Contrary to g e n e r a l belief, the long and continuous h i s t o r y of Chinese writing and l i t e r a c y h a s not provided the r e a d e r with an uninterrupted flow of c o n t e m p o r a r y h i s t o r i c a l r e c o r d s f r o m China, the l e a s t so with r e g a r d to the perception and d e s c r i p t i o n of time a s a unidirectional and unbroken line, a continuous concatenation of e v e n t s . It i s p r e c i s e l y f o r t h i s r e a s o n that the m o s t d i v e r s e views of the duration of t h e period of mythical ancient t i m e s c a m e to be f o r m u l a t e d . It a l s o explains the existence of d i f f e r e n t but p a r a l l e l c h r o -nologies of this period in h i s t o r i c a l a c c o u n t s of the state unity of the i m p e r i a l age in the H a n - e r a (206 B . C . to 220 A . D . ) , and in s e v e r a l l a t e r v e r s i o n s and
" a m e n d m e n t s " . This i s partly b e c a u s e t h e r e was no r e l i a b l e h i s t o r i c a l s t a r t i n g point of time or a continuous chronology of p r a c t i c a l p u r p o s e in China or in i t s neighbourhood. Europe r e a d and m i s u n d e r s t o o d the well-intentioned h i s t o r i a n ' s apologia f o r past Chinese civilisation in which he a t t e m p t e d to show mythical tradition a s h i s t o r y through a c r e a t e d f r a m e w o r k of t i m e in a period of E u r o p e a n expansion and conquest in time and s p a c e , a period which a l s o m a r k e d the beginning of Oriental studies and colonization; and Chinese h i s t o r y w a s misunderstood b e -c a u s e traditional Chinese dates were m e a s u r e d by a European -con-cept of t i m e . S i n -c e then, one of the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c myths of China' s l o v e r s with a bad conscience and a wealth of m i s i n f o r m a t i o n is the splendour of a mythical Chinese "golden a g e " p r o -jected back to an i r r e a l l y old or n o n - e x i s t e n t p a s t . At the s a m e t i m e , it is not e a s y to a p p r e c i a t e f r o m the lengthy r e c o r d s which have yet to be investigated p r o p e r l y that the f i r s t written n o t e s do not h e r a l d the beginning of continuous r e c o r d s , t h a t these r e c o r d s do not give any information about the most important h i s t o r i c a l e v e n t s , that the r e c o r d e r w a s not bound by a continuous line of p r o p o r t i o n e d t i m e , and that r e s e a r c h e r should a l s o b r e a k away f r o m European t i m e c o n c e p t s , especially in r e s p e c t of the beginnings of h i s t o r y .
The f i r s t r e c o r d s can be dated t o the 16th century B . C . , but a m o r e or l e s s continuous line of r e c o r d s can be seen in the s o u r c e s f r o m the 9th century B . C . , and written r e c o r d s r e l a t i n g to the whole t e r r i t o r y and h i s t o r y of h i s t o r i c a l China w e r e r e g u l a r l y c o l l e c t e d only during the i m p e r i a l e r a (from 221 B . C . )and a f t e r . T h e h i s t o r i c a l r e c o r d s collected for the g r e a t e r glory of a d y n a s t y , invariably began
with t h e change of d y n a s t i e s and u s u a l l y stopped at the s t a t e b o r d e r — both b e f o r e the e r a of the e m p e r o r s and l a t e r when China was often split into s m a l l
s t a t e s ; their duration i s limited in s p a c e and t i m e , and they r e v e a l thus t h e p r i m a r y and p r i m a r i l y d e t e r m i n a t i v e connections of writing and s t a t e , w r i t t e n r e c o r d s and state f o r m a t i o n in China.
