蚕的意义:中华早期艺术图像谱系“由龙返虫”的逆变

The Meaning of the Silkworm: The Regression of Pre-historical Chinese Artistic Images from Dragons Back to Worms

红山玉龙及其来源之图像分析,由虫到龙的谱系已成定谳,后来的中原文明遵循这一演化序列,神格上几乎就是神龙一统的图像世界。良渚文明以龙首纹的形式接纳了红山玉龙,但是另创了它的主神图像谱系。在此过程中发生了复杂的图像演变,导致了路径的逆转:其一,器型上,由红山首尾衔接的单体龙向良渚多个龙"首"作周向式排列转置;其二,玉龙的标志性图像元素——耳朵,在良渚图像谱系中被彻底消解;其三,良渚主神为上人下兽组合,即神徽,龙的图像元素被玉琮自下而上的轴向式主导规制所排斥,龙首系列降为良渚次神。此一图像谱系的变迁可看作虫—龙图像演化路径的逆变。探究其因,可以发现良渚主神的神格是时空四维的,而神龙主要是时间一维的,这是两个文明神格的基础性差异。良渚主神并未接纳红山龙,而是内生于其自身的桑蚕文明系统。蚕(虫)之变态,"蚕眠"与"结茧"等神秘过程,可谓良渚神徽创设的灵感来源。蚕的变态被隐秘地设计于神徽之上,体现为兽面向神人赋能。

The image analysis of Hongshan Jade Dragon and its origin has reached a conclusion on its evolution, that is, from the worm to the dragon. The Zhongyuan culture inherited the Hongshan tradition and unified the image of the dragon with that of god. Liangzhu culture adapted Hongshan Jade Dragon for the dragon head motif yet created a brand new image genealogy of deities. Complex changes led to a regression in the image: First, in terms of shape, the Hongshan circular dragons transformed into multiple dragon heads arranged in a circle in Liangzhu culture. Second, the signature design of dragon ears disappeared from the Liangzhu image genealogy of dragons. Third, the presiding deity of Liangzhu was a half-man-half-beast that formed a totem in which the image of the dragon head, bound by the vertical composition, became secondary in the Liangzhu theogony. This transformation of image could be seen as a regression of the evolution from the worm to the dragon. Seen from the perspective of theogony, the presiding god of Liangzhu is four-dimensional while the dragon is one-dimensional or temporal, a fundamental distinction between the two cultures’ theogony. The presiding god of Liangzhu didn’t stem from Hongshan dragon but the silkworm culture of its own. The mysterious processes of the silkworm’s metamorphosis, inactiveness, and cocooning inspired the design of the Liangzhu totem. The metamorphosis of the silkworm became a design element in the totem, a symbol of the beast’s empowering the man.