殷商之“皇”

Feather Crowns with Hairpin Accessories During the Shang Period

我国史前时期所崇拜的“祖神”形象,为头戴羽冠、半人半兽或半人半鸟之状。人们将其雕刻于各种玉制礼器上,赋予这些礼器以神圣地位;或直接用玉石雕刻成神像,置于冠顶,以此显示拥有者的权威性。这便是最初的“皇”之形象和观念。殷商时期继承了此前的传统观念,崇尚以羽翎为饰的羽冠,并将之用作祖先神之冠冕。戴有羽冠的玉雕神像,常常作为贵族们的冠徽或佩饰;当时贵妇间还流行模仿羽冠的笄冠。商代甲骨文、金文“皇”字,乃羽冠之象形,本义指用羽翎装饰的冠冕,引申为威仪壮美。卜辞中常用作人名或方国名,也借为“彷徨”之徨。铜器铭文见有用其本义者。商代有凤字,但尚无“凤凰”观念,凤、凰分属不同事物用字。但皇与凤密切关联,并对后世中国文化影响匪浅。

The image of the revered"ancestral deity"in China’s prehistoric period was characterized by a figure adorned with a feather crown,displaying a hybrid form of human and beast,or human and bird.These images were intricately carved onto various jade ceremonial objects,endowing them with a sacred status.Alternatively,jade figurines carved directly from jade were placed on the crown,demonstrating the owner’s authority.This marked the image and early concept of"皇".The Yin-Shang period inherited this traditional belief and placed great importance on feather crowns adorned with feathers and tail plumes of birds as the crowns of ancestral deity.Jade figurines wearing feather crowns were commonly used as symbols or ornaments by the nobility.Among noblewomen,there was a popular trend of imitating feather crowns with their crowns of hairpin accessories.The character"皇"in the oracle bone and bronzeware inscription during the Shang period is a pictograph representing a feather crown.Its original meaning corresponds to a crown adorned with feathers,which later extended to signify grandeur and majesty.It was used in divination texts as personal names(or names of regional state)and also to convey the notion of"徨"of"彷徨"(wandering).Inscriptions on bronze artifacts demonstrate the original meaning of this term.While the Shang Dynasty had a character of"凤"("phoenix"),the concept of the"凤凰"(male and female phoenix)had not yet emerged,with"凤"and"凰"denoted by separate characters.However,"皇"is closely associated with the phoenix,exerting a profound influence on later Chinese culture.