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)
4.12 “癸酉,天子命駕八駿之乘、赤驥之駟,造父爲御。□南征翔行,逕絕翟道。升
于太行,南濟于河。馳驅千里,遂入于宗周”。翟道,山西井陘之南。太行,太行山。河,
指黃河在河南境內一段。宗周,周都洛邑,今河南洛陽附近。
4.12 “On the day guiyou, the Son of Heaven ordered his servants to harness the eight
steeds to his chariot, red horses four in a row. Driven by Zao Fu, he rode on like a bird flying
through the Zhai Pass, up Mount Taihang, and across the [Yellow] River on the south. On and on
for a thousand li he drove until at last he arrived at the city of Zong Zhou.” The Zhai Pass is
situated to the south of Jingjing, Shanxi. “Taihang” is the same as the present Mount Taihang.
The [Yellow] River refers to the part of the Yellow River within the boundaries of Henan
Province. Zongzhou, a city of Zhou Dynasty, is situated near present-day Luoyang, Henan.
以上傳文敘說穆天子自伊吾河流域經河套,回歸洛陽的行程。
The above describes how Mu, the Son of Heaven, returned to Luoyang from the valley of
the Yiwu River via the Hetao area.
4.13.1 “庚辰、天子大朝于宗周之廟。乃里西土之數。曰:自宗周瀍水以西北至于河
宗之邦、陽紆之山三千有四百里”。瀍水,今河南瀍水。 67
4.13.1 “On the day gengchen, the Son of Heaven held a grand audience in the ancestral
temple in the city of Zong Zhou. He then estimated the distance of his travels to the west to be
the following: From west of the Chan River in Zong Zhou to the state of Hezong and Mount
Yangyu is 3,400 li.” The Chan River is the same as the present Chan River, in Henan. 67
4.13.2 “自陽紆西至于西夏氏,二千又五百里”。西夏氏居地當在河西某地。
4.13.2 “From Mount Yangyu to the state of Western Xia is 2,500 li.” The residence of the
Western Xia tribe must have been situated some place in the He Xi region.
4.13.3 “自西夏至于珠余氏及河首,千又五百里”。河首,意指河源。《穆天子傳》
的編者以爲河源在居延海。所謂河,其實是今張掖河。 68 珠余氏居地可能在此河流域
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