“禹都阳城”传说考

A Study on the Legend of “Yu Founded His Capital in the Town of Yang”

禹都阳城的传说最早见于《孟子》,因汉代有阳城县,在今河南省嵩山之阳,故从班固《汉书·地理志》开始,即以河南的阳城县(今登封市)为禹都故地,该说成为当代豫西夏墟考古的重要依据。然而,古书所载名为阳城之地,非仅河南阳城一地,《春秋》《左传》记载的数处位于鲁西地区以"阳"为名之地,较之河南阳城的历史更为久远,且这几处"阳"地处于黄河下游,历史上为洪水泛滥之地,《山海经》等书记载的鲧、禹布土治水的传说也发生在黄河下游,鲁西诸"阳"地才是传说中的禹都,也才是夏墟所在。

There is a famous legend in ancient China that Yu the Great founded his capital in the town of Yang. This record was first mentioned in Mencius. Since there was a Yangcheng county in the Han Dynasty, which was located to the south of Song Mountain in Henan Province, Yangcheng County was taken as the capital of Yu, starting from The Book of Former Han: Geographical Record, which has become an important basis for the archeological research on the Ruins of Xia. However, the place named Yangcheng recorded in ancient documents is not only found in Henan Province. The Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo Zhuan recorded that there are several places with “Yang” in their names in western Shandong Province. Compared with Yangcheng in Henan, these places in western Shandong have a longer history and are in the lower reaches of the Yellow River with frequent floods in history. According to the records of Shan Hai Jing and other documents, the legends of Gun and Yu’s Flood Control also took place in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Therefore, this area with several places named “Yang” in western Shandong is the capital of Yu in the legend and the location of Ruins of Xia.