中国古代社木文化发微

Discussion on Ancient Chinese Culture of Shemu

树木崇拜在世界各民族中都占据着一席之地,中国古代树木崇拜最典型的代表是社木。社木思想发端于建木传说、土地崇拜和封疆之木三个源流;最早以树木立为社的标识可能始于禹时期,有明确“立木为社”制度的记载见于周代;社木的作用主要在于“尊”“识”“表”三个方面;古时各国各地社木的选择遵循“因地制宜”,优先选择高大茂盛且本土适生的树木作为社木,诸如松、柏、槐、桑、梓、榆等都是先秦至汉时期惯用的社木种类;社木在祭社空间中的布局由“选树立社”时代的社丛环绕方形祭坛的形式逐渐演变为“立社树木”时代的在社坛上或社坛旁树立一株树的形式,而社木的地位也由见树如见社神的“神-树”一体演化为社坛上的一个民俗标记,到了近代成为各民族禳灾、祭祖、祈福的神树。当今社木文化遗风仍随处可见,如对风水树、古树、老树的信仰和崇拜,树木崇拜的文化现象既是人类尊重自然的一种自觉约束力的体现,也是为记住“乡愁”的重要情感符号。

The most typical representative of tree worship in Ancient China was the Shemu.The idea of Shemu possibly originated from the legend of Jianmu,the land worship and the frontier trees;The function of Shemu is to show respect and praise to the Land God and mark the land.The species selection of Shemu in different regions followed the principle of adjusting measures to local conditions,and usually the local trees with tall trunk and luxuriant crown was been chosen as Shemu.The position arrange of Shemu in the space of sacrifices to Land God has been gradually evolved from the form of Shemu around the square sacrificial altar into the form of a single tree on or beside the sacrificial altar.Then,the status of Shemu was evolved from trees representing the Land God into a folk mark at the sacrificial altar,and it became a divine tree for praying,ancestor worship and defending against disasters.