The f i r s t w r i t t e n r e c o r d s , s h o r t i n s c r i p t i o n s p r e s e r v e d on the s o - c a l l e d o r a c l e - b o n e s and on m e t a l objects, r e c o r d e d the s t a t e r i t u a l s of the Shang-Yin s t a t e (16th—11th c e n t u r y B . C . ) a s well a s other a c t i v i t i e s of i m p o r t a n c e to the s t a t e , e . g . donations, exactly m a r k i n g the month, day and, occasionally and f o r t u n a t e l y , the hour of the day with r e s p e c t to the i m p o r t a n c e of the event and t o t h e cultic t i m e r e g u l a t i o n s of hunting or a g r i c u l t u r a l r i t u a l s . Still, the i n t e n -tion w a s to r e c o r d t h e event itself and not its date; t h u s it is s o m e t i m e s p o s s i b l e to discover t h e date of an event just f r o m an a c c e s s o r y incident, f o r e x a m p l e , a r e c o r d e d a s t r o n o m i c a l phenomenon or other e x t r a o r d i n a r y moment b r e a k i n g through t h e s t e r e o t y p i c a l f o r m s . As it i s , r e a l i t y is not generally d e s c r i b e d or p r e s e n t e d by means of identifying or identifiable d e t a i l s ; even if d e t a i l s a r e given, they a r e hard to i n t e r p r e t and to u n d e r s t a n d b e c a u s e of t h e i r c h a n c e c h a r a c t e r . A c t u a l , objective t i m e is not the subject of Chinese r e c o r d s ; even in the case of minute detailing it is usually i m p o s s i b l e to put a y e a r t o a date a s t h e r e is no outside point of c o m p a r i s o n , point of t i m e , or chronological p r a c t i c e known and acknowledged a s r e a l ; and t h e r e was no a p p a r e n t b r e a c h or j u m p in the long, g r a d u a l and unidirectional h i s t o r i c a l development of the i m m e d i a t e l y known w o r l d e i t h e r . Both the main w e a k n e s s of Chinese h i s t o r y -w r i t i n g , i . e . v a g u e n e s s or the a b s e n c e of points of t i m e , and i t s g r e a t e s t s t r e n g t h , its poetically compact a c c o u n t s especially of e v e n t s r e c e d i n g in s p a c e and t i m e — naturally in inverse r a t i o t o t h e i r distance f r o m the t i m e of writing — can be explained by the geographically r e l a t i v e l y isolated position of ancient China and of t h e f i r s t Chinese s t a t e s and by t h e fact that Chinese h i s t o r y t a k e s shape with an unbroken continuity.
In the writing of h i s t o r y in China h i s t o r i c a l t i m e had b e c o m e t i m e l e s s , due to t h e a b s e n c e of any m e a n s of c o m p a r i s o n ; it was bound, r e g u l a t e d and a r r a n g e d in a continuous s u c c e s s i o n of events when d i r e c t , unavoidable and continuous c o n t a c t with the outside world forced on the Chinese the a w a r e n e s s of foreign,
" d e v i a n t " t i m e . This happened about two thousand y e a r s a f t e r the a p p e a r a n c e of the f i r s t r e c o r d s , a t the end of the T ' a n g - e m p i r e (618—907 A . D . ); and it took the f o r m of history a r r a n g e d in the o r d e r of c h r o n i c l e s , b e g i n n i n g and ending with p o i n t s of t i m e , in the S u n g - e r a (960 —1279). However, both b e f o r e and a f t e r , the m o s t i m p o r t a n t m o m e n t s of h i s t o r y , the monographical p i c t u r e of the m o s t s i g n i f i -cant h i s t o r i c a l events w e r e d e s c r i b e d a s u n i n t e r r u p t e d s e q u e n c e s , indeed often a s s i m u l t a n e o u s happenings. This was f r e q u e n t l y done d e l i b e r a t e l y , e s p e c i a l l y a f t e r a n a t u r a l c a e s u r a , e . g . a change of d y n a s t y . [2]
