TURTLES AND TORTOISES 9407
of learning about ritual and about the societies from which
the students came.
At this juncture, he became interested in the subject of
the neurobiology of ritual. It appeared that the contrasting
functions of the cerebral hemispheres, the right and left
brain, might correspond to the two aspects of society Turner
had been looking at, structure and liminality. In a major
essay, “Body, Brain and Culture” (1983), Turner speculated
that the right hemisphere might also be the source of univer-
sal symbolic patterns, such as C. G. Jung’s archetypes or his
own root paradigms and deep myths, which seemed to exist
at the subliminal level until activated and brought into the
articulate realm of the left brain. The existence of different
brain levels, especially the neocortex and the midbrain, also
seemed to resemble the ideological and orectic poles of domi-
nant symbols. Perhaps at the height of ritual, Turner specu-
lated, it was the interaction between these two levels with the
right and left hemispheres of the brain that produced the
transformational effect that was essential to successful ritual
performance. Although these were but speculations about
the possible biological mechanisms of the ritual process, they
were consistent with Turner’s fundamental conviction that
it was in the dynamics and dramatics of social, ritual, and
theatrical events that one came to understand the lives of
others and oneself.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
From 1980 until his death in 1983, Turner was an editor of this
encyclopedia, to which he contributed two articles: “Bodily
Marks” and “Rites of Passage: A Few Definitions.” His previ-
ously published works include the following.
Schism and Continuity in an African Society: A Study of Ndembu
Village Life. Manchester, 1957.
Ndembu Divination: Its Symbolism and Techniques. Manchester,
1961. Reprinted in Revelation and Divination in Ndembu
Ritual.
Chihamba, the White Spirit: A Ritual Drama of the Ndembu. Man-
chester, 1962. Reprinted in Revelation and Divination in
Ndembu Ritual.
“Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage.”
In Symposium on New Approaches to the Study of Religion, ed-
ited by June Helm, pp. 4–20. Seattle, 1964. Reprinted in
The Forest of Symbols.
“Witchcraft and Sorcery: Taxonomy versus Dynamics.” Africa 34
(1964): 314–325. Reprinted in The Forest of Symbols.
The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. Ithaca, N. Y.,
1967.
The Drums of Affliction: A Study of Religious Processes among the
Ndembu of Zambia. Oxford, 1968.
The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Chicago, 1969.
Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society.
Ithaca, N.Y., 1974.
Revelation and Divination in Ndembu Ritual. Ithaca, N.Y., 1975.
Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropological Perspec-
tives. Written with Edith Turner. New York, 1978.
From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play. New York,
1982.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION, SECOND EDITION
“Body, Brain, and Culture.” Zygon 18 (September 1983): 221–
245.
On the Edge of the Bush. Edited by Edith Turner. Tucson, 1985.
New Sources
Ashley, Kathleen M., ed. Victor Turner and the Construction of
Cultural Criticism: Between Literature and Anthropology.
Bloomington, Ind., 1990.
Barnard, H. G. “Victor Witter Turner: A Bibliography (1952–
1975).” Anthropologica 27 (1987): 207–233.
Haviland, William A. Anthropology. 6th edition. Fort Worth,
1991.
Lett, James. The Human Enterprise: A Critical Introduction to An-
thropological Theory. Boulder, Colo., 1987.
McLaren, P. L. “A Tribute to Victor Turner.” Anthropologica 27
(1987): 17–22.
BENJAMIN C. RAY (1987)
Revised Bibliography
TURTLES AND TORTOISES. There is a wide-
spread belief that the earth rests on the back of a turtle or
tortoise. This archaic idea is found not only among North
American Indians but also in South Asia and Inner Asia. The
turtle now appears even as a symbol of the entire universe
(e.g., in China). Moreover, according to creation myths in-
volving an earth diver, the turtle, sometimes as an incarna-
tion of the divine being, plays a prominent part in the cos-
mogony of various cultures.
