中国上古神话中的生死观——以“颛顼死即复苏”神话为例

Life-death viewpoint in the ancient Chinese mythology: a case study of Zhuan Xu’s rebirth

中国上古神话中有不少神话隐含着对生死观念的探究,精卫填海、杜宇啼血、丹朱化鸟无不如此。在《山海经》中有一段“颛顼死即复苏”的文字,这则神话因“蛇鱼相化”而引人注目。蛇与鱼的意象在上古神话中频繁出现,二者同属阴,都代表了“生命延续”的含义。“蛇”以其神秘性、致死性和生殖含义象征了“死亡与再生”,“鱼”则因其强大的繁衍能力被赋予了“重生”的寓意。这一类变形神话表现出了原始人类对于生命与死亡的最初认识,并将这种情感与认识通过隐喻的手法表达出来,以“灵魂不灭”的方式达到人与万物相融,以“形态多变”的方式宣告生命的永恒,以“死生交替”的方式对抗死亡的降临。而这种非逻辑的原始混沌的认识正是原始人类最早产生的生死观念。

Among the ancient Chinese myths about life and death,Zhuan Xu′s rebirth in The Classic of Mountains and Rivers stands out for its description about the transformation between snake and fish.Symbolizing the continuity of life,snake and fish are no rare occurrence in ancient Chinese mythology.Snake means death and rebirth on account of its mystery and fatality while fish means rebirth because of it fertility.The metaphor embodies the ancient Chinese perception of life and death:immortality of the soul,various life forms and cycle of life and death.