T h i s is how one of the most p e c u l i a r f e a t u r e s of C h i n e s e h i s t o r i c a l s o u r c e s actually c a m e into being: the a c t u a l dating of a r e c o r d apparently g r o u n d e d in time or a t l e a s t f o r m a l l y d a t e d or s i m u l t a n e o u s with the event d e s c r i b e d , i s usually incidental or a r b i t r a r y even in the c a s e of a huge m a s s of r e c o r d s set in chronological o r d e r ; a l s o in the d e s c r i p t i o n of important
h i s t o r i c a l m o m e n t s and p r o c e s s e s what i s of fundamental i m p o r t a n c e i s not points of t i m e but r e t r o s p e c t i v e unity, the whole of the c o u r s e of time given a c o m p r e s s e d unity. Thus it is not an accident that Chinese historiography a s well a s Chinese h i s t o r i c a l s u r v e y s of any t i m e begin with the mythical t r a d i -tion, that is with the wise and b l i s s f u l l i v e s of divine a n c e s t o r s and r u l e r s of magic number and power who c a m e to conquer an unknown world compiled of p a r t s of magic n u m b e r and of magic phenomena. Stories d e s c r i b i n g the beginning of h i s t o r y in a poetical but condensed f o r m w e r e quoted for thousands of y e a r s a s r e a l e x a m p l e s and p a r a b l e s ; indeed they w e r e often endowed with the a p p a r e n t authenticity of h i s t o r i c a l r e a l i t y a s well. T h e i r validity and the ancient c h a r a c t e r of the tradition r e l a t i n g to them was openly questioned only when the f i r s t a r c h e -ological finds to be dated with absolute c e r t a i n t y were d i s c o v e r e d in the 1 9 2 0 ' s — by Swedish a r c h e o l o g i s t s — n e a r the capital of Shang-Yin s t a t e , p r e s e n t day Anyang (Honan province).
Since then, investigations have, in d i f f e r e n t ways and to different d e g r e e s , r e h a b i l i t a t e d the ancient t r a d i t i o n s that have been — in the light of the above d i s
-c o v e r i e s — g r a v e l y d i s -c r e d i t e d or r a t h e r m i s u n d e r s t o o d . Only the e a r l y d a t e s going so back a s the 4th and 3rd m i l l e n n i a , have proved unacceptable, but the e a r l y r e c o r d s , the accounts of ancient h e r o i c deeds a s mythical e x a m p l e s and p a r a b l e s have not lost t h e i r c r e d i t . B e s i d e s the textual a n a l y s i s of s o u r c e s t h e internal connections of mythical tradition a l s o help the s c h o l a r to u n d e r s t a n d the most ancient level of the written r e c o r d s of Chinese h i s t o r y and its t r a d i t i o n .
We have to r e c o n s i d e r at l e a s t the inherent r e f e r e n c e of some widely-known h a l f - t r u t h s c o n s i d e r e d c o m m o n p l a c e s a s c o n c e r n s m y t h s and h i s t o r y , myths and l i t e r a t u r e in China. F o r on the one hand, although written t r a d i t i o n , traditional h i s t o r y and even the h i s t o r i a n ' s concept of past and c o n t e m p o r a r y world begin with m y t h s , a s i z e a b l e s y s t e m a t i z e d or s y s t e m a t i z a b l e mythology h a s not taken shape in China, and on the other hand, while Chinese l i t e r a t u r e i s interwoven with m a g i c e l e m e n t s , phantasy plays a strikingly unimportant p a r t in mythical t r a d i t i o n .
