What is the difference between bie, jia yu, wugui and wangba?

Bie, jia yu, and wangba are animal names we often mention in daily life, but many people cannot figure out: are they the same? Do they refer to the same animal? What are the differences among the four?

Bie, also called jia yu, shui yu, yuan yu, jiao yu, pa yu, tuan yu. Therefore, jia yu refers to bie.

“Wangba” is more complicated.

Its original meaning was “a man who connives at his wife's adultery”, and at that time it was written as “wang ba”.

Later people used “duck” to refer to or metaphorically describe “wangba”, because in the old Chinese breeds, the duck's head was green. (See “Water Margin”) 

Later it also referred to “wugui”, see (“Dream of the Red Chamber”, Xue Pan: “The man she marries is a wugui” “Her husband is a wangba”) 

Now it is basically used nationwide as another name for “bie”. 

In a Chinese language textbook published in Korea during the period equivalent to the Ming dynasty, there was already a usage of “wangba” to refer to “bie”, but in that text “wang” was written as (left radical yue and right radical wang), and “ba” was written as “ba”. 

So below we only need to compare the differences between wugui and bie.

What the two have in common:

1. Class Reptilia;

2. Breathe with lungs;

3. Oviparous;

4. Internal fertilization;

5. Ectothermic animals;

6. Reproduce on land;

Differences between the two:

1. The limbs, head and tail of animals in the turtle family can all be retracted into the shell, while the limbs of animals in the softshell turtle family cannot;

2. Turtles have patterns on the back of the shell, and the head and limbs also have markings, while the softshell turtle's shell does not;

3. The turtle's head is round, while the softshell turtle's head is pointed;

4. The turtle's shell is hard, while the softshell turtle's shell surface is smoother, its edges are soft, and its nose is like a pig's snout;

5. The turtle's belly is grayish black, while the softshell turtle's belly is white or slightly red;

6. Turtles have a hard beak and no teeth, and most are gentle in temperament and do not actively attack other animals; softshell turtles have teeth and are fierce in temperament, and often actively attack other animals only when they think they are in danger.