According to the Maidu in California, a turtle dived to
the bottom of the primeval ocean and procured a little soil
under its nails. When it surfaced, God scraped its nails care-
fully and made a ball like a small pebble. The ball of soil then
grew miraculously until it became as large as the universe it-
self. The Yokut narrate how at the time of beginning the
eagle and the coyote sent a turtle into the waters. The motif
of the turtle’s successful dive is known also among the Algon-
quin. According to the Onondaga and the Mohawk (i.e., the
Iroquois), it was a turtle that directed several different ani-
mals into the ocean; a beaver tried in vain, an otter also
failed, but a muskrat returned successfully with soil in his
claws and mouth. This soil was placed on the back of the tur-
tle, and then the miraculous growth of earth began.
Inner Asia has preserved similar stories. According to
the Buriats, in the beginning there was nothing but water
and a turtle. God turned the turtle on its back and built the
world on its stomach. In other versions, Mandishire (the bo-
dhisattva Mañjuśrı̄) transforms himself into a great turtle
and supports the earth he has made on the surface of the
waters.
The great tortoise is often represented in India as the
sustainer of the four elephants upon whose backs the world
rests. In the Mahābhārata the tortoise, as an avatar of Visnu,
supports the earth when the gods and demons churn the pri-
meval ocean to obtain ambrosia.
In China, the turtle symbolizes the universe; its dome-
shaped back represents the sky, while its belly, square in
9408 TU-SHUN
shape, stands for the earth. It also appears as the god of the
waters, presiding over the north, one of the four cardinal
points of the universe. Black in color, it is symbolically asso-
ciated with winter and other aspects of the yin, or female
principle; as in ancient Egypt and Greece, the tortoise in
China is a symbol of erotic power and fecundity. Moreover,
the great age to which the tortoise supposedly lives has made
it a symbol of longevity and immortality; in the mythico-
iconographical tradition the tortoise often forms a complex
together with immortality, the moon, and paradise. There
are “stone” turtles in South Korea and southern Japan (Kyu-
shu), at its seashore facing the Korean Peninsula. Dating
from prehistoric times, these monuments indicate that peo-
ple believed in the turtle bestowing new life or immortality
on the dead and escorting them to the otherworld far across
the sea or to paradise under the waters.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
On the turtle in cosmogonic myths, much useful information has
been collected by Charles H. Long in his Alpha: The Myths
of Creation (New York, 1963), pp. 192ff. On turtle symbol-
ism in China, see Marcel Granet’s brilliant discussion in his
La pensée chinoise (1934; reprint, Paris, 1968), pp. 173ff. Jo-
hannes Maringer has studied “stone” turtles in East Asia in
his article “Vorgeschichtliche Grabbauten Ostasiens in
Schildkrötenform und ihr mythischer Prototyp,” Antaios 5
(1963): 368–374.
New Sources
Süss, Rudolph. Vom Mythos der Schildkröte: das Urtier als Glücks-
ringer. Dortmund, 1991.
MANABU WAIDA (1987)
Revised Bibliography
TU-SHUN SEE DUSHUN
T: ŪSĪ, NAS: ĪR AL-DĪN. Nas: ı̄r al-Dı̄n T: ūsı̄
(Muh: ammad ibn Muh: ammad ibn H: asan, AH 597–672/
1201–1274 CE), addressed in general Islamic literature as
khawājah (master) and the muh: aqqiq (scholar) of T: ūs, was
a Persian Shı̄ E ı̄ philosopher, theologian, mathematician, as-
tronomer, and statesman. He is by far the most celebrated
scholar of the thirteenth century in eastern Islamic lands.
