Why the carved dragon turtle is called one of the four spirits. The carved dragon turtle has turtle patterns on the back. There are three squares in the center of the turtle pattern, representing the three talents of heaven and earth, and there are 24 squares next to it, representing twenty-four mountains. There is also a 10 grid, which represents ten heavenly stems, and there is a 12 grid at the bottom of the stone carving turtle shell, which represents twelve earthly branches. On a small turtle shell, it contains all the codes representing the mystery of luck, so the stone carving dragon turtle is known as one of the four spirits. The stone carving dragon turtle was called Xuanwu in ancient times, and it is also called the four spirits culture with Qinglong, Baihu and Suzaku.
The use of dragon turtle stone carvings in town houses should have started in Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties at the earliest, but there has been no archaeological data to prove that the worship of god beasts originated from the original totem belief.