Poisson et dragon : symboles du véhicule entre l'ici-bas et l'au-delà
Résumé
Taoist texts dating from the fourth to sixth centuries mention the throwing of the figurine of a fish with one of man or a message in a river as a sign of the oath taken at the moment of the transmission of a secret document or recipe. The aim of this article is to explain this ritual act.
In certain texts and scenes from tombs in early China, the fish appears as a vehicle of immortals or spirits. In medieval times, the form of the fish was used for tallies involving communication between two parties distant from each other. With regard to ritual context and morphology, the "throwing of the fish" is analogous to the "throwing of the dragon" studied by Chavannes. The dragon in this rite represented the "postal service" for communicating with the gods, and some scholars consider this practice to derive from the dispatch of messages to the Officers of Heaven, Earth and Water in early Heavenly Master Taoism. The throwing of fish may therefore be interpreted as a ritual act designed to send the message of the initiate to the world of the immortals.
Cet article tente d’expliquer le geste rituel qui consiste à jeter dans un cours d’eau une statuette de poisson en or avec une autre en forme d’homme, lors du rite de transmission des recettes alchimiques en Chine ancienne. On le trouve dans certains textes alchimiques des origines, datant des Han de l’Est (25-220) ou des Six Dynasties (222–589). Une interprétation de cette pratique s’impose, le rôle du poisson n’étant pas explicité dans les textes.
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