苗族社会枫树崇拜文化探源——以雷公山为例

Study on Worship Culture of Maple of Miao Society

枫树是苗族崇拜的主要自然物之一。苗族先民认为:包括人在内的天地万物,都起源于枫木,人类的始祖姜央是从枫木所生的蝴蝶妈妈诞生出来的。苗族古歌中的枫木歌叙述了万物兴起和人类起源同"枫木"的渊源关系。远古时期的人类,由于其思维尚未发达,往往用与他们生活密切相关的实物来作为思想表达的依托物。枫树同苗族人的生活密切相关,苗族村寨,往往都能见到参天的古枫树群。这样,他们在探寻世间万物的起源时,就出现了有着十分丰富的思想内涵的"枫树"之类的实际物。

Maple is one of the natural objects for worship culture of Miao people. Ancestors of Miao thought that maple was the source of all objects in the world,because the father of the human being,Jiang yang,came from the butterfly mother whose mother was the maple. In Miao ancient songs,the relationship of the source of human being and all objects in the world and the maple was illustrated.During the ancient times,due to the undeveloped thinking style,human beings always used the objects which were associated with their daily lives to express their thinking. Maples could be seen everywhere in Miao villages; therefore,it was easy to associate such objects as maples with their thinking.