先秦时期鬼、魂观念的起源及特点

Origins and Characteristics of the Idea of Gui (Ghost) and Hun (Soul) in the Pre-Qin Period

鬼、魂观念是中国传统思想文化的有机组成部分。鬼、魂观念在先秦时期有较大社会影响,礼仪、祭典、习俗等皆与之关系密切。鬼观念滥觞于新旧石器时代之际出现的埋葬习俗,《山海经》的时代,人们或将形态怪异而令人惊骇者称为"鬼"。《礼记·祭法》所谓"人死曰鬼,此五代之所不变也"之说表明,唐、虞、夏、商、周五代将死去者称为"鬼",可见人死为鬼的观念应当出现得很早。关于"鬼"的最早记载见于殷墟甲骨卜辞。甲骨文"鬼"字是对于祭尸礼的"尸"的形象摹画。春秋时期尸礼渐废而鬼事兴。魂之观念的出现远后于鬼,春秋战国之际才开始出现"魂气"、"魂魄"之类说法。直到战国晚期,魂观念才真正摆脱物质性因素的羁绊。

As an organic part of traditional Chinese thought and culture,the concepts of gui(ghost)and hun(ethereal soul)had a strong impact on pre-Qin society,one that was closely related to ritual,sacrifices,and customs.The idea of gui originated in burial customs that emerged at the juncture of the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages.At the time of the Classic of Mountains and Seas(Shanhaijing),strange-looking,frightening people may have been referred to as gui.The"Methods of Sacrifice "chapter of the Book of Rites(Liji)reads,"The dead are called gui;this has not changed in the past five dynasties." This shows that in the Tang,Yu,Xia,Shang,and Zhou dynasties,the deceased were called gui,indicating that the notion that a dead person becomes a gui or ghost appeared quite early.The earliest surviving record of gui occurs in an oracle bone inscription found in the Ruins of Yin.In such inscriptions,the character for gui is an image of the corpse used in sacrificial rituals.In the Spring and Autumn period,this practice died out,and the custom of serving the dead in their ghostly state arose.The concept of hun emerged much later than that of gui.It was only at the juncture of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods that the words hunqi(the soul's energy)and hunpo(the soul)began to appear,and the concept of hun did not truly cast off its material shackles until late in the Warring States period.