从《史记·五帝本纪》看司马迁的神话观和历史观

On Sima Qian’s Myth and History View from the Book of Five Emperors

《史记·五帝本纪》以《大戴礼·五帝德》为基础,对三皇五帝传说进行改造,有选择地记录黄帝与舜的事迹。黄帝本传将黄帝放置于战胜炎帝、中华文明初启的坐标轴中,使其成为中华民族共祖,阐释中华民族人文历史的渐进过程;舜本传中特别安排的舜象斗争的神话故事,阐释了家庭私有制的产生。司马迁将关于黄帝的“其文不雅驯”的的神怪材料摒除于本传,而关于“舜象斗争”的神话故事却纳入舜本传,其中可见司马迁处理神话材料时,判断史料“雅驯”的标准为是否反映了历史的真实本质。司马迁将人的历史从荒怪的神话中剥离出来,但同时对神话化历史中的历史本质的真实性有深邃的洞察。因此,司马迁对黄帝与舜神话材料的取舍和运用,已超越历史事实层面的真实,到达对历史本质真实的把握,这是司马迁“实录精神”的更高层次的体现。

Based on "Da Dai Li, Wu Di De", "Shi Ji, Wu Di Ben Ji" transforms the legends of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and selectively records the deeds of Huangdi and Shun. Sima Qian is particularly alert to Gu Jiegang’s statement that "the ancient history of China is caused by successive layers". The biography of Huangdi, places him in the context of the defeating of Yandi and the beginning of Chinese civilization, making him the common ancestor of the Chinese nation. It demonstrates the inherent humanistic history of the Chinese nation. The biography of Shun specially arranges the mythological stories of struggle between Shun and Xiang, illustrating the emergence of private ownership in the family. Sima Qian excludes the sources for mythological gods and monsters from the biography of Huangdi, but includes the mythological stories of the struggle between Shun and Xiang in the biography of Shun. It shows Sima Qian’s criteria to evaluate the mythological sources, by judging whether the "refined and elegant" historical materials reflect the true nature of history. Sima Qian separates the absurd myth from human history, but at the same time, he has a profound insight into the truth of the historical essence in the mythological history. Therefore, Sima Qian’s choice and application of the mythological sources about Huangdi and Shun surpass the truth of historical facts, grasp the true nature of history, and reach a higher level of Sima Qian’s insightful "spirit of recording historical events".