FELIZ ANO NUEVO CHINO

A most bizarre misinterpretation: a poster published in Spain during the 2016 Chinese Spring Festival depicted a lionfaced dragon with 16 short legs and a triangular shaped tail, which allin-all resembled a giant caterpillar.

最極端的西方謬誤例子：2016年春節(jié)西班牙發(fā)布的一款慶祝中國傳統(tǒng)春節(jié)的海報(bào)，海報(bào)中的龍有16條短腿，頭部像獅子，還有三角形的尾巴，看整體造型，更像一只碩大無比的毛毛蟲。

date back to the chaotic days of the universe when everything was new and undefi ned. The encounters between early humans and animals of all kinds that lived a nearly invisible life in jungles were very much limited. The lack of knowledge of the appearance and habits of the animals created gaps that had to be fi lled by the human imagination. Though illusions exist in great numbers, there is still much fun and wisdom to seek behind the story-telling and the image creations related to nature, which have long been embedded into the cultural legacy of ancient China.

Unfortunately, the images of Chinese mythical creations have been little understood by people other than the Chinese themselves. As John Barrow, a member of the Macartney Mission sent by Great Britain to China in 1793, recounted in his Travels in China, “The teeth-baring strange and grotesque beasts, like lions, dragons, and snakes, built on top of roofs or along eaves are anything but being tasteful, practical and beautiful.”

Customs backed by Tales

Tales of ancient times were secretly passed on from mouth-to-mouth, and had a lasting infl uence on customs and folklore. Take Monster Nian (literally means Monster Year) for example, he was depicted as human-shaped hairy monster, but spoke a nonhuman language. Every year, this monster came out once from the mountains into towns to scare children and spread diseases. People later found that the noise and bright light of fi recrackers could scare the monster away. This tale explains why Chinese people light fi recrackers during Chinese New Year. It is one of the few myths that still have a great infl uence on Chinese people's life.

The original form of Monster Nian in the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas is called Xiaoyang, who likes to catch people and laughs out loud when he does. When he had enough of his wild laughter, he then starts to eat his prey. In Yongzhou, Hunan Province, myths like this are still widely spread, which shows its great infl uence.

Due to people's decreased faith in them, some mythical creatures of the ancient times have been degraded into spirits and monsters; others lose their halo, and no longer deemed as gods. However, one thing is certain: they will remain symbols of auspiciousness and will always be loved by the Chinese.

1. Monster Xiaoyang, Emperor Qianlong's reign, Qing Dynasty梟陽，據(jù)乾隆版《增補(bǔ)繪像山海經(jīng)》。2. “Monster Xiaoyang has a human face, long lips and is covered in black hair with heels that face forwards. He laughs when he sees a human,” recorded in Guideways Through Mountains and Seas.《山海經(jīng)·海內(nèi)南經(jīng)》載：“梟陽國在北朐之西，其為人，人面長唇，黑身有毛，反踵，見人則笑?！边@里提到的梟陽樣子像人，嘴唇長可遮過額頭，渾身黑毛，腳掌朝后，披頭散發(fā)，手執(zhí)竹筒。

Sheng Wenqiang

A researcher of Zhiguai (Strange Tales) and author of A Brief History of Sea Monsters, Biographies of Fishing Tools and Notes of the Peninsular.

盛文強(qiáng)

作家，志怪研究者，著有《海怪簡史》《漁具列傳》《半島手記》等。

Monster Bi Jian drawn in the 6th year of Emperor Jiaqing's reign, Qing Dynasty.比肩獸，《爾雅音圖》，清嘉慶六年刊本。

距今4000多年前的一天，黃帝東巡至海邊，看見海中突然冒出一頭神獸，能夠口吐人言，這頭怪獸名叫白澤。白澤的長相，歷來是眾說紛紜的疑案，有人說像麒麟，也有人說像獅子，不過長著山羊胡，還有的觀點(diǎn)認(rèn)為白澤即獨(dú)角獸。

可以確定的是，白澤是最為淵博的神獸，黃帝向它請教天下鬼神妖怪，白澤一一道來，共計(jì)11520種，并有破解之法，黃帝命人記錄下來，編訂為《白澤圖》。

《白澤圖》是一種極為古老的志怪樣本了，可惜多數(shù)已經(jīng)散佚，只有為數(shù)不多的敦煌鈔本殘卷保存至今。相對(duì)而言，上古奇書《山海經(jīng)》更像是中國怪獸的百科全書，有九尾狐、天狗、夔、犰狳、猰貐、窮奇等神獸，是神獸的大爆發(fā)?！渡胶＝?jīng)》中的神獸無疑是一種拼貼術(shù)的奇觀：器官的拼貼和物種之間的嫁接，都使神獸顯得怪誕不經(jīng)。不過，有趣的人總能從中找到思維的樂趣，神獸們挑戰(zhàn)著想象的極限。

