Английская Википедия:Bashe
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Italic title Bashe (Шаблон:Zh) was a python-like Chinese mythological giant snake that ate elephants.
Name
The term bashe compounds ba Шаблон:Linktext "a proper name; tip, tail; crust; greatly desire; cling to; be near" and she Шаблон:Linktext "snake; serpent".
The Chinese character Шаблон:Lang for ba was graphically simplified from ancient Oracle bone script and Seal script pictograms of a long-tailed snake. In early Written Chinese usage, ba Шаблон:Lang frequently referred to the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BCE – 256 BCE) state of Ba, which was located in present-day eastern Sichuan. In Modern Standard Chinese usage, ba Шаблон:Lang often transcribes foreign loanwords such as ba Шаблон:Lang "bar (unit)", Bali Шаблон:Lang "Paris", or Guba Шаблон:Lang "Cuba". Ba Шаблон:Lang is a variant Chinese character for ba Шаблон:Lang "grasp; handle", ba Шаблон:Lang "bamboo; fence", or ba Шаблон:Lang in bajiao Шаблон:Lang "banana" (using ba Шаблон:Lang as the phonetic element with graphic radicals for Шаблон:Lang "hand", Шаблон:Lang "bamboo", and Шаблон:Lang "plant").
Bashe not only names this mythical giant reptile but is also a variant Chinese name for the South Asian ran Шаблон:Linktext or mang Шаблон:Linktext "python" (and South American "boa constrictor" or African "mamba"). "Mythical draconyms often derive from names of larger reptilians", says CarrШаблон:Sfn and "Since pythons usually crush their prey and swallow them whole, one can imagine Chinese tales about southern ran Шаблон:Lang 'pythons' being exaggerated into legendarily-constipated bashe 'giant snakes' that ate an elephant every three years". In literary usage, bashe is found in the four-character idiom bashetunxiang Шаблон:Lang (lit. "ba-snake gulping down an elephant") meaning "inordinately greedy; extremely insatiable".
Early textual occurrences
The earliest references to the legendary bashe Шаблон:Lang are in the Chuci and Shanhaijing, two Chinese classic texts containing Warring States period (475 BCE – 221 BCE) materials compiled during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE).
The Chuci is an anthology of Chinese poems (see Qu Yuan) from the southern state of Chu and it mentions bashe in the Tianwen Шаблон:Lang "Heavenly Questions" section. The preeminent Chuci translator David HawkesШаблон:Sfn describes the Tianwen as a "somewhat odd combination of archaic riddles with questions of a speculative or philosophical nature" and believes "it started as an ancient, priestly riddle-text (a sort of catechism to be used for mnemonic purposes) which was rewritten and greatly enlarged by a secular poet". This mythological questionnaire asks: Шаблон:Blockquote
The Shanhaijing is an ancient Chinese mytho-geography. Chapter 10, the "Haineinan jing" Шаблон:Lang "Classic of Regions within the Seas: South" describes a legendary land where bashe lived: Шаблон:Blockquote The Shanhaijing commentary by Guo Pu (276–324 CE) compares the ba snake with the southern ran Шаблон:Lang "python", which after eating a large animal can wind around a tree trunk and expel the bones from between its scales and notes they could grow up to a length of 100 xun Шаблон:Linktext (about 270 meters). Guo's commentary likewise notes this exaggerated length for the changshe Шаблон:Lang "long snake" that the Shanhaijing locates on Daxian Шаблон:Lang Mountain "Mount Bigwhole":Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn "There is a snake here named the long-snake; its hair is like pig bristles. It makes a noise like a nightwatchman banging his rattle".
The 1578 CE Bencao Gangmu entry for ranshe Шаблон:Lang "python" mentions the bashe: Шаблон:Blockquote Compare how the Shanhaijing description of the ba-snake's sympathetic magic is interpreted as eating the snake (Birrell "take a dose of this snake" and Schiffeler "swallow its flesh") or eating the undigested elephant bones (Read "take these bones as medicine"). This materia medica lists uses for python bile, flesh, fat, teeth, and oil. The Bencao Gangmu says pythons can reach lengths of 50–60 chi Шаблон:Linktext (about 16–20 meters), but Python molurus grow up to 5.8 meters and Python reticulatus 9.2 meters.
The Chinese folklore scholar Wolfram Eberhard links bashe with the legendary archer Houyi Шаблон:Lang who descended from heaven to destroy evildoers. One of Houyi's victims was a monstrous serpent in Lake Dongting, the xiushe Шаблон:Lang "adorned/long snake" (or changshe Шаблон:Lang, cf. above). EberhardШаблон:Sfn concludes giant snakes such as the xiushe, bashe, and ranshe "were typical for the South", but were not part of a snake cult like those among the ancient Baiyue.
See also
References
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite journal
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite journal
- Шаблон:Cite book
External links
- Шаблон:Lang, ancient Chinese characters for ba
- Search results for Шаблон:Lang in all texts, Chinese Text Project
