“象”是中国文化中一个很重要的元范畴。通过考察“象”的词义的演变,可以大体勾勒出“象”的范畴的形成。“象”字的本义指大象,“因物赋形”而成。大象庞大的形体给人强烈的视觉冲击,有强烈的视觉效应,可引申为万物可观之形貌。大象与殷商先民有广泛密切的联系并且在先民观念中是神圣性的,这为“象”由专指名词向概指名词的引申提供了文化层面上可理解的环节。商周之际大象南迁后,黄河流域的先民据死象之骨意想生象之形,这一心理机制使“象”与想象、象征等思维活动建立了联系。“象”既作为“观”的结果,也有“观物取象”之说,被用来指称“取象”的心理过程,是对外在动作的仿拟,具有“模拟”(拟象)、“仿效”(法象)、“象征”等意义。《周易·系辞》对“象”的义项进行了丰富和总结。“象”为名词,无所不包,无所不在,涵养天地,囊括万物;“象”为动词,喻示、象征出事物的本质及其背后的意义。 “Image ” is a very important meta-category in Chinese culture. By examining the evolution of the semantic meaning of “elephant”, we can generalize the formation of the category of “elephant”. “Elephant ” The original meaning of the word refers to the elephant, “Formative ”. The large elephant’s body gives a strong visual impact, has a strong visual effect, can be extended to all appearances. The elephants have extensive and close relations with the ancestors of Shang dynasties and are sacred in the concept of ancestors. This provides a culturally understandable link for the extension of idioms from nouns to nouns. After the elephant moved south during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the ancestors of the Yellow River basin drew the image of the bones of the deceased. The psychological mechanism established the connection between the “elephant” and the thinking activities such as imagination and symbolism. “Like ” is not only the result of “View ”, but also “the image of object”, which is used to refer to the psychological process of “taking image ” as the imitation of external action with “Analog ” (simulacrum), “imitation ” (legal), “symbol ” and other meanings. “Book of Changes” respected the “Xiang” as the meaning of items were enriched and summarized. “Like ” as the noun, all-encompassing, omnipresent, conservation world, covering everything; “Like ” for the verb, metaphor, symbolizes the essence of the thing and the meaning behind it.