论志怪现象“马生角”的起源、内涵与思想基础

“Horse with Horns”:Origin,Connotation,and Ideological Foundation

古书中,"马生角"是一种常见的志怪现象,其原型源于古人对于龙与麟这两种传说中神兽的认识。古人常把马生角看作一种"象",这种"象"主要包括政治与人生两方面内容,在政治上"象"乱政、兵祸,在人生上"象"仕途失意、命运多舛。前者主要体现在史传中,后者主要表现在文学作品中。马生角现象反映了古人对灾异、五行、象数等哲学思想的心理认知,是古人处理天人关系的一种媒介。

In ancient books,“horses with horns” are popular mystery phenomenon. The origin came from ancient people’s imagination of Chinese dragon and Chinese unicorn. They took the phenomenon that horses grew horns as “signs”. The signs symbolize politics and human life aspects. As for politics,there are political disorders while concerning human life there are ups and downs. The former may be recorded in historical biography while the latter may be reflected in literary works. The imagination of horses with horns was ancient people’s psychological cognition to philosophical ideas about catastrophe,five elements,and image-numerology. Ancient people took it as a medium between nature and man.