古有一女，其父远行不归。女思念甚切，誓曰：「有能寻得父归者，愿嫁之。」家中老马老马家中畜养的马。此马通人性，听懂少女的誓言，并身体力行去寻人。闻之，竟绝缰而去，数月后果负其父归。
父感马恩，厚加饲养。马不肯食，每见女出入，辄喜怒异常。父怪而问女，女告以誓约。父怒，射杀马，曝皮皮马皮。马皮在此故事中是关键的超自然媒介——承载了马的执念与怨恨。于庭。
女过皮侧，马皮忽起，卷女飞去。数日后，见马皮裹女于树上，化为蚕蚕家蚕，吐丝结茧的昆虫。此篇为蚕的起源神话——蚕为马与少女的化身。。此即蚕桑之由来。
In ancient times, a maiden's father went on a journey and did not return. Missing him terribly, she vowed: "Whosoever finds my father and brings him home — I shall marry him." The family's old horse老马 lǎo mǎThe household horse. This horse understands human speech, hears the maiden's vow, and acts upon it to find her father. heard this, broke free of its reins, and months later indeed carried her father home.
The father, grateful, fed the horse generously. But the horse refused to eat; whenever it saw the maiden come and go, it became agitated. The father, puzzled, asked his daughter, who told him of her vow. Enraged, the father shot the horse dead and spread its hide皮 píThe horse's skin. It serves as the key supernatural medium in the story, carrying the horse's obsession and resentment. in the courtyard to dry.
As the maiden passed the hide, it suddenly rose up, wrapped around her, and flew away. Days later, the horsehide was found wrapped around the maiden in a tree, transformed into a silkworm蚕 cánThe domestic silkworm, which spins silk cocoons. This is an origin myth — the silkworm is the combined spirit of the horse and the maiden.. This is the origin of sericulture.
太古之时，有人远行，家唯有一女及牡马牡马公马。"牡"为雄性，"牝"为雌性。此处为雄马，后来对少女产生超越物种的情感。一匹。女居无聊，思其父。乃戏马曰：「尔能为我迎得父还，吾将嫁汝。」
马闻此言，绝缰而去，径至父所。父见马惊异，以为家中有事，乃乘之归。马望女所，悲鸣不已。父怪之，密以问女。女具以告。父曰：「勿言，恐辱家门。」
In the earliest of times, a man went on a long journey, leaving behind only his daughter and a stallion牡马 mǔ mǎA male horse. "Mǔ" denotes the male; "pìn" the female. Here it is a stallion that develops feelings for the maiden beyond its species.. The girl, lonely and missing her father, spoke playfully to the horse: "If you can bring my father home, I shall marry you."
Hearing these words, the horse broke its reins and galloped straight to the father. The father, amazed, thought something had happened at home and rode the horse back. The horse gazed toward the girl's room and neighed sorrowfully. The father, suspicious, questioned his daughter in private. She told him everything. The father said: "Speak of this to no one — it would shame the family."
马每见女出入，喜怒异常，奋蹄嘶鸣嘶鸣马的叫声。此处描写马对少女的情感——既欢喜又愤怒，因为它完成了约定，少女却不履行承诺。。父问其故，女具以告。父大怒，射杀之，暴其皮于庭。
父曰：「畜生妄图人伦，辱我门户，当有此报。」女愧而不敢言。
Every time the horse saw the maiden come or go, it became wildly agitated, stamping and neighing嘶鸣 sī míngA horse's cry. Here it depicts the horse's complex emotions toward the maiden — joy at seeing her, rage at her broken promise.. The father asked why; the daughter told all. The father, furious, shot the horse dead and spread its hide in the courtyard to dry.
The father said: "A beast that presumes upon human bonds, shaming my household — this is its just reward." The daughter, ashamed, dared not speak.
女行经皮侧，马皮忽起，卷女飞去。父求之数日，得于大树大树桑树。马皮裹着少女栖于树上，化为蚕，吐丝作茧。从此蚕桑之业始兴。之上。马皮裹女，化为蚕，食叶吐丝。
后人因名其树为「桑桑桑树，蚕的食物来源。"桑"与"丧"谐音，暗示悲剧色彩。从此桑树与蚕紧密相连，成为中华文明最重要的经济支柱之一。」。因蚕为马与女之后身，故蚕头似马首，其状柔婉如处女。此蚕桑之由来也。
The maiden walked past the horsehide. It suddenly rose, wrapped around her, and flew away. Her father searched for days and found them atop a great tree大树 dà shùA mulberry tree. The horsehide, wrapped around the maiden, transforms into a silkworm that feeds on leaves and spins silk. From this, the silk industry begins.. The horsehide had enveloped the maiden and transformed into a silkworm, which ate leaves and spun thread.
