向死而生——楚科齐人“自愿死亡”的人类学考察

Being towards death:An Anthropological Survey of the“Voluntary Death”of the Chukchi

以楚科奇人独特的死亡实践为例,从人类学视角探求其背后因由。西伯利亚东北部楚科奇族群中长期存在的“自愿死亡”①习俗不同于一般意义上的自杀,而是在达成某种协议的情况下,由亲人协助完成的一种死亡实践。“自愿死亡”通常上被解释为一种因该地区恶劣的生活条件导致的协助自杀行为。这一现象固然与自然环境和生存条件有关,但自愿死亡实践应源于楚科奇人信仰、世界观、生死观以及对人和自然间关系的理解。

This article takes the unique death practice of the Chukchi as an example,and explores the reasons behind it from the perspective of anthropology.The long-standing“voluntary death”custom in the Chukchi ethnic group in northeastern Siberia is different from suicide in the general sense,but a practice of death with the assistance of relatives in the case of reaching an agreement."Voluntary death"is usually interpreted as an act of assisted suicide due to the poor living conditions in the area.Of course,this phenomenon is related to the natural environment and living conditions,but the cause of the practice of voluntary death should be the Chukchi people's beliefs,world view,life and death view,and understanding of the relationship between man and nature.