. Another legend reported that the mythical Nu Wa placed the feet of a giant turtle at the four extremities of the world to support the heavens.
Many legends come from the Ho T'u Lo Shu, a set of mystical signs and markings dating from before the Hsia dynasty (2205-1782 B.C.). Accounts say that when the Emperor Yu tamed the floods, a turtle spirit emerged, on whose back were inscribed nine different kinds of writing. Yu arranged the characters properly, and they later became the nine laws for keeping the country in order.
Despite the mythical nature of the Ho T'u Lo Shu, its importance in ancient society, which especially prized the written character, cannot be overestimated. As such, the construction of the stone tablets, each bearing a different kind of writing, was entirely in keeping with Chinese culture of the time. While the uninitiated may feel that tablets and turtles belong to different types of sculpture, a visit to Tainan can quickly persuade him how they can be harmonized into a striking work of art.
(Mark Halperin)
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