犰狳与商周青铜器披甲兽

Armadillo and the Armored Beast in Bronze Vessels of Shang and Zhou Dynasties

本文将根据考古发现,讨论犰狳与麻风病在对中国文明的影响。犰狳(学名Dasypodidae)是中国古代野生动物,始见于汉代博物志《山海经》。1973年,在广东南雄古新统(距今6500万—5650万年)地层发现了一具完整的犰狳祖先贫齿兽化石。公元前13—前9世纪,犰狳又以商周青铜器披甲兽的形象现身。公元前747年秦人在陈仓所获怪兽。公元前505年季桓子所获怪兽,很可能皆为犰狳。距今4500—前4000年前,犰狳携带的麻风病在印度河文明遗址出土达罗毗荼人骨骸被发现。公元前4世纪,中国与印度之间丝绸之路业已开通,那么公元前3世纪秦国爆发麻风病的疫源地很可能在印度。公元3—7世纪,犰狳携带的麻风病在中国各地不断爆发。虽然明代犰狳在中国绝迹,但犰狳携带的麻风病直至现代仍在中国东南沿海地区肆虐横行。

This article will use archaeological findings to discuss presence of armadillos and the impact of leprosy for which armadillos act as a host on Chinese civilization.Armadillos(scientific name:Dasypodidae)are first recorded in the Shanhaijing(Classic of Mountains and Seas),a natural history book from the Han dynasty.In 1973,a complete late Paleocene(65–56.5 Ma)fossil of xenarthran,an ancestor of armadillos,was discovered in Nanxiong,Guangdong.Armadillos appear in the form of armored beasts on the bronze vessels of Shang and Zhou dynasties(c.13th to the 9th century BCE).Monsters recorded by the Qin as appearing in Chencang in 747 BCE and a monster found by Ji Huanzi in 505 BC are also likely to have been armadillos.Signs of leprosy,carried by armadillos,start to appear on the skeletons of Darovidians unearthed from Indus civilisation sites dating back to 4,500-4,000 years ago.The first traces of Silk Road between China and India date to the 4th century BCE.Therefore it is highly possible that the leprosy pandemic recorded in the state of Qin in the 3rd century BC would have originated in India.Repeated outbreaks of leprosy are recorded to have occurred in China from the 3rd century BC to the 7th century CE.Although armadillos were extinct in China by the Ming dynasty,leprosy transmitted by armadillos to humans has continued to be endemic in China’s southeast coastal areas through to the present day.