“商羊舞”再探

Further Exploration on “Shangyang Dance”

“商羊舞”一词源出《孔子家语》“孔子辨商羊”故事。根据甲骨卜辞可知,商羊应与商代祈雨舞蹈“羊舞”有关。随着商周鼎革,商代的“羊舞”逐渐废弃,又于文献中不见记载,后人无法理解商羊含义,故而将其附会为一种精怪。今日所见“商羊舞”,原来亦为祈雨之用,其屈足而舞的动作形态,应与《孔子家语》故事中童子之舞一脉相承,甚或为商代“羊舞”遗制。

The word “Shangyang dance” came from the story of “Confucius Discriminating Shangyang” in Confucius Jia Yu.According to the oracle bone inscriptions,Shangyang was related to the rain-praying “Yang dance” of the Shang Dynasty.With the substitution of Shang Dynasty by Zhou Dynasty,“Yang dance” of the Shang Dynasty was gradually abandoned and disappeared from historical documents.It was difficult for later generations to understand its meaning,so they made it a far-fetched analogy as a kind of ghost.The current “Shangyang dance” was originally used for rain-praying.Its dancing movements of bending feet should be in line with boy’s dance in the story of Confucius Jia Yu,or even the legacy of the “Yang dance” of the Shang Dynasty.