《风土记》视域下的古代日本海神“鳄”信仰

The Ancient Japanese’s Belief of “Wani” in Fudoki

“鳄”是古代日本文化中重要的信仰对象,有观点认为它是在吴越移民鳄鱼信仰的影响下被虚构出的海神形象,但缺乏充足论证。通过解析《风土记》中的相关传说,可知古代日本人认为“鳄”是荒神,是海洋中一切灾祸的始作俑者,希望通过祭祀安抚它的狂暴,以减少来自海洋的威胁。这种避水害以自保的思想可追溯至绳纹时代,它与属于同一海洋民族文化圈的吴越水神信仰的本质相同,海神“鳄”信仰是绳纹末期吴越文化与绳纹土著文化融合后的必然结果。

The belief of“wani”is an important object in ancient Japanese culture.The image of“wani”is a mythical sea god under the influence of the Wu Yue immigrants'beliefs of crocodile.By analyzing the relative legends in Fudoki,the ancient Japanese belief of“wani”is the Aragami,which is the originator of all the disasters in the sea,hoping to appease its fury by offering sacrifices to reduce the threat from the sea.This idea of self-preservation can be traced back to the Jomon era;it belongs to the same marine national cultural circle of Wu Yue god belief.The belief of sea god“Crocodile”is the inevitable result of the integration of Wu Yue and Jomon aboriginal culture at the end of the Jomon period.