November 27, 2025

016 今月曾经照古人：被遗忘的纸神与中国人的心灵世界 Paper Deities and Spiritual World

1 hour 25 minutes

【聊了什么 The What】

本期「选修课」邀请民俗学家李明洁，从一张尘封于哥伦比亚大学特藏、来自1931年北京的“月光马”出发，开启一场对民俗图像与文化记忆的深度探索。中秋节为何曾是专属女性的节日？为何观音、财神、关公、送子娘娘会毫无违和感地出现在同一张画上？“月光马”如何将一个普通空间瞬间切换为神圣场域，又在焚化后开启世俗的团圆？

In this episode, folklorist Li Mingjie takes us on an in-depth journey into folk imagery and cultural memory, beginning with a rare Moonlight Horse (月光马) print from 1931 Beijing—now preserved in Columbia University's Special Collections on Chinese popular religion.

Why was the Mid-Autumn Festival once a festival primarily for women? Why do Guanyin, the God of Wealth, Guan Yu, and the Child-Giving Goddess (送子娘娘) all appear harmoniously on a single paper image? How did the Moonlight Horse instantly transform an everyday domestic space into a sacred ritual site—and, upon burning, open the door to a secular reunion?

【时间轴 The When】

00:34 - 哥大馆藏“中国纸神专藏”中的月光马

14:55 - “纸马”是什么

36:51 - “玉兔”和背景众神：华严三圣、四大天王等

53:21 - 阐释“男不拜月，女不祭灶”习俗

55:25 - 关羽为什么是财神

70:02 - 解释“兔儿爷”的由来与功能

72:25 - 月光马作为创造神圣空间的符号界标

76:45 - 追溯文化记忆的源头：从汉代画像石到当代田野调查

00:34 – The Moonlight Horse (月光马) in Columbia University’s “Chinese Paper Deities” special collection

14:55 – What are paper horses (纸马)?

36:51 – The Jade Rabbit (玉兔) and background deities: Huayan Trinity (华严三圣), Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王), etc.

53:21 – Explaining the folk custom: “Men don’t worship the moon, women don’t sacrifice to the kitchen god”

55:25 – Why Guan Yu is worshipped as the God of Wealth

70:02 – The origin and function of Tu’er Ye (兔儿爷, “Lord Rabbit”)

72:25 – The Moonlight Horse as a symbolic marker for sacred space creation

76:45 – Tracing cultural memory: from Han dynasty stone reliefs to contemporary ethnographic fieldwork

【我们是谁 The Who】

选修课 Universus 是一档分享和探讨泛文化话题的中文播客，脱胎于2013年创办的纽约文化沙龙。

我们力求引发对学科方法和视角的认知和思考，而不仅仅是知识的传递。我们在组织活动的过程中积累了一些经验和人脉，尝试打造成年人的博雅教育，并在播客中拓展这样的探索。我们希望审视和反抗无意识的价值规训与随波逐流。我们希望冷酷地剖析自己的偏见，热忱地拥抱多元视角。我们希望去工具化，真诚地感知、理解、创造自己的生活和复杂的世界。我们追随原初的好奇而非代餐式的猎奇。话题可以轻松，方法力求严肃。在《选修课》里，我们互相映照，唤醒失落的维度。

主讲：

李明洁: 1991年至2023年任教于华东师范大学中文系和民俗学研究所，教授、博士生导师，从事社会语言学、都市民俗学和文化人类学的教学与研究，偏重文化认知和社会记忆领域。现供职于纽约大学东亚系和新学院大学尤金朗文理学院。

选修课 Universus is a Chinese-language podcast created by the same people who founded the New York Chinese Cultural Salon (纽约文化沙龙）in 2013.

The past decade of organizing events and talks put us in a position of creating a sort of liberal arts education experience for those who have left school. We strive to go beyond merely transmitting knowledge to reflecting on complex topics using cross-disciplinary perspectives. We strive to resist conformity, to dissect our own biases, and to embrace diverse schools of thought. Our goal is to help professionals resist becoming just a tool of production, and to understand the world around us in earnest. We let our genuine curiosity be our guide. With a light-hearted tone, we approach each topic seriously. We hope that “选修课 Universus” creates a space to explore lost dimensions.

Our guest:

Mingjie Li: From 1991 to 2023, she taught in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature and the Institute of Folklore at East China Normal University as a professor and doctoral advisor. Her academic work focuses on sociolinguistics, urban folklore, and cultural anthropology, with an emphasis on cultural cognition and social memory. She is currently affiliated with the Department of East Asian Studies at New York University and the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School.

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