B e s i d e s the r e a l antagonisms of h i s t o r i c a l r e a l i t y , t h i s paradox can be a t t r i b u t e d , in the c a s e of China, to a m i s l e a d i n g s t a r t i n g point. Inevitably we have the viewpoint of a p r e s e n t - d a y r e a d e r who can examine mythical tradition without r e f e r e n c e to its h i s t o r i c a l background, social medium and communal f u n c t i o n , distingishing them for objective but m o d e r n r e a s o n s , n a t u r a l l y never u n p u n i s h e d . If, however, we c o n c e n t r a t e on the p r i m a r y significance of writing, r e c o r d i n g , marking and p r e s e r v i n g the beginning of history — on its civilising and c i v i l -i s a t -i o n - p r e s e r v -i n g s-ign-if-icance —,we have to conclude that wr-it-ing and w r -i t t e n tradition born in the c o u r t , on the i m p e r i a l peaks of c u l t u r e , and p r o m o t e d ex officio s e r v e s , f i r s t of a l l , to maintain r e p r e s e n t a t i v e v a l u e s of i m p o r t a n c e t o the s t a t e , supporting the perpetuance of society, with a l l the c o n s e q u e n c e s that t h i s i m p l i e s ; written r e c o r d s d e t e r m i n e not only the kaleidoscopic e l e m e n t s of tradition p a s s e d down to distant f u t u r e g e n e r a t i o n s but a l s o the d i r e c t s u r v i v a l of t h e i r p a r t s or of the whole a s the selective communal m e m o r y of a s o c i e t y selecting and chosing on the b a s i s of l i t e r a c y .
Naturally, the most ancient t r a d i t i o n , m e m o r i e s of the h i s t o r y - f o r m i n g and h i s t o r y - c o m m e n c i n g struggle with n a t u r e and those of the foundation of the
I
s t a t e a r e p r e s e r v e d in the holy books containing the c e n t r a l philosophy which s e r v e d f o r maintaining the state: C o n f u c i a n i s m . The c l a s s i c a l books contain and t h u s canonize h i s t o r i c a l s t o r i e s , which include d i r e c t or indirect r e f e r -e n c -e s providing support and justification to l a t -e r c a u s -e s , and m-ention h -e r o s of m o r e a n d m o r e shining n a m e s ; they expound their c u r r e n t and actualized m o r a l i t y a s t h e evident and final t r u t h , and they connect the didactically simplified m e m o r y of the p a s t with one or other r e s p e c t a b l e p e r s o n or r a t h e r with t h e i r name in o r d e r to p e r p e t u a t e their m e m o r y . This m y t h i c a l inheritance collected in concise p a r a -b l e s a n d s i m i l e s — if only -because of the a u t h o r i t y and w i d e - s p r e a d social influence of C o n f u c i a n i s m — s u p p l a n t s all other t r a d i t i o n a l l i t e r a r y e l e m e n t s of c o n s c i o u s n e s s . L o c a l tradition, t a l e s and magic a r e f i r s t banished a s w o r t h l e s s and s u p e r fluous, then attacked and finally driven b a c k t o the p e r s e c u t e d p e r i p h e r y of a d e -clining s o c i a l c o n s c i o u s n e s s of c u l t u r e . C o n f u c i u s (and C o n f u c i a n i s m ) "spoke n e i t h e r of i r r e g u l a r t h i n g s , nor of s p i r i t s " ( ' L u n - y i i ' , C h a p t e r VII), and he did not even r e j e c t e x i s t e n c e a f t e r death f o r instance, he simply never dealt with i t , saying: whoever does not even know life, how could he understand d e a t h ? ( ' L u n - y i i ' , XI).
