“轮流奉妖”母题的传播与文化的异变整合

The Spread and Mutation of the Motif of“Taking Turns to Serve the Demon”

"轮流奉妖"母题往往与过路英雄顶替牺牲,斩妖除害、扫清积弊等情节相结合。印度史诗、民间故事和佛经为母题之源,而本土淫祀观念在与汉译佛经故事结合中推波助澜。明清同母题故事由轮流奉妖吃童男女,转而关注以童男女修炼及强娶人妻等,显现出人类在生存空间中,其角色从作为暴力者的食物转变为暴力者的修身养性成仙了道之工具。专制社会伦理迫使家族操控者轮流贡献下一代"舍生济众",将不合理的"规矩"视为正常,需要少数外地英雄打破陋俗,此为母题伦理反思的核心。

The motif of ＂taking turns to serve the demon＂ is often combined with a passenger＇ s sacrificing himself to kill the demon and remove the ills of the society. This motif originates from Indian epic, folk tales and Buddhist scripture, and witnesses a great development when local practice of excessive sacrifice was blended with the Chinese translation of Buddhist anecdotes. Stories of this motif in Ming and Qing Dynasties evolved from those in which boys and girls are sacrificed to the demons to be eaten to those in which boys and girls are taken as means for the demons＇ ascension to godhood or demons marry by force the wives of mortals. This shows that humans＇ role in the society changes from the meat of the violent to the means of the violent＇ s ascension to godhood. The ethics of an authoritarian society force the family leaders to take turns to sacrifice their younger generation for the sake of public good and rationalize the unreasonable ＂rules.＂ Unfortunately, these rules will only be broken by some heroes from other communities. This is exactly the aspect of the motif that we need to reexamine.