弃子考

On Ancient Peoples' Discarding and Killing Children

弃杀婴儿曾是古代先民普遍的野蛮习俗 ,如今仍有残存。人类弃子大体包括两种情况 :一、男子之间为了生殖竞争而弃子 ,表现为非己所生则弃之、非婚而生则弃之。二、为了整个种群的生存和进化而弃子 ,表现为病残怪异则弃之、生活艰辛则弃之、性别失衡则弃之。两种弃子行为客观上都有利于种的生存和进化。人类的弃子礼俗直接源于动物特别是灵长类动物的相关习性 ,又带有鲜明的宗教文化色彩 ,是动物本能与人类理性相结合的产物。学术界很少关注人类弃子礼俗与动物本能的关系 ,这固然不妥 ;认为古人的人口生产但求多多益善 。

It was a commonly barbarous conduct that ancient peoples discarded and killed children being born in either bastard or non-consanguineous conditions for two purposes: the reproductive competition among men and the existence-based evolution of a given race. This conduct resulted from both the animal instinct and human's reasoning culture, being a spontaneous way for ancient people to regulate the quantity and quality of population.