从北天王到北帝:试论玄武信仰传播史之关捩

From the Vaisravana to the Northern Emperor:On the Transition in the History of the Spread of Basalt Belief

玄武在先秦的形象本为龟,两汉以降演变为龟蛇合体,北宋初年更发展成披发跣足、脚踏龟蛇的帝王形象。从龟蛇“两位一体”到宋代真武“三位一体”,造型变化不仅意味着玄武之人格化,更赋予神格内涵以不同诠释。玄武人格化之酝酿期更早于北宋:唐代崇祀之毗沙门(北方多闻天王)对玄武信仰起了重要的参照作用。通过比较两种信仰之内涵,考察毗沙门与玄天上帝之间的演化线索,就玄武神人格化之过程作出进一步思考,以见北帝信仰传播史之多元性。

Xuanwu,one of the few gods in the Pre-qin dynasty constantly worshiped by people in later generations,was originally a turtle and has then evolved into the image of a combination of turtle and snake since the Han dynasties.In the early Northern Song dynasty,it developed into the image of an emperor who stepped on turtle and snake with disheveled hair and bare feet.The transformation from the“two-in-one”of“turtle and snake”to the“trinity”of“Zhenwu,the God”in the Song dynasty,not only casts light on the incarnation of Xuanwu,but also endows the connotation of godhood with different interpretations,which is worth further discussion.The present paper holds that the lead-up to the incarnation of Xuanwu was earlier than the Northern Song dynasty,and the worship of Pishamen(the Northern King of Heaven)in the Tang dynasty made significant relevant contributions to Xuanwu faith.Therefore,the connotations of these two faiths will be compared with an insight into the evolutionary clues of Pishamen and Xuantian,the God,to dive deeper into the process of the incarnation of Xuwu and demonstrate the diversity of the Northern Emperor Faith’s communication history.