How to find people who belong to the same totem as their ancestors in ancient times?

The media, which plays an important role in the ideology of a nation or a country, is worshipped collectively because it is recognized as the ancestor, and becomes the image target of some spiritual cohesion. This situation has existed since ancient times. The dragon and phoenix in China, the sacred cow and monkey in ancient India, the beetle and eagle snake in ancient Egypt, the female wolf in ancient Rome and so on. /kloc-cultural anthropology, which rose in the late 0/9th century, found a large number of animal ancestor concepts in the clan worship of American Indians. Because the ancestor of this animal is called "totem" in the local language, people borrowed the pronunciation of this word and transplanted it into the western language, which triggered a vivid wave of totem theory and greatly promoted the study of primitive religion by anthropology. Today, among various theoretical hypotheses about the origin of religion, totem theory still has many supporters. Outside academic circles, influenced by totem theory, writers and artists have integrated anthropological knowledge background into their image conception, and a new tradition of "prototype" expression has emerged, thus forming a special genre in literary criticism, which is called prototype criticism, myth criticism or totem criticism.

Totem theory entered China academic circles in the early 20th century, which triggered a wave of research upsurge. Li Xuanbo's New Exploration of Ancient History reinterprets ancient history legends with totem concept. Cen's History of Totem Art began to pay attention to the development of art from totem worship. It was a refreshing work at that time. In 1980s, when totem criticism in literary aesthetics was introduced into China, it also received a positive response. Zheng's totem aesthetics and modern people's and He's totem culture in China are temporary choices. But this time, the academic enthusiasm for totem soon fell silent. Because of the lack of theoretical results, it is unsustainable after all.

First of all, the wolf is coming

While China's totem criticism was trudging on the academic road, a song "I am a Wolf from the North" by pop singer Chyi Chin became popular all over the country. It can be said that it is the first time that the wolf is coming. This song is no stranger to people who have experienced it at that time. People can be wolves, and the signs of ancient beliefs lurking behind such lyrics are only regarded as figurative rhetoric of artistic language, far from being recognized as totems. Nevertheless, the "northern wolf" still appears in popular discourse. The gap between Jinluyuan: Wolf Brigade and the hostile ice has finally been broken, which reminds people of the increasingly rare wolves in the environment.

The reappearance of the wolf theme in contemporary creation is Jia Pingwa's novel "Missing the Wolf". Although it comes from a famous literary figure, it is not very popular, but it plays the role of "introduction", which shows that "nostalgia" has spread from individual to collective: "Wolf is coming". In the domestic book market in 2004-2005, the most resounding title was Wolf Totem. 50,000 copies were printed for the first time, and then reprinted continuously. If you count the pirated books and revised books that emerge in the streets and lanes, you can't tell that this novel has been published in millions. Publishers are scrambling to follow suit and launch new books such as Wolf Road and Wolf Nature Management Rules, which also indicates the new trend of the Year of the Dog. According to the China Reading Newspaper, the debate about "Wolf Spirit" triggered by "Wolf Totem" has been launched in all walks of life. This book continues to be at the top of the list of major books, and many teachers and parents hope that students and children can also read this book. In order to eliminate the reading obstacles caused by discussing profound issues such as values and national civilization, and let more young readers appreciate the spirit of "Wolf Road", the publishing house and the author specially created the children's edition of Wolf Totem Little Wolf and Little Wolf.

The novel was originally a fictional story, but Wolf Totem consciously assumed an important academic function. The pseudonym "Jiang Rong" given by the author is subversive in itself, and careless readers often ignore the cultural and political connotation of this name. Compared with the title "My ancestors were Chiyou" written by a Miao general a few years ago, it is obvious that his intention is to challenge the deep-rooted view of the Central Plains in Chinese civilization with a marginalized position. An Boshun, the planner of novel publishing, did not hesitate to come up with a sensational title-"Are we descendants of dragons or wolves?" Obviously, this novel has turned literary writing into a special textual research on cultural history.

The conclusion of the wolf totem investigation is clear: the Chinese dragon totem evolved from the grassland wolf totem. Between the wolf totem and the dragon totem, there is also a stage of gluttony totem (page 407 of Wolf Totem). It sounds reasonable, but ordinary readers without in-depth investigation and research obviously cannot judge its reality. Did our ancestors generally worship wolves?

