夏商周始祖出生神话的再考察

An Re-examination of Myths about Ancestors’Birth in the Dynasties of Xia,Shang and Zhou

纬书中的大禹感生神话有吞薏苡而孕、流星贯昴而孕等神异情节,其出生则有画背而生、剖胁而生、胸坼而生和屠而生等说法,实际上都是剖腹产的神异化,流行于奉颛顼为祖先的部落族群中。感天而生的情节在政治神话中反复应用,而剖胁而生这一情节则被宗教神话所沿用。商族的卵生神话有两种形态,一是在高台上吞燕卵而孕,二是行浴时吞卵而孕。流行卵生神话的东方其他民族并无《子羔》篇中所记的背生情节,应该是夏族神话阑入所致。《子羔》篇中姜嫄所荐之“芺”当为紫芺,即紫草。在宋朝医书中,紫芺具有保胎功效,疑在先秦观念中有宜子之效。三代族源神话均言其祖先在“观”“游”后受孕,因此,感生情节不见得是母系氏族社会只知其母不知其父的反映,而是对仲春时节自由混乱的性爱习俗的文饰。

In the Wei Shu,the records about the myth of Great Yu's divine birth include some miraculous plots such as conceiving by swallowing job's tears or by seeing meteor passing by Pleiades.As for the birth of Great Yu,there are different records such as being born by the incision on the back,the rib,the chest,or even the body.All of them are actually a mystification of caesarean section.They were popular among the tribal groups who worshipped Zhuan Xu as their ancestor.The plot of getting pregnant by divine connection with the Heaven appears repeatedly in political mythologies,while the plot of being born through incision on the rib is inherited in religious mythologies.There are two types of oviparous myths of the Shang people.One is getting pregnant by swallowing swallow's eggs on a high terrace,and the other is conceiving by swallowing eggs while taking a bath.Oviparous myths are prevalent among the eastern ethnic groups,but the plot of being born by incision on the back as recorded in the Zigao is not present there.This plot could be influenced by the trespass of the Xia myth.In Zigao,the ao sacrificed by Jiang Yuan should be Zi'ao,or arnebia.In the medical books of the Song dynasty,Zi'ao is efficacious of protecting the fetus.Therefore,we may speculate that Zi’ao was considered as a booster of fertility in the pre-Qin thought.In the origin myths of the dynasties of Xia,Shang,and Zhou,all the ancestors in the myth are pregnant after sightseeing or excursion.Therefore,the plot of divine birth is not necessarily a reflection of the customs of the matrilineal society,where people only know their mother but not their dad.Instead,this plot is a gloss-over of the custom of unscrupulous sex during the mid-spring.