Tortoise Shells

Some articles on tortoise, shells, tortoise shells, shell:

Oracle Bone - Materials
... The oracle bones are mostly tortoise plastrons (ventral or belly shells, probably female) and ox scapulae (shoulder blades), although some are the carapace ... However, over time, the use of ox bones increased, and use of tortoise shells does not appear until early Shang culture ... The earliest tortoise shells found that had been prepared for oracle bone use (i.e ...
Cultural Depictions Of Turtles And Tortoises - In Mythology, Legends, and Folklore - Asia - China
... left of the paws, to the middle right of the shell, and at the bottom of the tail ... According to the "Book of ceremonies", the single-horned rhino, phoenix, tortoise, and dragon are the four entities that possess spirit ... Tortoise shells were used for divination during the ancient Chinese Shang Dynasty and carry the earliest specimens of Chinese writing ...

Famous quotes containing the words shells and/or tortoise:

    As many as the shells that are on the shore, so many are
    the pains of love; the darts that wound are steeped in
    much poison.
    Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)

    Deathlessness should be arrived at in a ... haphazard fashion. Loving fame as much as any man, we shall carve our initials in the shell of a tortoise and turn him loose in a peat bog.
    —E.B. (Elwyn Brooks)