論刑天神話的象徵意義

On the Symbolic Meaning of the Myth of Xingtian

許文恭(Xu Wengong)

《國防大學通識教育學報》 7期 (2017/06) Pp. 151-159

摘要

幾乎所有的民族都有各自的神話流傳，其內容大抵不外開天闊地、洪水猛獸、日月星辰、先祖起源等。在沒有文字的時代，口耳相傳的神話相當程度的代表了一個民族的文化內涵與價值觀。在上古神話傳說中，刑天是蚩尤的大將，蚩尤在與黃帝的戰爭中兵敗被殺後，刑天繼續與黃帝戰鬥，又為黃帝所殺並斷其首。但刑天死後仍繼續操干戚相抗。這樣的行為究竟是自不量力、徒勞無功的抗爭，或是永不妥協、堅持到底的人文精神發揚？本文透過檢視歷史與文學資料，比對相關流傳的神話故事，嘗試探究刑天神話的象徵意義。

關鍵字

刑天 ； 形天 ； 刑夭 ； 形么 ； 山海經 ； 神話

並列摘要

All peoples have their own myths and legends that in one way or another share some similar contents: the creation of the world, the creation of sun, moon and stars, human origins, floods, beasts, etc. In the era where written materials are absent, myths and legends of ancient times represent a civilization's cultural connotation and values to a considerable degree. In ancient myth, Xingtian is described as a general of Chiyou, who fought against the Yellow Emperor. After the Yellow Emperor defeated and executed Chiyou, Xingtian continued fighting against the Yellow Emperor, not giving up even after the event of his decapitation. Is this kind of behavior self-defeating, futile, or unyielding? Therefore, by reviewing historical and literary documents as well as comparing myths and legends, this study aims to investigate the symbolic meaning of the Myth of Xingtian.

並列關鍵字

Xingtian ； Xingyao ； Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing) ； mythology