《元史》“复身龙”形象初考

Preliminary textual research on the image of"Fushen Dragon"in the History of Yuan Dynasty

“复身龙”为《元史》所载龙纹的一种独特称谓。然而,元代前后历史文字中并未有关于“复身龙”的详细表述,国内学者对《元史·舆服志》的研究少有涉及视觉化层面,因此至今仍未知“复身龙”的形象。文章主要从“复身龙”的词语意义考察入手,参照元代前后绘本、织物及来自西域的纺织品图像资料,推演得出“复身龙”的基本形象内涵。研究认为,“复身龙”盘旋蜿蜒,龙身之外应有云纹、火纹等辅纹装饰及织金,以呈细密繁复之状。而元代冕服的四条“复身龙”应始于肩部,并与日、月两章融为一体。作为中国古代历史典籍中出现的词汇,“复身龙”一词所处语境有可能暗示了元代特有的民族审美情趣。理解“复身龙”,有助于元代服饰制度视觉建构的相关研究。从对“复身龙”的文字理解到视觉化解释,是研究中国古代服饰制度的一种可行路径。

"Fushen Dragoon"is a unique appellation for the dragon pattern of imperial robe recorded in the History of Yuan Dynasty.However,no detailed description of"Fushen Dragon"can be found in the historical scriptsbefore and after the Yuan dynasty,and few studies of domestic researchers are focused on the visualization of Yuan Shi·Yu Fu Zhi,so that the appearance of"Fushen Dragon"still remains unknown.Starting with the investigation of the meaning of"Fu Shen Dragon",by referring to picture books,fabrics and textile images from the western regions before and after the Yuan dynasty,the basic visual connotation of"Fushen Dragon"is.According to the research,the"Fushen Dragon"should be circling and winding,with auxiliary decorative patterns such as cloud and fire pattern,and gold weaving outside the dragon body,so as to display the fine and complex shape.The four"Fushen Dragon"of robe in Yuan dynasty was supposed to start from the shoulder and integrated with the two patterns of sun and moon.As a single word that appeared in ancient Chinese historicalrecords,the context of"Fushen Dragon"may imply the unique aesthetic taste of the Yuan dynasty.Understanding"Fushen Dragon"is conductive to the study of the visual construction of the costume system in Yuan dynasty.The literal understanding of"Fushen Dragon"and further visual interpretation would provide a feasible path for the study of the costume system in ancient China.