民俗学视野中的物质文化研究——以日本的齿木杨枝民俗为例

The Study of Material Culture in the Perspective of Folklore Studies--Folklore of the Teeth-cleaning Twig(Shiboku)and Poplar Branches(Yōji)in Japan as an Example

齿木,也称杨枝,是世界上一些地区民众日常生活中重要的洁齿具,也是与佛教密切相关的宗教用具。齿木杨枝及使用其洁齿的口腔清洁法在自印度经由中国、朝鲜半岛向日本传播的过程中,佛教及佛教文化起到了推动性的作用。齿木杨枝的使用,实质上普遍分布于非洲至东亚的广大地域,这透露出齿木杨枝这一外来物质文化在被本地社会所接受的过程中,相较于宗教因素,更重要的是普适性的共同需求这一底层动力的存在。

Teeth-cleaning twig(Shiboku),also known as poplar branches(Yōji),is an important dental cleanser in the daily lives of people in some areas,and is also a religious tool closely related to Buddhism.Buddhism and Buddhist culture played an important role in the spread of toothpaste and oral hygiene methods from India to Japan via China and the Korean Peninsula.However,the fact that the use of toothpick is widespread from Africa to East Asia reveals that there was a universal common need,in addition to religious factors,that underlay the acceptance of this foreign material culture by local societies.