龙年说“龙”字

Discussion of the “Dragon” Character in the Year of the Dragon

“龙”是华夏儿女共同的文化记忆,中国人自称“龙的传人”。甲骨文、金文“龙”字字形主要表现了龙口大张、龙身弯曲似蛇身的特点,“龙”字的创制应是对早期龙造像和龙纹饰的模仿。夔龙纹最早出现在早商文化中,巨首是其重要特征,甲金文“龙”字字形与二里岗文化期夔龙纹极为相似。甲金文“龙”字的创制至少可追溯到早商文化,其字形所反映的巨首与蛇身的特点是龙具有“神降”和“神升”职能的表现。

“Dragon”is a common cultural memory among the Chinese people.They call themselves“descendants of the dragon”.The shape of“dragon”character mainly reflects the characteristic of a large mouth and a curved body resembling a snake in the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty and inscriptions on ancient bronze objects.The creation of“dragon”character should be the imitation of early dragon statues and patterns.The kuilong pattern first appears in the early Shang culture with a huge head as its important feature.The shape of the“dragon”character in the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty and inscriptions on ancient bronze objects is very similar to the kuilong pattern in the Erligang culture stage.The creation of the“dragon”character can at least be traced back to the early Shang culture.The characteristic of the giant head and snake body reflected in its character is the expression that the dragon has the functions of“divine descent”and“divine ascension”.