“穆王八骏”佚游主题的重新审视

Re-examination of the Theme of Indulgence Roaming of “King Mu and His Eight Fine Horses”

经、史以及文学著作向来以“佚游荒乐”来解读“穆王八骏”故事,然而佚游主题却有几点疑问:(一)周穆王在《尚书》《逸周书》等篇目中,呈现出的是战兢谨慎,施行德政和注重德行的孜孜求治者形象;(二)《穆天子传》中的穆王,实际表现出来的是具有探索精神、优雅气质的人物形象,同时也极为体恤臣民。(三)从穆王首次得到“八骏”的表现来看,似乎良马本身即是西巡的目的之一。因此,“穆王八骏”背后暗示着更为重大的主题:良马资源对周人的重要性。《穆天子传》中表面上形式多样的外交活动其实际上皆潜藏着这一更重大而迫切的目的。论述主要着眼于先秦时期良马资源的重要性,从六个方面进行展开。

Confucian classics,history and literary works interpret the story of“King Mu and his eight fine horses”with“indulgence roaming and enjoyment”.However,there are some doubts about the theme of indulgence roaming.First,Book of Historical Documents and The Book of Zhou in Comfort and Ease present the image of King Mu of Zhou as a diligent and prudent ruler who exercised moral governance and paid attention to moral conduct.Second,King Mu of Zhou in Biography of King Mu(《穆天子传》)actually is a character with exploratory spirit and elegant temperament,and he is also very considerate to his subjects.Third,judging from his performance when King Mu of Zhou first obtained the eight fine horses,it seems that the horse itself is one of the purposes of the western tour.Therefore,King Mu and his eight fine horses implies the more important theme that the resources of fine horses are importance to Zhou people.Various diplomatic activities in Biography of King Mu actually hide a larger and more urgent purpose.This paper mainly discusses the importance of fine horse resources in the pre-Qin period from six aspects.