为什么婚戒要戴在左手上?

Why Are Wedding Rings Worn on the Left Hand?

为什么婚戒要戴在左手上？

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?

中世纪时期，如果一个人用左手涂鸦被抓，那么他可能被指控犯被占有罪；在西班牙宗教裁决时期，左撇子更有可能遭受酷刑或杀戮。事实上，很多文化都有厌恶左手的倾向，从伊斯兰国家禁止用左手吃喝的长远禁忌到古代日本的期望——任何不喜欢右手的妻子都可被当场合法离婚，不能有疑问，这些都有所体现。那么我们为什么要在一只被诅咒的手上戴戒指来象征永恒的爱呢？

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.

过去的观点也并不总是恶毒的。婚姻的结合以及现在成为标准的交换戒指仪式可追溯到二世纪的埃及人，他们错误地认为“一根最脆弱的神经”始于左手的第四根手指，然后直直的通入心脏，希腊学者阿皮亚说道。几个世纪之后，罗马人也得出了类似的结论。但他们认为那不是神经，而是阿摩里斯——“爱人的血脉”——连接手指与抽血的器官。

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.

在罗马的订婚过程中，一个富裕的追求者会将戒指戴到未来新娘的第四根手指上。因此，他就能永远象征性的掌控爱人的血脉。现代世界的这种做法可能就来自罗马人。

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，其他人认为对第四根手指的尊敬最早源于基督教仪式。穿梭在东正教之中，崇拜者应将大拇指和食指以及中指相连。历史学家认为，这一手势合成就代表了圣父、圣子和圣灵，而“戴戒指的”手指则代表尘世之爱，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.

直到十七世纪，信奉东正教的夫妻都在右手（与力量相关的肢体部位）上佩戴戒指，有着各种信仰的欧洲人则学模学样。但在1549年的改革期间，英国主教和新教的改革者托马斯•克兰默使用婚戒作为打破传统的方式。那一年，他发表了《共同祷告书》，指引夫妇们丢弃数百年的做法，转而支持在左手第四根手指上佩戴婚戒。不久之后，整个大洲上的夫妇们都这样做了。