爲什麼婚戒要戴在左手上?

Why Are Wedding Rings Worn on the Left Hand?

爲什麼婚戒要戴在左手上？

In medieval times, getting caught scribbling with one's left hand could earn accusations of being possessed and, during the Spanish Inquisition, lefties were more likely to be tortured or killed. In fact, the aversion touched many cultures, from the long-standing taboo in Islamic countries against eating and drinking with one’s left hand, to the expectation in ancient Japan that any wife who didn’t favour her right could be legally divorced on the spot, no questions asked. So why do we favour a finger on a cursed hand to symbolise lasting love?

中世紀時期，如果一個人用左手塗鴉被抓，那麼他可能被指控犯被佔有罪；在西班牙宗教裁決時期，左撇子更有可能遭受酷刑或殺戮。事實上，很多文化都有厭惡左手的傾向，從伊斯蘭國家禁止用左手吃喝的長遠禁忌到古代日本的期望——任何不喜歡右手的妻子都可被當場合法離婚，不能有疑問，這些都有所體現。那麼我們爲什麼要在一隻被詛咒的手上戴戒指來象徵永恆的愛呢？

Past perception wasn't all bad. The union between marriage and the now-standard ring placement can be traced back to second-century Egyptians who falsely believed that “a certain most delicate nerve” began in the fourth left finger and stretched directly to the heart, according to the Greek scholar Appian. Centuries later, the Romans came to a similar conclusion. In place of a nerve, they were convinced that a vena amoris—or “lover’s vein”—connected this digit with the blood-pumping organ.

過去的觀點也並不總是惡毒的。婚姻的結合以及現在成爲標準的交換戒指儀式可追溯到二世紀的埃及人，他們錯誤地認爲“一根最脆弱的神經”始於左手的第四根手指，然後直直的通入心臟，希臘學者阿皮亞說道。幾個世紀之後，羅馬人也得出了類似的結論。但他們認爲那不是神經，而是阿摩里斯——“愛人的血脈”——連接手指與抽血的器官。

During the Roman engagement process, a well-off suitor who could afford a ring would slip it over his bride-to-be’s fourth finger. Thus, he’d always have a symbolic grip around her lover’s vein. The modern world may have adopted that practice from the Romans.

在羅馬的訂婚過程中，一個富裕的追求者會將戒指戴到未來新娘的第四根手指上。因此，他就能永遠象徵性的掌控愛人的血脈。現代世界的這種做法可能就來自羅馬人。

Still, others argue that reverence for the fourth finger begun as an early Christian ritual. While crossing themselves in an Orthodox Church, worshippers are expected to join the thumb with the index and middle fingers. Historians contend that the group represented the father, son, and Holy Ghost when placed together, while the “ring” finger signified earthly love, making it the perfect location for a spouse’s wedding ring.

然而，其他人認爲對第四根手指的尊敬最早源於基督教儀式。穿梭在東正教之中，崇拜者應將大拇指和食指以及中指相連。歷史學家認爲，這一手勢合成就代表了聖父、聖子和聖靈，而“戴戒指的”手指則代表塵世之愛，因此是夫妻婚戒的最佳位置。

Until the seventeenth century, Orthodox couples normally wore their rings on the right hand (an extremity that’s associated with strength) and most Europeans of all faiths followed suit. But during the Reformation in 1549, an English Bishop and Protestant reformer named Thomas Cranmer used wedding rings as a way to break from tradition. That year, he published The Book of Common Prayer, which instructs couples to ditch a centuries-old practice in favour of slipping their wedding rings over the left fourth finger. Before long, husbands and wives throughout the continent were doing so.

直到十七世紀，信奉東正教的夫妻都在右手（與力量相關的肢體部位）上佩戴戒指，有着各種信仰的歐洲人則學模學樣。但在1549年的改革期間，英國主教和新教的改革者托馬斯•克蘭默使用婚戒作爲打破傳統的方式。那一年，他發表了《共同禱告書》，指引夫婦們丟棄數百年的做法，轉而支持在左手第四根手指上佩戴婚戒。不久之後，整個大洲上的夫婦們都這樣做了。