Mu Tianzi Zhuan - Sino-Platonic Papers

YU Taishan, “The Communication Lines between East and West as Seen in the Mu Tianzi Zhuan”
Sino-Platonic Papers, 197 (January, 2010)
died. This chapter was described as “one of nineteen composite books” when it was edited by the
Jin scholars. (See “Biography of Shu Xi” of the Jinshu.)
《穆天子傳》前四卷敍述穆王西征事,這是本文討論的主要依據。一般認爲,這四
卷可能成書於戰國後期燕、趙人之手,當爲傳說而附會於穆天子者,但可能包含早至西周
的史料。其現實背景主要爲至遲在前七世紀末業已存在的東西交通路線,書中有關穆天子
西征行程的記載不失爲中國最早的絲路文獻。
The first four chapters of the Mu Tianzi Zhuan describe the western travel of Mu, the Son
of Heaven, and this is the main concern of this paper. It is generally considered that these four
chapters were compiled by people from the Yan or Zhao states during the later period of the
Warring States. The contents of the book as a whole must have been concerned with traditions
under the name of Mu, the Son of Heaven, but it is possible that it contains historical data from
as early as the Western Zhou. What it reveals of history is mainly the lines of communication
between East and West that had come into existence no later than the seventh century B.C. The
records on the route of western travel of Mu, the Son of Heaven, in this book can be regarded as
the earliest literature about the Silk Road in China.
一
《穆天子傳》蘊涵著豐富的古代傳說和神話的素材,有很高的認知價值。本文所關
注者僅僅是此書假託穆天子西征所描述的東西交通路線,而解明這一路線走向的關鍵在於
搞清昆侖山的位置。蓋據《穆天子傳》卷一:
The Mu Tianzi Zhuan, which includes abundant ancient traditions and source materials
from mythology, has a high informational value. This paper is exclusively devoted to examining,
in this book, the communication lines between East and West as recorded in the western travel of
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