It i s probably not accidental that a l l these ancient or l a t e r uncanonized b e l i e f s , of which only p a r t s have been p r e s e r v e d at r a n d o m , have proved t o be inadequate to f o r m the b a s i s of a lost mythology; they r e f u s e to be i n t e g r a t e d into a body of concepts and d o c t r i n e s . The primitive w o r l d c o n c e p t o f a h i s t o r -ically obsolete phase of social h i s t o r y p r e s e r v e d for t h o u s a n d s of y e a r s by a p r e h i s t o r i c a l mode of e x i s t e n c e , n e v e r completely d i s c r e d i t e d and o v e r c o m e , and t h u s long haunting in i t s f r a g m e n t s — on the whole r e p r e s s e d , isolated and d e c a y i n g , but occasionally f l o u r i s h i n g — found its n a t u r a l place in o p p o s i -tional i d e o l o g i e s . T r a d i t i o n a l pious s t o r i e s fitted easily into the i l l u s t r a t i o n s of T a o i s m with local and folk r o o t s that e s c a p e d into " n o n - a c t i o n " — a s a f o r m of r e v o l t — a s well a s into the l e g e n d s of f o r e i g n - b a s e d Buddhism which was s p r e a d i n g in a C h i n e s e f o r m and s h a r e d the fate of T a o i s m in its p e r s e c u -tion, t o o . They h a r m o n i c a l l y m e r g e within the popular " s t r a n g e s t o r i e s " of d e s p i s e d b e l l e s l e t t e r e s p r o p e r , c r e a t e d with the help of the p r o s e l y t i z i n g p r o p
-aganda of Buddhism. The multitudinous e m p i r e s of s p i r i t s , g h o s t s , demons and f a i r i e s , which öfter m i r r o r i m p e r i a l o r d e r , too, r e v e a l the influence of T a o i s t - B u d d h i s t mediation; but their m i r a c u l o u s s t o r i e s have t h e i r c o u n t e r p o i n t s in the whole of Chinese l i t e r a t u r e , even in q u a s i - s c i e n t i f i c or wholly scientific w o r k s . T h i s i s due r a t h e r t o the r u d i m e n t a r y c h a r a c t e r of the c o n t e m p o r a r y scientific world concept than to the e x i s t e n c e of a c o h e r e n t " o t h e r w o r l d " with valid s y s t e m of social s y m b o l s .
In i t s e f f o r t s to f o r m a coherent s y s t e m , Confucianism a l s o r e f r a i n e d f r o m m e d d l i n g with m a g i c f o r c e s , p a r t l y b e c a u s e of state i n t e r e s t s , and b e -cause it c o n s i d e r e d the c e r e m o n i a l complex of magic e l e m e n t s to be the only form of m a g i c worthy of s u r v i v a l in a c i v i l i s e d society, i . e . a society like its own, p r o u d of its e x i s t e n c e a s a s t a t e . A s it organised the s t a t e , it d e c l a r e d itself the s o l e and direct h e i r t o the ancient and continuously evolving civilisation of China, w h e r e v e r p o s s i b l e it sought for a n c i e n t e x a m p l e s in m y t h i c a l tradition
to j u s t i f y its belief in an unbroken h i s t o r i c a l e t e r n i t y , a s valid a s the laws of n a t u r e . And it was n e v e r p o s s i b l e throughout the whole h i s t o r y of the Chinese state to c r e a t e that r e m o t e n e s s which would lend itself to the m a n u f a c t u r e of a s y s t e m a t i c mythology. T h e r e never existed wide gulf between the m e n t a l i t y of the s c h o l a r - o f f i c i a l s who o r g a n i s e d Confucianism into a s y s t e m , and the f i r s t Chinese state(s) i n t h e i r e f f o r t s to civilize the country and the i m a g e s of t h o s e p e r s o n i f i e d in mythical f o r m s .
The m o s t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c f e a t u r e s of ancient t i m e s in the p r e s e r v e d w r i t t e n t r a d i t i o n , i . e . in r e c o r d s p r e s e r v i n g and f o r m i n g t r a d i t i o n s a l s o r e -veal t h e i r social function. The old s t o r i e s a r e quoted a s p r e s e n t i n g a m o r e and m o r e shining i m a g e , a polished m i r r o r of c o r r e c t and p r o p e r g o v e r n m e n t and have become p a r t s of a deliberately r a t i o n a l i s e d world concept, p r a c t i c a l in both a s p e c t and method. Thus they tend to lose t h e i r m i r a c u l o u s e l e m e n t s , or t h e e l e m e n t s of e v e r y d a y r e a l i t y c e a s e to be p r e s e n t e d in the usual o r d e r of e v e r y d a y e x p e r i e n c e s . Slowly, a s one c h a r a c t e r i s t i c m o m e n t of the s t o r y b e c o m e s m o r e and m o r e important until it s e r v e s a s a model or j u s t i f i c a t i o n , even t h e s t o r y of mythical p e r s o n s p r e s e n t e d a s if they w e r e r e a l p e r s o n a g e s f a d e s into unrecognition.
