川东北木雕“牛王菩萨”的文化意蕴

Cultural Implications of Wood Carving “Cattle King Bodhisattva” in Northeast Sichuan

牛成为民间的保护神,渊源于远古的动物图腾信仰,后来演变为动物神。秦代已有祭牛神的风俗。川东北地区有供奉"牛王菩萨"的习俗,大多为20-40公分左右的木雕造像,木雕作品的菩萨和牛,形象生动、姿态各异。造像把对牛的图腾崇拜和佛教菩萨信仰结合在一起,其文化意蕴已经不是单一的宗教祭祀,是农耕文化的体现。是道教、佛教、原始图腾崇拜的综合体,充分传达出中国民俗文化的特点,具有表达农耕文化的符号意义。迄今为止川北的南部县每年都有牛王会。

Cattle became folk patron God from an animal totem belief, and later it evolved into an animal god. There was a custom of offering sacrifice to Cattle God in Qin. “Cattle King Bodhisattvas” were enshrined in northeastern Sichuan which were mostly around 20-40 cm wooden carvings. Carvings of Buddha and cattle were vivid with various shapes. Carvings combined the cattle totem worship with the Buddhist Bodhisattva beliefs, whose cultural implication was not a single religious worship but a manifestation of farming culture and a complex of Taoism, Buddhism, primitive totem worship, which fully conveyed the characteristics of Chinese folk culture with the expression of symbolic significance farming culture. So far, “Cattle King Festival” is celebrated in Southen County in North Sichuan every year.