The last few lines at the end of the novel are full of sadness: "wolves have become history, grasslands have become memories, and nomadic civilization has completely ended." Such eulogy can easily remind readers of the name of the last mohicans or the last Xiongnu, which will inevitably lead to reflection on the ecological environment. After reading a book with tens of thousands of words of "lectures and dialogues", it is not difficult to realize the author's painstaking efforts to find cultural identity for Chinese civilization again. Following the author's thinking, many people recognized the viewpoint in the book: the feudal spirit represented by dragons suppressed the life of the nation, and only by restoring the spirit of wolves can the nation take off.

This collective recognition may be an important reason why a large number of follow-up publications that preach "wolf nature" or "wolf nature" can have a market. Unfortunately, the academic attitude towards Wolf Totem seems to be mainly silence. The popularity of a novel has evolved into a cultural phenomenon. With the sale of English copyright of novels, the high price of film adaptation right of 6.5438+0 million yuan and the promotion of famous Hollywood directors, a media storm of re-understanding China totem is coming. This can not but attract the attention of academic circles, intellectual circles and educational circles, and take the wolf totem theory seriously in academic circles to avoid misleading understanding caused by fiction.

Is the totem ancestor of China culture really a wolf?

2. Wolf totem or bear totem?

If we want to find a common worship in the process of multi-ethnic cultural integration in China, dragons are undoubtedly second to none. But as we all know, dragons are not real animals. As a fictional creature imagined by ancient myths, dragons naturally have the source and foundation of their magical images. Recent archaeological discoveries in northern China show that dragons do come from real animals. These animal prototypes include pigs, deer and bears. Among them, the bear, as an idol, appeared in the goddess temple of Niuheliang 5500 years ago, which was particularly eye-catching. And it seems to be a bear directly related to the legendary ancestor of the Chinese nation, the Yellow Emperor. Referring to the rituals, beliefs and concepts about bears in the inheritance of Shamanism in the north, it can be said that the basis for the existence of bear totem is obviously much more sufficient and far older than that of wolf totem.

The book Wolf Totem quotes many historical books and academic works to prove how wolves are worshipped. But those statements are written records. Its era will not be earlier than before the use of words. In order to prove that the dragon totem originated from the wolf totem, we must explore prehistoric culture and turn to non-verbal physical materials: either from archaeological discoveries or from handed down collections, and so on. In the prehistoric culture of Mongolian grassland, Hongshan Culture, represented by Chifeng, is the most prominent. It is a jade culture that extended from Xinglongwa Culture to Xiajiadian culture for 4000 years from 8000 to 4000 years ago. Now, if we want to investigate the totem of the predecessors in the ecological history of the northern grassland, it is the jade of Hongshan Culture. Judging from the existing Hongshan jade modeling, it can be said that the image of the wolf is rare. At least at present, there are almost no descriptions in the books that have been officially published in Hongshan Culture. The bear image of jade carving is more common. Jiang Rong's explanation of the three-star Tara Yulong in Inner Mongolia is a wolf-headed dragon, which lacks a solid basis.

In April, 2006, the author, together with Professor Chen Ganglong of Peking University Oriental College, Professor De Liger, Dean of Chifeng College, and Professor Xu Zifeng, Deputy Director of Hongshan Culture International Research Center of Chifeng College, made an investigation in eastern Inner Mongolia and Hongshan Culture District of western Liaoning, and collected relevant archaeological materials from archaeological sites, Qi Xian Museum and cultural relics department. Preliminary analysis shows that the bear, as a main line of prehistoric totem in northern China, has been clearly presented.

Third, the correspondence between bear totem and prehistoric goddess.

From the whole Eurasia, among the many animal images found by archaeologists in the plastic arts of the Stone Age, the bear has a special position. Animals such as bears, frogs and owls all appear as the incarnation of the resurrection goddess, not just representing the animals themselves. In other words, the animal gods worshipped by prehistoric humans are often not pure nature worship. As far as bears are concerned, their basic gods in prehistoric beliefs are the gods of rebirth and resurrection. In the history of civilization, the various forms of the bear goddess are still clearly visible. For example, the ancient Greek goddess Al themis Festival, a priestess wearing a yellow robe, played the goddess Al themis as a bear. There is a similar situation in Nuo dance in China: the master who dances in bearskin pretends to be a bear god.

