We may never know the exact origin of kissing. We can only find out those more reasonable and consistent statements among many related speculations and assumptions. These are two of them.
Maternal instinct theory
This view holds that kissing is an animal's genetic instinct.
First of all, breastfeeding has been our biological instinct since we were born. Moreover, in the primitive human period, humans did not have complicated dining tools. The mother chews the food with her mouth and then feeds it to the baby mouth to mouth. In this process, it is necessary to cooperate with the pressure of the tongue and the movement of the mouth, which is very similar to the feeding method of birds.
Therefore, part of the reason for human kissing comes from the "memory" practice of satisfaction brought by sucking in infancy, which is driven by an internal instinct.
Nasal kiss evolution theory
This view holds that kissing evolved from a more primitive nose kiss.
The main evidence is that in many primitive tribal societies, there is no kissing etiquette, but kissing the nose instead. The most famous is the nose touching ceremony of Maori, which is regarded as the highest standard of etiquette by Maori, and is usually performed when meeting with dignitaries from various countries.
There are also Omani and Eskimos who keep the tradition of "kissing the nose" to express friendship and intimacy.
In addition, in animals, we see many seemingly "kissing" behaviors, which are actually nose to nose. This is mainly because, for different species and individuals, there is a unique smell, and the sense of smell is the most effective way to distinguish whether the other person is an enemy, a friend, a relative or a companion.
So, at that time, people might not say "kiss me" but "smell me".
Just as nose modification originated from the sense of smell, to some extent, lip modification should also originate from the sense of taste. However, whether smell or taste is more convincing, we don't need to worry too much.
Undoubtedly, the most direct symbol of kissing is sex. Some scholars even believe that the reason why human lips are thicker than other primates is because of the directional choice of lips by sexual organ mimicry. It is a sexual selection similar to the evolution of peacock's beautiful feathers.
However, in the west, the symbolic meaning of kissing has also changed when human beings regard themselves as civilization and regard the elimination of open sexual behavior as the standard that distinguishes them from other species. The form of kissing has also changed from the most primitive mouth to mouth: kissing cheeks, kissing hands, kissing clothes wrinkles, kissing feet, kissing Jesus, kissing plates. Let's talk about all kinds of kisses.
Holy Kiss and Christianity
Including the above, almost all the rituals related to kissing are related to Christianity. Because, in Christian doctrine, there is a saying of "holy kiss". Sao Paulo said, "greet each other with a holy kiss." Therefore, in the original church, there were kissing ceremonies in baptism, wedding, confession and other ceremonies. Later, in order to distinguish it from sex-related kissing, it was restricted that only men could kiss men and women could only kiss women. This ritual was not completely abolished until the late Middle Ages.
Although the ritual of kissing each other has been abolished, the doctrine of "holy kiss" still needs to be implemented. /kloc-In the mid-0/3rd century, people kissed the same disk (icon) instead of kissing each other. The act of kissing Jesus should start from this time and continue to this day. So until today, we can still see people kissing all kinds of crosses, sometimes kissing the cross held by the bishop, sometimes kissing the cross necklace on his chest, sometimes kissing the cross tattoo on his body and so on. However, they kissed not the cross, but the icon of Jesus on the cross (only, only the cross was left later).
In addition, there is a ceremony of kissing feet, which is also evolved from "holy kiss". It is said that it was originally a kiss on the boots of the clergy with the sign of the cross, and later it gradually evolved into a kiss on the feet.
Hand kissing ceremony
This kind of kiss is a way to show respect. At first, it also appeared in Christian ceremonies, usually kissing the clergy who presided over the ceremony. Later, it was also used to kiss the ruling class to show respect. Later, this etiquette was also used by men to kiss noble ladies to show respect and worship.
