中国史学的起源及早期发展考析

An Analysis of the Origin and Early Development of Chinese Historiography

中国历史学产生于公元前841年,即"共和行政"之际,与确切纪年的起始时间同步。实际上,在中国上古历法缺乏准确纪年方法的状况下,之所以会产生确切的连续纪年,就是得自官方连续性地记录史事。西周初期"殷鉴"的历史意识,是中国最早的理性思维方式,促使官方编存一些文书、文献,影响中国文化发展十分长远,但并未直接促成史学的产生。甲骨文、金文也与史学产生没有直接的关系,神话远离历史的真实,更不能成为史学兴起的源头。但史学产生之后,殷鉴意识下编存的文献如《尚书》,融入史学系统,发挥了极大的作用。历史记录向下延续的同时,上古先人又从史学产生的原点向往古追溯,而对殷商之前的历史,只能通过修饰神话、传说的方式来构建,这自然形成如顾颉刚所云"层累地造成的中国古史"。在远古时期,中国只有"神话的历史化",而不存在相反的现象。

Chinese historiography came into being in 841 BC,the time of"Republican Administration",which was synchronized with the beginning time of exact chronology.In the absence of an accurate chronological method for the ancient Chinese calendar,the exact continuous chronology was created owing to the officials’continuous record of the historical events.The historical consciousness of"Yin Jian"in the early Western Zhou Dynasty represents the earliest rational way of thinking in China.It prompts the official compilation of some documents,which affects the development of Chinese culture for a very long time,but it does not directly contribute to the emergence of historiography.Inscriptions on oracle bones and bronze objects also have no direct connection with the emergence of historiography.Myth is far from the truth of history,nor can it be the source for the rise of historiography.But after the creation of historiography,the documents compiled under Yin Jian’s influence,such as Shangshu,were integrated into the historiography system and played a great role.While the historical records continued,the ancient ancestors traced from the origin of historiography back to the ancient times,and the history before the Shang dynasty could only be constructed by modifying myths and legends,which naturally facilitated the formation of Gu Jiegang’s argument that"the ancient Chinese history is created by stratum accumulation".In ancient times,there was only"historicization of myth"in China,not the other way around.