From an evolutionary point of view, bears have been one of the important targets of ape-man hunting activities for millions of years. People's knowledge and familiarity with bears can be said to be very long. About 500,000 years ago, humans preyed on bears, wild boars and other species. Taking the bear as the object of religious worship is also the evidence of the initial religious activities of human beings that we can see so far. Living in a Neanderthal cave between 0/0000 and 40000 years ago, archaeologists found that there was a bear's skull in the center of a circular altar made of stone. This scene greatly stimulated the study of the origin of religious history.

Bear's unique seasonal activities in the northern region, especially its hibernation habit, are more likely to give primitive people the impression that they can come back from the dead, so it has become a magical specimen and a mysterious sacred object that represents the concept of mutual change between life and death in prehistoric beliefs, which also makes it one of the first choice species of totem concept.

From a global perspective, bear totems are widely distributed, with an ancient origin, and relatively concentrated in northern Eurasia and North America. The spread of bear totem has had a far-reaching impact on the cultures of different nationalities in this vast area, such as the bear sacrifice ceremony of American Indians and Ainu people in Japan; The bear ancestor myths of Oroqen, Hezhe and Mongolian in Korea and China. It is no accident that the mythical creature "Xionglong" appeared in prehistoric Hongshan jade articles in China.

The prehistoric archaeological discoveries in recent 20 years show that the Neolithic culture in northern China has formed a long tradition of offering artificially made bears as gods. At that time, people used stones, jade, clam shells, clay sculptures and other materials to make bear idols. What's more noteworthy is that from Xinglongwa Culture 8000 years ago, to Hongshan Culture 5500 years ago, and then to Xiaoheyan culture more than 4000 years ago, it seems that the bear statue appeared in human form as a symbol of the goddess image. Take the idols of these three cultural relics as an example:

Example 1: The stone carving lying beast in linxi county Museum dates back 7500 years and belongs to Xinglongwa Culture in Neolithic Age. The carved animal is red tuff, with a slightly loose texture and a layer of gray soil outside. On the surface, it gives the impression that You Zhu is like a bear, which is the same as similar mammals seen in Hongshan Culture. It is difficult to determine whether it is a pig or a bear (Yu Jian: Hongshan Jade, Fiona Fang Publishing House, 2004). After careful investigation and analysis, it can be seen that it is more similar to the bear. There are three proofs: First, the beast does not highlight its limbs in the performance, but deliberately carves clear spinal joints on its back, which reminds people of the wind burial method in which bear hunters in the north keep the bear bones. For example, the Ewenki myth "The Origin of Bear Burial Ceremony" in China has made a unique explanation for this phenomenon of attaching importance to bear bones. According to the myth, the bear made a request to heaven: "People can eat me, but they can't throw bear bones everywhere." God agreed. Therefore, Ewenki people carry out wind burial on bears (Huang Renyuan: Study on Tunguska-Manchu Myth). This concept based on bone regeneration is the embodiment of prehistoric human's long-standing view of life, which can be traced back to the Paleolithic Age. Secondly, the stone beast's body is vaguely engraved with claws, not hooves. For example, the book "Hongshan Jade" contains a picture of a stone beast, explaining that "the lying claws are faintly visible at the bottom of the beast's abdomen." We know that pigs or wild boars only have hooves and no claws, so this detail also implies the existence of bear claws under animals. Third, the shape of the ear on the animal's head is obviously a bear's small ear, not a pig's big ear.

Example 2: Statues of clam and bear carved in Chifeng Museum. In 4870, the Toad Mountain unearthed in Jiefangyingzi Town, Wengniute Banner, Chifeng City belongs to Xiaoheyan culture in the late Neolithic period (the original remains in this area immediately after Hongshan Culture). Its shape and appearance are clear and uncontroversial, hence the name "bear-shaped mussel decoration". The material used to carve this bear doll is conducive to the long-term preservation of mussels and will not rot. At the same time, a humanoid statue carved with clams was found. This once again presents the correlation mode of the corresponding existence of the bear god and the humanoid goddess.

