「巫咸」考釋──兼論巫與醫

A Textual Interpretation of “Wu Xian” — also Wu and Medicine

巫在原始宗教中，扮演一個極重要的角色，舉世皆然。甚至在現代社會中，雖則名稱或異，但不管在功能上，或在儀式上，都與上古所謂之巫有類似之處，亦有傳承之處。因為巫在古代社會 中，是可以和神祇，祖靈溝通的重要媒介。他可以禳災、除禍，預知吉凶，亦可以用禱祝或草藥醫病。在古代典籍中，關於巫的記載甚多，其中又以「巫咸」這個名詞，更為常見。而「巫咸」到底 是人名、國名、地名、山名、官名、神使，說法甚多，本文針對「巫咸」一詞之意涵、職能等，作 系統性之考釋，並從文化人類學角度探討「巫咸」這個名詞之不同意涵，以及「巫咸」（巫）與醫之關係。

Wu (the witch) played an important role in primitive religions worldwide. Even in the modern society, there still are some professionals, though they may be given different titles or labels, who exercise functions and practice rituals similar to what ancient Wu did, and clearly they inherit the tradition from Wu. In ancient society, Wu was the medium possessing psychic power to communicate with deities and ancestral spirits; besides, he could expel calamities and disasters, pray and practice divination, and heal diseases with herbs. Accordingly, there are plenty of plenty of records about Wu in ancient classics. Among the records, the label “ Wu Xian” is most commonly seen. Whether “Wu Xian” was an official title or the name of a person, a country, a place, a mountain, or a god, is still in dispute. This study is intended as an attempt on a systematic textual interpretation of the meanings and functions of “Wu Xian”, on a clarification of the confusingly diverse meanings of “Wu Xian” through the perspectives of cultural anthropology, and on the relationship between Wu (the witch) and medicine.