Very little is known about his childhood and early education,
apart from what he reveals in his autobiography, the Sayr wa
sulūk. He was born in T: ūs, in northeastern Iran into an Ithnā
Easharı̄ (Twelver) Shı̄ E ı̄ family and died in Baghdad. He lost
his father at a young age. Fulfilling the wish of his father,
T: ūsı̄ took learning and scholarship very seriously and trav-
eled far and wide to attend the lectures of the renowned
scholars of the time. In a relatively short period, T: ūsı̄ mas-
tered a number of disciplines. At a time when religious edu-
cation was a priority, especially in his own family, which was
associated with Twelver Shı̄ E ı̄ scholars, T: ūsı̄ seems to have
shown great interest in mathematics, astronomy, and intel-
lectual sciences.
In the Sayr wa sulūk, T: ūsı̄ gives a brief account of his
theological and philosophical education, but he does not go
into details about the scholars with whom he became ac-
quainted, nor of his studies in mathematics and astronomy,
which latter became important areas of investigation for him.
But we know from other sources that T: ūsı̄ was a precocious
learner and by the time he was seventeen he had studied the
philosophy of Ibn Sı̄nā (d. 1037) with Farı̄d al-Dı̄n Dāmād
(d. c. 1246) and attended the lectures of Qut: b al-Dı̄n
Sarakhsı̄ (d. 1221) in Nı̄shāpūr, where he is said to have met
the famous poet and mystic Farı̄d al-Dı̄n EAt: t: ār (d. 1220).
At around this time, it is also certain that he studied jurispru-
dence.
At the age of twenty-two, T: ūsı̄ joined the court of Nās: ir
al-Dı̄n Muh: tashim (d. 1257), the IsmāE ı̄lı̄ governor of
Quhistān, in northeast Iran, where in his own words he was
accepted into the IsmāE ı̄lı̄ community. It is probable that in
Nı̄shāpūr, which at the time was an active center of IsmāE ı̄lı̄
preaching, he had become acquainted with its teachings.
Later, in a journey from Iraq to Khurāsān, he met Shihāb
al-Dı̄n Muh: tashim (d. c. 1245), a highly renowned IsmāE ı̄lı̄
scholar, and gradually he became more acquainted with
IsmāE ı̄lı̄ teachings through the religious writings of the
Nizārı̄ IsmāE ı̄lı̄ Imām H: asan EAlāD Dhikrihı̄ al-Salām
(d. 1166).
In Quhistān, T: ūsı̄ developed a close personal relation-
ship with the governor and dedicated to him and his family
a number of scholarly works, such as the Akhlāq-i Nās: irı̄,
Akhlāq-i Muh: tashimı̄, and Risāla-yi mu E ı̄niyya, which ulti-
mately paved the way for his move to Alamūt: , the seat of
IsmāE ı̄lı̄ political power in Iran.
Apart from editing, translating, and composing a variety
of philosophical and scientific works, T: ūsı̄ produced a num-
ber of IsmāE ı̄lı̄ texts, adding his scholarly background and
talents to the unique collection of literature and archival ma-
terials in Alamūt: . An example of this genre is his strong
philosophical and esoteric interpretation of IsmāE ı̄lı̄ thought,
as represented in the Rawda-yi taslı̄m in particular.
The Mongol invasions of western Asia led to the col-
lapse of IsmāE ı̄lı̄ political power and the massacre of
IsmāE ı̄lı̄s, who were perceived by the Mongols as a serious
threat. Under these circumstances, T: ūsı̄ sought alternative
patronage and was able to obtain employment in the emerg-
ing court of the Mongol conquerors, who wished to show
support for learning and science. He also embarked on writ-
ing a series of Twelver Shı̄ E ı̄ works.
In the Mongol court, T: ūsı̄ witnessed the fall of the Ab-
basid caliphate, and after securing the trust of Hūlegū
(d. 1265), he was given the full authority of administering
the awqāf (religious foundations). His primary concern dur-
ing this period was to protect the life of scholars and their
freedom to pursue learning. He also established probably the
most important observatory and center of scientific learning
of his time in Marāghah, in the northwest of Iran. Under
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION, SECOND EDITION