FELIZ ANO NUEVO CHINO

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.

最极端的西方谬误例子：2016年春节西班牙发布的一款庆祝中国传统春节的海报，海报中的龙有16条短腿，头部像狮子，还有三角形的尾巴，看整体造型，更像一只硕大无比的毛毛虫。

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枭阳，据乾隆版《增补绘像山海经》。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.《山海经·海内南经》载：“枭阳国在北朐之西，其为人，人面长唇，黑身有毛，反踵，见人则笑。”这里提到的枭阳样子像人，嘴唇长可遮过额头，浑身黑毛，脚掌朝后，披头散发，手执竹筒。

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.

盛文强

作家，志怪研究者，著有《海怪简史》《渔具列传》《半岛手记》等。

Monster Bi Jian drawn in the 6th year of Emperor Jiaqing's reign, Qing Dynasty.比肩兽，《尔雅音图》，清嘉庆六年刊本。

距今4000多年前的一天，黄帝东巡至海边，看见海中突然冒出一头神兽，能够口吐人言，这头怪兽名叫白泽。白泽的长相，历来是众说纷纭的疑案，有人说像麒麟，也有人说像狮子，不过长着山羊胡，还有的观点认为白泽即独角兽。

可以确定的是，白泽是最为渊博的神兽，黄帝向它请教天下鬼神妖怪，白泽一一道来，共计11520种，并有破解之法，黄帝命人记录下来，编订为《白泽图》。

《白泽图》是一种极为古老的志怪样本了，可惜多数已经散佚，只有为数不多的敦煌钞本残卷保存至今。相对而言，上古奇书《山海经》更像是中国怪兽的百科全书，有九尾狐、天狗、夔、犰狳、猰貐、穷奇等神兽，是神兽的大爆发。《山海经》中的神兽无疑是一种拼贴术的奇观：器官的拼贴和物种之间的嫁接，都使神兽显得怪诞不经。不过，有趣的人总能从中找到思维的乐趣，神兽们挑战着想象的极限。

1. Bronze feng bird in front of Tihe Palace故宫体和殿前的铜凤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.慈禧盘桓留恋之处——储秀宫庭院中的戏珠铜龙是故宫铜龙里最小的一只。龙珠即龙卵，体现了古人对生命轮回的理解。3. Guilding Bronze in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The handles are decorated with a dragon's face.太和殿龙把手鎏金大铜缸

此外，战国编钟上的夔纹、原始文明中的人面鱼身陶壶纹样等，皆是先民创造的海怪体系。洪荒年代泥沙俱下、人神混杂、万物奔走的诸般情状尽在其中，各种能量的集中迸发，仿佛回到了宇宙大爆炸的“奇点”，在这里，古老的想象力横无际涯，从中略可见到一个民族的童年时代枝叶葳蕤，无限生发的生命活力，源源不断地奔涌出来。

充满误解的博物学

神兽多数来自洪荒时代，那时的世界尚未被命名，一切都是新的。奔走在山林间的动物往往只在山坳树梢之中露出一鳞半爪，动物与人的相遇也是猝然相对的。因此，视觉上的误差在所难免，从外形到习性均不甚了然，剩下的空白需要靠想象来修补。虽然这其中充满谬误，却也不能一概抹杀，其中体现的博物学趣味，以及故事模型和形象体系，早已缔结为坚实的文化遗产，难以撼动。

比如《尔雅》中提到的比肩兽：“西方有比肩兽焉，与邛邛岠虚比，为邛邛岠虚啮甘草，即有难，邛邛岠虚负而走，其名谓之蹷。”在这里可以看到，比肩兽是蹷和邛邛岠虚的合体，用今天的眼光来看，极似袋鼠，袋鼠在育儿袋中的幼兽，枭阳与母体形成了奇异的组合。同样，《山海经》中提到的夔兽，头部像牛，只有一条腿，疑似袋鼠并起两条后腿弹跳时的形象。

而当外国人目睹了中国的神兽形象，多有不解。跟随马戛尔尼使团出访大清的巴罗也在回忆录中写道：“屋顶檐角上那些龇牙咧嘴、奇形怪状的狮子、龙蛇，根本谈不上什么好风格，实用性，或美感。”

神兽的传说与习俗

上古神兽的故事曾在民间秘密传递，对风俗的影响尤为深远。

比如传说中的年兽，近似于人形，全身是毛，不通语言。它从山中出来，来到人群密集的村寨，恐吓小儿，传播瘟疫，是个凶兽，它最怕火中烧竹的爆裂之音，于是人们就燃烧竹子将其惊走，后来演变为燃放爆竹的习俗，用火药制作的爆竹出现以后，燃放至今。

其实年兽的源头应该是《山海经》中的枭阳，也即后世神话中所传的山魈，这或是一种近似于猿类的动物，甚至还携带瘟疫，能使人突发高热。这类妖怪喜欢抓人，抓到人后便仰天长笑，大笑之时，长唇翻转，盖住了额头，直到笑够了，才开始吃人。在湖南永州，还有这样的传说在民间流传，可见其源流未断。

神兽是人类想象中的动物，其中多数难以在现实中找到实体，但这并不妨碍人们对神兽的喜爱。存活于历代典籍中的神兽，也早早走出了纸页，出现在陶器、青铜器、衣饰等日常器物中，后来又跃上了屋脊，成为辟邪的脊兽。

随着时间的推移，上古时期的神兽因信仰的衰落而降格为精怪，为祸一方。也有的神兽神力退去，成为象征祥瑞的符号，但它们的故事仍在民间秘密传递。