中国与美洲印第安“乌日神话”比较研究

Comparative Study of “Crow-Sun” Myths between Chinese and American Indian

中国灿烂的阳鸟文化滥觞于上古时期,先民们把昼伏夜出的乌鸦幻想成载日的神鸟,又衍生出家喻户晓的射日故事。而极其相似的神话故事也在大洋彼端的美洲印第安原住民中广泛流布,太阳、火与乌鸦神仿佛被习惯性地捆绑成特定类型。古代中国与印第安人都将乌鸦视为载日神鸟,分别从乌鸟载日与衔日的想象衍生出射日与盗日神话。研究两种古老文明中相似的神话故事,或可为人种迁移说提供新证。

The idea of regarding bird as solar deity emerges in the Remote Ages of China,when ancient Chinese people imagine that crow,which hides in the daytime and comes out at night,is a god bird which carries the sun,and then create the household story of shooing the sun.On the other side of the Pacific Ocean,similar myths are widely spoken by indigenous American people,who have an imagination of a raven holding the sun in its mouth.These stories are all formed by 3close-connected elements：the sun,the fire and the crow.Both ancient Chinese and American Indians see crow as a god bird related to the sun,and imagine the myths of carrying the sun,holding the sun in the mouth,shooting the sun and stealing the sun.The comparative study of these similar fairy tales from these two great civilizations may provide evidence for the hypothesis that the first indigenous American people came from China.