论北方民族的天崇拜

On the Heaven Worship of Northern Ethnic Groups

天是北方民间广泛崇拜的对象,历史上,生活在这里的汉族和信奉萨满教的满、达斡尔、鄂伦春、鄂温克、赫哲、锡伯、蒙古等民族,以及日本、朝鲜、俄罗斯境内即东北亚地区的民族,都有许多敬天的习俗和祭天仪式。在人类文化史上,天崇拜是具有普遍意义的社会文化现象,但在北方民间却有一些突出特点,它延续的历史悠长,流传范围广泛,它渗透在民俗活动、民俗心理中,而且在传承过程中,天的作用与功能也愈益繁多,在整体上,则表现了一种原始文化特征。

Heaven is an object that northern people worship widely. Historically, there were many customs and ceremonies of heaven - worship among the Chinese who lived here and those ethnic groups who believed in Shamanism such as Manchu, Daur, Oroqen, Ewenki, Hezhe, Sibo, Mongolia, and even the nationalities who lived in the northeast Asia, such as Japan, Korea, and Russia. In the culture history of human being, heaven-worship was a social cultural phenomenon with general meaning; whereas in northern people, it had some distinguishing features. With a long continuing history and wide spreading, it penetrated into the folk activities and peoples' minds, and during its handing down from one generation to another, the role and function of heaven increased more, which showed a characteristic of original culture on the whole.