1. Bronze feng bird in front of Tihe Palace故宮體和殿前的銅鳳2. Bronze Dragon in the courtyard of Palace of Gathering Excellence. This dragon is the smallest bronze dragon in the Imperial Palace, and has a dragon egg in its hand.慈禧盤桓留戀之處——儲(chǔ)秀宮庭院中的戲珠銅龍是故宮銅龍里最小的一只。龍珠即龍卵，體現(xiàn)了古人對(duì)生命輪回的理解。3. Guilding Bronze in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The handles are decorated with a dragon's face.太和殿龍把手鎏金大銅缸

此外，戰(zhàn)國編鐘上的夔紋、原始文明中的人面魚身陶壺紋樣等，皆是先民創(chuàng)造的海怪體系。洪荒年代泥沙俱下、人神混雜、萬物奔走的諸般情狀盡在其中，各種能量的集中迸發(fā)，仿佛回到了宇宙大爆炸的“奇點(diǎn)”，在這里，古老的想象力橫無際涯，從中略可見到一個(gè)民族的童年時(shí)代枝葉葳蕤，無限生發(fā)的生命活力，源源不斷地奔涌出來。

充滿誤解的博物學(xué)

神獸多數(shù)來自洪荒時(shí)代，那時(shí)的世界尚未被命名，一切都是新的。奔走在山林間的動(dòng)物往往只在山坳樹梢之中露出一鱗半爪，動(dòng)物與人的相遇也是猝然相對(duì)的。因此，視覺上的誤差在所難免，從外形到習(xí)性均不甚了然，剩下的空白需要靠想象來修補(bǔ)。雖然這其中充滿謬誤，卻也不能一概抹殺，其中體現(xiàn)的博物學(xué)趣味，以及故事模型和形象體系，早已締結(jié)為堅(jiān)實(shí)的文化遺產(chǎn)，難以撼動(dòng)。

比如《爾雅》中提到的比肩獸：“西方有比肩獸焉，與邛邛岠虛比，為邛邛岠虛嚙甘草，即有難，邛邛岠虛負(fù)而走，其名謂之蹷?！痹谶@里可以看到，比肩獸是蹷和邛邛岠虛的合體，用今天的眼光來看，極似袋鼠，袋鼠在育兒袋中的幼獸，梟陽與母體形成了奇異的組合。同樣，《山海經(jīng)》中提到的夔獸，頭部像牛，只有一條腿，疑似袋鼠并起兩條后腿彈跳時(shí)的形象。

而當(dāng)外國人目睹了中國的神獸形象，多有不解。跟隨馬戛爾尼使團(tuán)出訪大清的巴羅也在回憶錄中寫道：“屋頂檐角上那些齜牙咧嘴、奇形怪狀的獅子、龍蛇，根本談不上什么好風(fēng)格，實(shí)用性，或美感?！?/p>

神獸的傳說與習(xí)俗

上古神獸的故事曾在民間秘密傳遞，對(duì)風(fēng)俗的影響尤為深遠(yuǎn)。

比如傳說中的年獸，近似于人形，全身是毛，不通語言。它從山中出來，來到人群密集的村寨，恐嚇小兒，傳播瘟疫，是個(gè)兇獸，它最怕火中燒竹的爆裂之音，于是人們就燃燒竹子將其驚走，后來演變?yōu)槿挤疟竦牧?xí)俗，用火藥制作的爆竹出現(xiàn)以后，燃放至今。

其實(shí)年獸的源頭應(yīng)該是《山海經(jīng)》中的梟陽，也即后世神話中所傳的山魈，這或是一種近似于猿類的動(dòng)物，甚至還攜帶瘟疫，能使人突發(fā)高熱。這類妖怪喜歡抓人，抓到人后便仰天長笑，大笑之時(shí)，長唇翻轉(zhuǎn)，蓋住了額頭，直到笑夠了，才開始吃人。在湖南永州，還有這樣的傳說在民間流傳，可見其源流未斷。

神獸是人類想象中的動(dòng)物，其中多數(shù)難以在現(xiàn)實(shí)中找到實(shí)體，但這并不妨礙人們對(duì)神獸的喜愛。存活于歷代典籍中的神獸，也早早走出了紙頁，出現(xiàn)在陶器、青銅器、衣飾等日常器物中，后來又躍上了屋脊，成為辟邪的脊獸。

隨著時(shí)間的推移，上古時(shí)期的神獸因信仰的衰落而降格為精怪，為禍一方。也有的神獸神力退去，成為象征祥瑞的符號(hào)，但它們的故事仍在民間秘密傳遞。