Later people named the tree "sang桑 sāngThe mulberry tree, the silkworm's food source. "Sang" is a homophone of "sang" (丧, mourning), hinting at the tragedy. The mulberry tree and silkworm became inseparable, forming one of the economic pillars of Chinese civilization." (mulberry). Because the silkworm was born of horse and maiden, its head resembles a horse's, and its form is gentle as a maiden. Thus began the art of sericulture.
文学价值
《蚕马故事》是中国上古神话中极为珍贵的"起源神话"之一。它以一个令人不安的爱情/悲剧故事，解释了蚕这一对中华文明至关重要的生物的由来。故事的核心张力在于"誓言"——少女的戏言成真，马的执着导致悲剧，而悲剧又转化为文明的馈赠。
这篇故事的叙事逻辑是典型的"变形神话"：人与动物在悲剧中合一，化为新的存在。蚕既是马（首似马），又是女（形柔婉），超越了物种的界限，成为一种复合象征。
比较研究
与希腊神话中阿拉克涅（Arachne）被变为蜘蛛的故事相似——都是人化为吐丝生物的变形叙事。但蚕马故事更复杂：它涉及三方（女、马、父）的伦理冲突，以及"戏言"与"誓约"的张力。阿拉克涅的故事是人与神的对抗，而蚕马故事是人伦秩序内部的崩塌与重建。
Literary Merit
"The Horse-Silk Legend" is one of the most precious "origin myths" in Chinese high antiquity. Through an unsettling tale of love and tragedy, it explains the origin of the silkworm — a creature of supreme importance to Chinese civilization. The core tension lies in the "vow": the maiden's playful words become binding, the horse's devotion leads to tragedy, and tragedy transforms into a civilizational gift.
The narrative logic is that of a classic "metamorphosis myth": human and animal merge through tragedy into a new form of existence. The silkworm is both horse (horse-shaped head) and maiden (gentle form), transcending species boundaries to become a compound symbol.
Comparative Study
Similar to the Greek myth of Arachne, who was transformed into a spider — both are metamorphosis narratives where humans become silk-spinning creatures. But the Horse-Silk Legend is more complex: it involves ethical conflicts among three parties (maiden, horse, father) and the tension between "playful words" and "binding vows." Arachne's tale is a confrontation between human and divine; the Horse-Silk Legend is a collapse and rebuilding of the human moral order itself.
中国古代的蚕桑之神。相传黄帝之妻嫘祖发明养蚕缫丝，被后世尊为"先蚕"或"蚕神"。《蚕马故事》提供了蚕神的另一种来源——马与少女的化身。在古代中国，蚕桑业是最重要的经济支柱之一，因此蚕神崇拜极为普遍。每年春季，各地举行"祭蚕"仪式，祈求蚕桑丰收。
The silkworm deity of ancient Chinese religion. Tradition holds that Leizu, wife of the Yellow Emperor, invented sericulture and was venerated as the "First Silkworm" or "Silkworm Goddess." The Horse-Silk Legend offers an alternative origin — the combined spirit of horse and maiden. In ancient China, sericulture was among the most vital economic activities, making silkworm worship widespread. Each spring, "Silkworm Offering" ceremonies were held throughout the land, praying for abundant silk harvests.
解释某一事物、习俗或自然现象由来的神话叙事。世界各地的文化都有起源神话：希腊人解释四季有得墨忒耳与珀耳塞福涅的故事，日本人解释地震有鲶鱼翻身的传说。中国的起源神话往往与农业文明密切相关——《蚕马故事》解释蚕桑、《神农尝百草》解释医药、《大禹治水》解释水利。这些神话将日常生产活动与超自然叙事相连，赋予劳作以神圣意义。
A mythological narrative explaining the origin of a thing, custom, or natural phenomenon. Every culture has origin myths: the Greeks explain seasons through Demeter and Persephone; the Japanese explain earthquakes through a thrashing catfish. Chinese origin myths are often tied to agricultural civilization — "The Horse-Silk Legend" explains sericulture, "Shennong Tastes a Hundred Herbs" explains medicine, "Yu the Great Controls the Floods" explains water management. These myths link daily productive labor to supernatural narratives, investing work with sacred meaning.