玛雅农业神话:玉米和人的生命轮回

古代时期的图像、殖民时期的文献以及一个多世纪的人类学田野调查,使我们了解到玉米神在玛雅神话中的重要地位。民族志资料不断提及这位神祗及其在其他中美洲社会群体中的对应体,例如Thipaak神、Kumix神、Quezalcoatl神的若干面相以及其他文化特性物。本文意在探究复活盘(Kerr 1982)上的图像及其在更广阔的中美洲神话类型中的亲缘图式、当地人对植物和人的生命轮回所持有的观念和玛雅人的末世论。我还特别强调了那些看起来平常世俗的玉米播种、耕作和制作食物的准备工作亦是玉米神话的重要方面;这样的研究能使我们深入了解玛雅和中美洲宇宙观中所含的民族生态学和伦理学基本结构。

Mayan Agrarian Mythologies: the Lifecycle of Maize and Humans

Ancient iconography, colonial documents, and over a century of anthropological fieldwork demonstrate the centrality of the Maize God in Mayan mythology. Ethnographies consistently portray this deity and his counterparts in other Mesoamerican societies, such as Thipaak, Kumix, aspects of Quetzalcoatl, and other culturally specific entities, as the personification of maize and fertility or as the bringers of maize to human communities. This paper explores the iconography of the Resurrection Plate and kindred imagery in relation to larger patterns in Mesoamerican mythology, indigenous conceptions of the lifecycle of plants and humans, and Mayan eschatology. In particular, I suggest that the seemingly mundane activities of maize planting, farming, and preparation are an equally important aspect of maize mythology, the study of which provides insight into deep ethnoecological and ethical structures fundamental to Mayan and Mesoamerican worldviews.