由禮器紋飾、神話記載及文字論夏商雙嘴龍神信仰

Worship of the Double-Mouth Dragon in Early Chinese Culture: Analysis of Ritual Objects, Myths and Paleography

本文以黃河流域禮器的紋飾、傳世神話、卜辭和銘文互補參證，發現華夏巫親信仰中有頗為關鍵的雙嘴龍崇拜。此種崇拜濫觴於中原夏人巫親文化，且影響商周信仰的發展。此一崇拜的重要性由兩方面可見，一是雙嘴龍和雙龍成為禮器紋飾的主要母題，另一方面，「神」的古字很可能即由雙嘴龍符號發展而來。

This study focuses on the worship of the double-mouth dragon in the shamanic culture of the Yellow River basin, evidenced by patterns of ritual vessels, ancient myths and oracle bone inscriptions. The double-mouth cult strongly influenced Shang and Zhou cultures. On the one hand, the doublemouth dragon and twin dragons became the most important motif on ritual objects; on the other hand, the pictogram “shen” 神 (spirit) very likely evolved from the double-mouth dragon motif.