The third example is the discovery of Niuheliang Goddess Temple in Jianping County, Liaoning Province, a sensational sacrificial site in Hongshan Culture in 1980s. It belongs to the middle Neolithic period, about 5500 years ago. In addition to the clay sculpture of the goddess, the temple also found a clay sculpture of a real bear's mandible and the lower part of the bear's head. This archaeological discovery fully shows that bears were treated as gods by Hongshan ancestors in prehistoric temples! It also proves once again the unity and correspondence between goddess worship and bear worship.

To sum up, in the Neolithic culture of more than 200 square kilometers in Fiona Fang, Chifeng area, three artificially created bear idols were found, and almost every time a bear image corresponding to the goddess image appeared. This clearly shows the cultural connection between the worship of prehistoric goddess in northern China and the worship of animal totem bear god in North America, Siberia, Hokkaido and South Korea. This connection forms a cross-cultural echo and contrast with the worship of the stone age bear goddess at the western end of Eurasia, which deserves the attention of archaeologists, religious scholars, folklore scholars and mythologists.

The correspondence between the idol worship of the bear goddess and the bear goddess has formed a profound tradition in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia for thousands of years. Southern Inner Mongolia is connected with Hebei, Shaanxi and northwestern Shanxi, which is the legendary place where the war between the Yellow Emperor and Yan Di took place (Zhuolu County is located in northern Hebei, not far from southeastern Inner Mongolia, and the place name is a commemoration of that prehistoric war). Judging from the phenomenon that the names of ancient ancestors such as Fuxi and Huangdi all had the word "bear", the recorded history in China continued the tradition of goddess and bear totem for thousands of years before the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and the symbol "bear" in the names of the holy kings and ancestors was only a vague memory of distant ancient times. With the help of the main archaeological discoveries in the late 20th century, we can re-examine the phenomena of bear totem, bear worship, bear divination and bear taboo after the beginning of China's written civilization from a new height, and find back the long-lost ancient cultural layer.

Fourthly, Xiong Long's theory and the bear ancestor myth in Eurasia.

The core of the Eurasian bear ancestor myth story is to confirm that our human ancestors are directly related to bears. As a proof of ethnic identity and cultural identity, the myth of ancestor Xiong is not only a literary story that can be told and appreciated, but also has the function of realistic social construction and integration. The myth of Dangen and Korean cultural identity, the myth of the Yellow Emperor and the identity of China people all have the same belief in Xiong Shenzu.

Dragon is the earliest totem animal in China, which is directly related to bear in genetic sense. The discovery of the Goddess Temple in Hongshan Culture has brought a new situation to the study of the origin of dragons. Interpreting the implication of bears and clay sculptures unearthed from the Goddess Temple and putting forward clues from the worship of bear goddess to Xiong Long can reveal the lost goddess myth tradition in the original civilization of patriarchal clan system in later generations. New hypotheses such as Pig Dragon, Xiong Long and Lulong are all based on unearthed jade statues. This means that the origin of dragons, which used to be limited to literal exegesis and literal stereotypes, has changed because of the emergence of archaeological perspectives. A pair of jade dragons were unearthed from the Jishi tomb under Niuheliang Goddess Temple. At first, they were regarded as "pigs". Later, archaeologists such as Sun Shoudao and Guo Dashun changed their views and put forward the theory of "Xiong Long". The reason is: "The head shape, snout shape and eye shape of this dragon, especially those with ears and no mane, are not the characteristics of pigs, but their short ears and round eyes are similar to some characteristics of bears. This is in line with the characteristics of the mud dragon and bear in the goddess temple. " (Guo Dashun: "Dragon Coming out of the Liao River Source", Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House, 200 1) Corresponding to the double Xiong Long, a jade with two bear heads and three holes was also unearthed in the Jishi Tomb at the No.16 site of Niuheliang. Archaeologist Kim Batas believes that an animal with two heads or two heads is a symbol of the reproductive function of the mother god. In this way, the jade bear as a funerary vessel in the tomb and the mud bear as a goddess in the temple take care of each other and become different manifestations of the function of the mother god. The head of the goddess in the goddess temple has been pointed out by archaeologists as "the ancestor of Hongshan people, that is, the ancestor of the Chinese nation" (Su). Combined with the myth of the ancestor of the bear that has been circulated in the north so far, and the fact that Chu kings were named after bears in ancient times, the moral behind the symbol of the jade statue of the bear dragon is that the important part of the "descendants of the dragon" should be "descendants of the bear".