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)
was crooked or straight. Even if we did not think that the original picture of the distances has
long been unknown, we would be convinced by the circumstances in which the Mu Tianzi Zhuan
was discovered and handed down from ancient times. To the west of “the head of the [Yellow]
River,” especially, the correct information could not be obtained, even after the Western Han
Dynasty, let alone in the time described in the Mu Tianzi Zhuan.
一直有人將《穆天子傳》視爲小說家言,我認爲,小說家言最突出的表現便是干支
和里數的紀錄,在討論穆天子西征路線時,存而不論可也。
It has been suggested that the Mu Tianzi Zhuan is a novel. In my opinion, the most
prominent expression of the Mu Tianzi Zhuan’s properties as a novel is its records on dates and
distances. These records can be left an open question when we discuss today the route of the
westward journey of Mu, the Son of Heaven.
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