中國(guó)兔年怎么就成了越南貓年？
傳說(shuō)中，佛祖邀請(qǐng)萬(wàn)物生靈參加渡河大賽，最先到達(dá)彼岸的十二個(gè)動(dòng)物將獲得成為生肖的榮耀。由于不會(huì)游泳，貓和老鼠這對(duì)密友決定伏在水牛背上搭個(gè)便車。但是當(dāng)他們即將到達(dá)終點(diǎn)的時(shí)候，兩面三刀的耗子將貓推下了水，從此這對(duì)摯友翻臉成了天敵。
在越南民間傳說(shuō)中，這個(gè)故事的版本稍有不同。據(jù)傳，是道教中至高無(wú)上的神——玉皇大帝舉辦了這場(chǎng)比賽，而在越南版中，貓是會(huì)游泳的。
“這個(gè)問(wèn)題要從人類學(xué)和文化的角度來(lái)解釋，”巴黎高等學(xué)術(shù)研究院的專家菲利普-帕潘稱，由于如今許多越南人都有中國(guó)血統(tǒng)，最佳解釋還是在于語(yǔ)言的不同：“在漢語(yǔ)中，表示兔子這個(gè)含義的漢字是‘卯’，它的發(fā)音近似越南語(yǔ)的‘meo’，后者在越南語(yǔ)中是貓的意思。由于發(fā)音的混淆造成了詞義的改變。”
不管生肖之別是如何陰差陽(yáng)錯(cuò)產(chǎn)生的，如今的越南人并無(wú)意愿將生肖象征物與中土大國(guó)保持一致。
“對(duì)越南人來(lái)說(shuō)，沒(méi)有徹底復(fù)制中國(guó)是體現(xiàn)了民族自尊心，”來(lái)自曼谷近代東南亞研究機(jī)構(gòu)的貝努瓦-德-特雷哥羅德說(shuō)：“這種相似中的差異貫穿越南文化始終。”
政治因素在其中也起到微妙的作用。兩國(guó)長(zhǎng)期在邊界領(lǐng)土問(wèn)題上存在爭(zhēng)議。一名來(lái)自河內(nèi)的自由撰稿人陶清玄說(shuō)：“我們不知道為什么會(huì)選這十二種動(dòng)物作為生肖，但如今‘中國(guó)’和‘中國(guó)人’成為兩個(gè)常常引發(fā)爭(zhēng)議的敏感詞。盡管把這些太當(dāng)回事顯得有點(diǎn)蠢，許多越南人慶幸沒(méi)有與鄰國(guó)一樣。”
76歲的越南資深演員洪柏兆說(shuō)，越南人僅僅是更喜愛(ài)貓。“大部分的越南人都出身農(nóng)民，”他說(shuō)：“兔子對(duì)越南農(nóng)民毫無(wú)幫助，但是貓卻是農(nóng)民的好幫手，它能捉老鼠，防止稻谷遭遇鼠害。”
本周四當(dāng)越南人開始?xì)g度春節(jié)的時(shí)候，那些鼠年、馬年和雞年出生的人要避諱最先邁入家門，據(jù)說(shuō)這樣會(huì)招致霉運(yùn)。“算命先生說(shuō)今年是運(yùn)勢(shì)平平的一年，誰(shuí)都知道貓狗相克。”陶清玄說(shuō)道，她與許多人一樣，期望算命先生的預(yù)言能有助于自己的運(yùn)程。但她仍希望同樣屬狗的丈夫和兒子在今年能夠打破令人失望的預(yù)言，過(guò)得豐富多彩。至少在這一點(diǎn)上，中國(guó)人和越南人是一樣的。
How the Chinese rabbit became a cat in Vietnam
HANOI - While much of Asia celebrates the Year of the Rabbit, Vietnam is striking a note of independence from the dominance of Chinese culture and marking the beginning of the Year of the Cat。
The two communist countries remain ideological allies and have endorsed a similar transition to a market-oriented economy。
But their relationship evokes strong emotions and contradictions in Vietnam, where many bitterly recall 1,000 years of Chinese occupation and, more recently, a 1979 border war。
While the smaller nation has held onto many Chinese words, customs and traditions, it still feels a strong need to set itself apart from its giant neighbor。
The two countries share 10 of the zodiac calendar's 12 signs-- the rat, tiger, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. But the Vietnamese replace the rabbit with the cat and the ox with the buffalo。
Exactly why they opted for different animals remains unclear, but several scholars say the split can be traced back to the founding legends of the zodiac calendar。
One of these stories goes that Buddha invited animals to take part in a race across a river and the first 12 to reach the shore would have the honor of appearing on the calendar。
Unable to swim, close friends the cat and rat decided to hitch a ride on the ox's back. But as they approached the finish line, the two-faced rodent allegedly pushed the cat into the water -- and the pair have been sworn enemies ever since。
The Vietnamese tell the tale somewhat differently. According to them, it was the Jade Emperor, a Taoist god, who organized the race. And in their version, the cat knows how to swim。
"There are anthropological and cultural explanations," said Philippe Papin, an expert on Vietnamese history at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris。
But since many of today's Vietnamese have Chinese origins, the most likely explanation lies in linguistics, he said。
"The Chinese word for rabbit is 'mao', which sounds like 'meo' in Vietnamese, where it means cat. As the sound of the word changed, so did its meaning," Papin said。
Regardless of how the split came about, the Vietnamese today have no interest in bringing their zodiac signs into line with the Middle Kingdom。
"For the Vietnamese, it's a matter of national honour not to have copied China completely," said Benoit de Treglode, from the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia in Bangkok。
"This form of distinction in imitation can be found throughout Vietnamese culture," he added。
Politics play a role too with Beijing and Hanoi increasingly at odds over a number of long-running territorial disputes。
"We don't know exactly how the selection of these 12 animals happened," said Dao Thanh Huyen, an independent journalist based in Hanoi。
But "now that the words 'China' and 'Chinese' can become a source of controversy or even lead to arguments, many Vietnamese are happy not to be like their neighbor, even if it is fairly silly to take these things too seriously."
Hoang Phat Trieu, a retired Vietnamese actor, says his compatriots simply prefer cats to rabbits。
"Most of the Vietnamese people are farmers," the 76-year-old said. "The rabbit has nothing to do with Vietnamese farmers, while the cat has always been a very good friend of farmers, trying to kill the rats that threaten their crops."
As Vietnam marks its Tet Lunar New Year on Thursday, those born in the Years of the Rat, the Horse or the Rooster will be careful not to be the first to enter a house -- as this is said to attract bad luck。
"This year is going to be an average year according to fortune tellers," said Huyen. But she hopes her husband and son, both Dogs in the zodiac calendar, will make the year more interesting than the disappointingly dull prediction。
"Everybody knows how cats and dogs get on," she said, proving that the desire to make astrological predictions work in your favour is universal。
In that, at least, the Chinese and the Vietnamese are alike
