释“社”

The Etymological Note of Chinese Character "She"

"社"乃古代中国之重要礼俗,源于原始"地母崇拜"。古文字"土""社"一字,其造字意象原型众说纷纭,有"土块说"、"男根说"、"女阴说"、"神主说"、"祭坛说"、"地母肚说"等。笔者认同"女阴说",从文献学、人类学、考古学等多维视野,对社祭之源、社主原型等进行了论证。"社"之点乃经血、产血之象,"血祭"、"衅礼"、"血盟"等古代礼仪皆源于"生殖崇拜"。

＂She＂, the important rituals in ancient China, evolves from the original ideas of the earth-mother worship. Ancient character ＂tu＂ and ＂she＂ are actually a signal word. There are many different opinions a- bout the images prototype, such as clods-theory, penis-theory, vulva-theory, ancestral-theory and altartheory. This paper agrees with vulva-theory, and further expounds the origin of sacrifice and the god of worship from the point literature, anthropology and archeology. Apropos of the drop in the shape of ＂she＂ is treated as the symbol of menstrual blood. Those ancient ceremonies, such as blood-sacrifice and clan by blood-ties are all originated from it.