《尚书》史诗略考

A Study of the Epic Features in A History of Ancient China

论以人类学之普适义理,华语史诗不当或缺;而由先秦之片言,可知史诗曾存,然随礼崩乐坏而亡佚。《尚书》载先古史,并见诗格修辞遗风,试以诗序排列《尧典》,非但诗体工整,且又文义大畅。此尧之诗传,每每相符人类学对原始社会特征之描述;而种种事象细节,若非由诗格框定其表述,使记诵、传承中不致改易,则不能得传。由此既证《虞夏书》等原系史诗,又证其诗确系初民原创,于是破"集缀论"(指战国人集神话等编缀《虞夏书》之说)。又因此国之信史便可推前至五帝世,犹与考古实际相符。

According to the general principle of anthropology,there should be Chinese epics.The scattered records before the Qin Dynasty have proved the existence of Chinese epics but they seem to have disappeared in history due to the changes of some dominating customs.A History of Ancient China is a record of the ancient history of China which has the features of epics with rich implications.Its poetic record corresponds to the anthropological recording of the ancient society and its details are easily rememberable due to its epic features.The paper gives the evidence to the earlier existence of such epics and offers some archaeological testimony to this history.