农业灾害史视野下的古代龙崇拜

Ancient LoongsWorship in the Perspective of Agricultural Disaster History

中国曾经长期处于农业社会,龙与水密不可分,龙可以缓解旱灾,亦可造成水患。通过梳理史料发现,向龙祈雨方式多样,记载不绝于史。蛟龙导致水患的记载颇多,亦有应对蛟龙的手段,但伐蛟记录很少。从农业灾害史的视角分析,发现我国古代旱水灾数量相当,而旱灾对农业生产的危害远大于水灾。古人应对旱灾的手段收效不彰,只能将降雨的希望寄托于神龙。为应对水灾,国家专设治水机构和官职,有一整套应对水患的措施。随着一次次旱灾的来临,祈雨活动的次数和规模不断扩大,人们对龙的崇拜不断强化,并将龙视为中华民族的象征。

Ancient China was an agrarian society,and loongs were inseparable from water,which could alleviate droughts or cause floods.By combing through historical materials,it is found that there are various ways to pray for rain with loongs,and the records are endless.There are many records of loongs causing floods,and there are also means of killing loongs,but there are few records of killing loongs.From the perspective of the history of agricultural disasters,the number of droughts and floods is comparable,but the damage of droughts to agricultural production is much greater than that of floods.The ancients’methods for dealing with drought were ineffective,and they could only hope for rain from the loongs.In order to deal with floods,the state has set up special institutions and official posts for water control,and has a series of measures for dealing with floods.With the advent of drought and the continuous increase in the number and scale of rain prayer activities,the Chinese have continu-ously strengthened their worship of the loongs and regard the loongs as a symbol of the Chinese nation.