汉唐时代华夏族人对希腊罗马世界的认知*——以西王母神话为中心的探讨

Chinese Knowledge of the Greco-Roman World in Myth of Xi Wangmu during the Period from the Han to Tang Dynasties

古代西王母神话包含信仰与地理两种意义。与西王母信仰纠缠在一起的华夏族人的域外知识,本质上含有华夏世界的地理观念,西王母代表"天下四极"中的"西极"。西汉时代的华夏族人进行西域探险时,将耳闻的"条支国"与西王母传说相联系,盖因前者代表了当时华夏族人所了解的现实世界的"西极",而后者则是固有华夏世界观中的"西极";东汉时代的华夏族人获悉"大秦国"(罗马帝国)更在"条支"之西,遂将西王母与"大秦"及以远的地区联系起来。"西王母"被渐次移向远处。唐初入华景教徒利用汉魏史册对西王母的描述附会他们的故土叙利亚,助力传教,反映的是汉魏时代的地理观念。西王母神话源于中原,其本质是华夏族人对神仙之境的向往,并非简单挪用外来的现成神话。

The myth of Xi Wangmu(Queen mother of the West)contained the religious belief and the geographical information of the ancient Chinese.Interweaving with the belief of Xi Wangmu,the information referring to the world outside ancient China substantially reflected the geographical ideas held by ancient Chinese in their world.They believed that the fabulous kingdom of Xi Wangmu was a far-away western state,represented the western extremity of ecumene(i.e.the inhabited world).When the great explorer,Zhang Qian,reached Central Asia in 128 BC on his mission and learned some hearsay news about the far-western country of Tiao-zhi,he related Xi Wangmu to that information and assumed that the mythological kingdom located in Tiao-zhi.However,other Chinese explorers in later time supposed the mythological kingdom located in a new country,Ta-chin,when they learned that Ta-chin was located to the far west of Tiao-zhi.Accordingly,the location of Xi Wangmu was fixed westwards further.In the Tang Dynasty,Xi Wangmu lost its geographical vitality in Chinese minds,although the Nestorian Christians travelling to China adopted the old mythological sources to describe their native land(Syria)for the purpose of mission.The myth of Xi Wangmu was originated from East China and was spread westwards due to the enlargement of Chinese geographical horizon,instead of simply borrowing the existing myth from the outside world.