中华水神话的早期演进轨迹概说

An Overview of the Early Evolution of Chinese Water Myth

本文在中华创世神话研究的背景下,关注水神话演进的早期轨迹。水神话是创世神话中最早产生的一种系列神话,起源于原始先民的自然崇拜。随着先民思维的进步,水神完成了从自然形态向人形神的转变。早期中华水神话演进中有一个明显趋势,那就是水神地位的降低。在水神形态的演进和地位的变化过程中,水神家族也在不断扩大,最终形成较为完整的水神体系,这一过程与华夏民族的形成、国家政权的建立及其发展有密切的关系。国家对水神的祭祀在水神话体系的形成过程中具有重要意义,它强化了水神的地位及其影响,加速了水神话的传播。借助国家祭祀,中华水神话在汉代初步形成了比较稳定的体系。中华水神话的发展与先民治水技术的进步也有着密切关系,水利技术的发展在造就众多水神的同时,也导致了水神地位的下降。

Water myth is one of the earliest myths in creation myth, which originated from the natural worship of primitive ancestors. There is an obvious trend in the evolution of early Chinese water mythology, that is, the decline of the status of water god. In the process of the evolution of the form and the change of status of the water god, the family of the water god is also expanding, and finally a relatively complete water god system is formed. This process is closely related to the formation of the Chinese nation, the establishment of the state power and its development. The development of Chinese water myth is also closely related to the progress of water control technology of the ancestors. The development of water resources technology not only brings up many water gods, but also leads to the decline of the status of water gods.