摘要
殷商时期,作为动物实体的大象广泛参与了先民驯养、田猎等生活及生产活动乃至宗教祭祀活动。先民和大象的这种密切关系,使得"象"作为概念具有了从自然属性升华到哲学范畴的前提条件。先是在一系列的社会政治生活事件中,大象逐渐具有了神圣性。神圣性是大象由自然属性向哲学属性、文化属性转换的关键一环。这种神圣性使得"象"之所指从具体到抽象,具有了更广泛的象征性,这一点已经从殷商青铜器的象纹饰和象形制品中清晰地体现出来。考古发现还同时表明,用大象作祭牲已然是殷商祭祀活动中的一种常态,并且祭祀对象大多是先王。这也印证了殷人服象之传统和帝舜服象传说在殷商先民中所形成的对象的尊崇之情,因而具有了更深层次的文化意蕴。
During the Shang Dynasty,elephants were widely involved in domestication,hunting,production and other activities,even in religious sacrifice.The close relationship between people and the elephant constituted an essential precondition for the sublimation of the concept of elephant as an animal into philosophical category.First,the elephant gradually gained the properties of sanctity in a series of social and political life and activities.Sanctity was a key link in the transformation from the natural attributes of the elephant to its philosophical and cultural attributes.This sanctity changed the meaning of“elephant”from concrete to abstract with more extensive symbolic connotations,which was clearly embodied in the sculptures in the bronzes of the Shang Dynasty.Archaeological discoveries also indicate that the use of elephants for sacrifice was a norm in the Shang Dynasty and those to be sacrificed to were mostly kings.They also confirm the tradition of elephant-decorated clothing in the Shang Dynasty and the story of Emperor Shun’elephant-decorated clothes,which,again,shows that the elephant has profound cultural implications in Chinese culture.
作者
李安竹
LI An-zhu(Zhujiang College,South China Agricultural University,Guangzhou 510000,China)
出处
《唐山学院学报》
2018年第2期88-97,共10页
Journal of Tangshan University
基金
2016年广东高校省级重点平台和重大科研项目(2016WTSCX138)
关键词
殷商
大象
神圣性
Shang Dynasty
elephant
sanctity
