전설과 역사 사이: 山西省의 堯舜禹

Abstract

Shanxi province has long been recognized as the homeland of Yao, Shun and Yu, legendary sage kings in Early China. This study examines the reasons and the process why and how the legendary figures became history in Shanxi province. By investigating oracle bone inscriptions of the late Shang, bamboo slips of Chu and the Zuozhuan , I find that a quasi-historic narrative in the Zuozhuan contributed to the beginning of the relationship between Shanxi and the legendary figures. Whereas the “Geographical Records” of the Hanshu quoted the narrative only in part, scholars in the Later Han period began to note the connection entirely. It was not until the Northern Wei, Sui and Tang dynasties when the temples and tombs of Yao, Shun and Yu became prominent in southwestern Shanxi and the Taiyuan area. More than ten such places in Shanxi are enlisted in the Yuanhe junxian zhi and Taiping huanyu ji , the representative of historical geographical texts in the Tang and Northern Song periods, respectively. It goes without saying that the expansion was accompanied with new tombs of Yao, Shun and Yu and, especially, new stories regarding them. This study shows a good case of “inventing history,” in which misrecognitions on the ancient quasi-historical lores caused expansive reproduction of the history regarding Yao, Shun and Yu in traditional China.