Turtle-shaped pedestal

Turtle-shaped pedestal

Turtle-shaped pedestal [Liu Village, Qiaolin Subdistrict, Pukou District, Jinshan Group, Rolling Mill Site · Ming Dynasty · District-level Cultural Relics Protection Unit] The turtle-shaped pedestal is located at the Rolling Mill Site beneath Golden Sparrow Mountain. It measures 1.5 meters in length and 0.6 meters in both height and width. Legend has it that this stele is related to Liu Guan, an imperial censor of the Ming Dynasty, but its current location does not match the records in local chronicles. Some say this turtle is part of a “two-turtle carrying one stele” arrangement. Based on the shape of the wedge groove on its back, this turtle is indeed one of the two, but the other turtle remains unaccounted for. Near the Rolling Mill Site, there are two large stele components at a nearby residence. Locals claim they are parts of the stele that sat atop the turtle — one is a circular stele head and the other is a rectangular stele body. Both components are 0.8 meters wide and 0.15 meters thick. This stele might be a feng shui stele, possibly used to suppress water. It was designated as a county-level cultural relics protection unit in 1983 and a district-level one in 2002.