Abstract: In the literary notes of the Song Dynasty, a series of customs related to the Zhongyuan Festival are recorded, including the use of cockscomb flowers to worship ancestors, the sale of sprouted seeds in containers, and the burning of offerings with fire. These customs cannot be explained solely through the traditional lens of the fusion of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and folk practices. However, from a cross-cultural research perspective that brings in the cultural background of the Western Regions, it can be found that these festival customs hold many connections with the “All Souls’ Day” of ancient Persian Zoroastrianism. At the level of mythic thinking, the cockscomb flowers offered to ancestors symbolize the benevolent soul-guide deity Sraosha. In terms of fire worship, the integration of the Song Dynasty’s local fire gods with Zoroastrian fire gods contributed to the flourishing of fire rituals during the Zhongyuan Festival. Additionally, the All Souls’ Day ritual of lighting fires on rooftops to send off souls has been preserved in the Japanese O-Bon Festival’s “welcoming souls’ fire” and “sending-off souls’ fire” traditions. Regarding festival duration of, a “festival interval” beginning with the Qixi Festival and ending with the Zhongyuan Festival continues the “post-life” of “Adonis’s Garden,” composed of “wooden boards with grains,” “sprouted seeds in containers,” and “clay statues of children.” This also reflects the ancient Persian tradition of All Souls’ Day, which lasted several days. Against the Zhongyuan Festival phenomena that are difficult to explain through traditional cultural concepts, there lies the profound influence of ancient Persian Zoroastrian festival culture and mythic ideas, transmitted via Sogdian intermediaries and subsequently localized and folklorized in China.

Key words: literary notes of the Song dynasty, Zhongyuan Festival, O-Bon festival, Zoroastrianism, All Souls’ Day

摘要： 宋人笔记中一系列新异的中元节习俗,如“洗手花”祭祖、贩卖种生、焚烧祭品等,并不能从学界既有的“儒释道俗源流说”中得到充分的阐释,但若引入跨文化研究的视角与大西域文化背景,可以发现这些节俗实际上与古波斯琐罗亚斯德教的“万灵节”存在诸多关联。在神话思维层面,供奉祖先的“洗手花”象征着护送灵魂的善神斯劳沙;在火崇拜层面,宋代火神与祆神的融合推动了中元节火祭的兴盛,且万灵节屋顶燃火送魂的仪式,在日本盂兰盆节以“迎魂火”与“送魂火”的形式传世;在节日时长层面,一个以七夕节为始、以中元节为终的“节日区间”延续了由谷板、种生、泥孩儿组成的“阿多尼斯花园”的后生命,影射着传自古波斯、持续数日的万灵节传统。在以传统文化观难以厘清的中元节现象背后,隐藏着假道粟特进入中国后发生在地化、民俗化的古波斯琐罗亚斯德教节日文化与神话观念的深远影响。

关键词: 宋代笔记小说, 中元节, 盂兰盆会, 琐罗亚斯德教, 万灵节