Kiss the cheek (kiss the face, cover the face)
Kissing the cheek is different from kissing the hand. This kind of gift is more used to express friendship and goodwill to a person. Therefore, this kind of ceremony is usually held between acquaintances or when expressing gratitude and cordial greetings to strangers. Moreover, different countries and regions have different salute standards. The following are the customs of kissing on the cheek in several countries. (Refer to online materials, no detailed research)
Kissing the cheek has a long history in the west, especially in the upper class. 17 and 18 centuries have traces of this etiquette, which is also the reason why this etiquette has been passed down to this day. Of course, not everyone likes this etiquette. The French writer Montaigne expressed his dissatisfaction:
Kiss of Pure Curse —— Kiss in Fairy Tales
In western culture, "kiss" has "magic power". It is generally believed that kissing can eliminate unclean things, such as spells and magic. This is probably because kissing can make people happy. Just like a poet used "two souls fluttering gently in the wind" to describe the pleasure of kissing. Or to put it another way, the kiss itself is poetic.
So in western fairy tales, there are many fairy tales in which kissing is the only way to break the witch's spell, such as beauty and the beast, sleeping beauty, frog prince and so on.
Although, in our country, kissing culture has a long history. However, until recently, "kissing" was basically a cultural symbol of equality and sex. Therefore, just like "sex culture", "kissing culture" has always existed as a secret story of boudoir, and it is difficult to enter the mainstream cultural field of vision, and even a few words are rarely described. In addition, although there was no conservatism in the Han and Tang Dynasties after the Song Dynasty, the characters also existed as symbols of the privileged class at that time, which reduced the possibility of such records.
"Kiss"-Interpreting Chinese Characters
The word "kiss" comes from your mouth, but don't make a sound. The original meaning is a noun, that is, lips. Generally refers to the human mouth. "Don't" means "Don't". Therefore, some people think that the ancients were unwilling to kiss, presumably because the ancients could not clean their teeth well and had a heavy breath. So "kiss" as a symbol of "sex" was verbalized a long time ago.
"The First Kiss in China" and "The First Kiss in the World"
Although, the earliest written evidence about kissing is 1000-2000 years ago from the Vedic Sanskrit literature in North India. In China, the earliest kissing images can be traced back to the Han Dynasty, and there are two famous cultural relics: "The First Kiss in China" and "The First Kiss in the World". The former is the kiss relief pattern of the sarcophagus of the Eastern Han Dynasty unearthed in Yingjing County, Sichuan Province, and the latter is the secret play sculpture of the Han Dynasty found on the cliff of Pengshan River mouth, as shown below.
In addition, there are a few literary "masterpieces" about "kissing" in ancient China, which have no special meaning. Most of them are related to "sex", so you might as well find out for yourself.
The previous parts are all about the cultural origin, evolution and symbolic significance of kissing. So in this part, let's go back to "kissing" itself. See what the principle of kissing is.
First of all, our lip nerve endings are very rich and extremely sensitive to stimuli. It is precisely because of this sensitivity that whether we kiss because of "sex" or just because of courtesy, we can feel happy.
However, from our current biomedical research, we can know that a large part of the reason for pleasure is a substance called dopamine. When our brain receives the signal of "kissing", it secretes dopamine. Therefore, every time we kiss, it is like getting a reward, and in order to get this reward, we will try our best to kiss and get addicted. Current research shows that this process is actually very similar to other processes such as sex, smoking, alcoholism, drug abuse and even exercise, all of which are aimed at obtaining dopamine and acting on the same brain region (refer to pleasure circuit, 500 years of addiction and other books). So, like other behaviors mentioned above, the reward of repeating a certain process is actually declining. If you need to maintain the original level of pleasure, you need more quantity or more stimulation. I think this also explains the word "fresh" to some extent.
However, another study shows that for couples, "kissing" not only increases the secretion of dopamine, but also secretes a substance called oxytocin, which makes people feel very calm and relaxed, and is an important source of security, thus enhancing the happiness of marriage.
In addition to the above two hormone rewards, kissing can also improve immunity. Because some (about 20%) kinds of bacteria in everyone's mouth are different, kissing is an exchange of oral bacteria. A certain range of bacterial exchange is conducive to the improvement of our immunity. However, kissing can also secrete extra saliva to wash away some dangerous bacteria, thus making teeth more shiny and white.
When kissing, our heart beats faster and our blood circulates faster, so the energy consumed will also increase. It is estimated that for the average person, kissing can consume about 1.560 calories per hour. It can be seen that the world record of kissing time of 58 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds is not for everyone.
In a word, kissing does more good than harm to people and themselves.