R e f e r e n c e s t o the age of the m y t h s point out f i r s t of a l l some f e a t u r e s of s t a t e - o r g a n i s a t i o n , deriving these methods f r o m a n c i e n t t i m e s and e m p h a s i z i n g t h e i r continuous and even p r e s e n t - d a y s u r v i v a l . Confucius for example s u g g e s t s that when teaching somebody the p r i n c i p l e s of g o v e r n m e n t , we should follow t h e H s i a - d y n a s t y ' s schedule (calendar), t r a v e l on the Y i n - d i n a s t y ' s official c o a c h , and w e a r the C h o u d y n a s t y ' s c e r e m o n i a l c a p . . . ( ' L u n y ü ' , C h a p t e r XV). And in a n o t h -e r p a s s a g -e a t t r i b u t -e d to h i m , h-e r -e f -e r s to th-e b-eginning of t h -e C h o u - -e r a (11th — 3 r d c e n t u r y B . C . ), to the f o u n d e r s of the Chou-dynasty to j u s t i f y the p e a c e f u l c o n s e r v a t i o n of the ancient p a t r i a r c h a l organisation a s well a s the activity of a c o u r t a d m i n i s t r a t i o n above it, t r a c i n g b a c k the f i r s t , p r i m i t i v e o r g a n i s a t i o n of the division of labour to the "kung" (prince) of Chou, i . e . to the period p r i o r t o the foundation of the dynasty Chou, placing it in Lu p r i n c i p a l i t y , the n a t i v e land of C o n f u c i a n i s m . In t h i s p a s s a g e , Chou kung explained to his son, the p r i n c e of Lu that a v i r t u o u s prince ("chiin-tzu") did not d i s m i s s his r e l a t i v e s , did not a r o u s e the chief m i n i s t e r s ' ( " t a - c h ' e n " ) indignation by not leaving t h e m in t h e i r office and did not deprive m e m b e r s of old f a m i l i e s of their office u n l e s s he had a v e r y good r e a s o n to do s o , and, f i n a l l y , he did not expect a single man to p o s s e s s e v e r y ability ( ' L u n - y i i ' , Chapter XVIII).
The actual p r o c e s s e s of s t a t e - o r g a n i s a t i o n a r e p r e s e n t e d most plausibly in t h e i n n u m e r a b l e , multicoloured and h e t e r o g e n e o u s t r a d i t i o n a l f r a g m e n t s which d e s c r i b e how the f i r s t r u l e r s r e g u l a t e d w a t e r s and land, how c a n a l s and d a m s w e r e built, the o m e n s of e a r t h and heaven and other knowledge of e x i s t e n t i a l a n d social i m p o r t a n c e studied and the fate of p e r s o n s of dubious age and t h e i r h i s t o r i e s r e v e a l e d ; m o r e plausible, in f a c t , than by patent and tendentious c o n d e n s a t i o n s of h i s t o r i c a l e v e n t s , which n e a r l y a l w a y s a p p e a r to be f a l s i f i -c a t i o n , a s f o r e x a m p l e we see in the e x t r a -c t s quoted above f r o m the m o s t c l a s s i c a l work of C o n f u c i a n i s m . The p e r s o n s who a p p e a r in the mythical s t o r i e s
with s e v e r a l n a m e s a p p e a r a l s o a s divine a n c e s t o r s in s o m e e l e m e n t s of t r a d i t i o n a l a c c o u n t s and a r e r a n k e d among the p r e h i s t o r i c " e m p e r o r s " of mythical n u m b e r and r a n k , succession and p e r i o d of r u l e in l a t e r h i s t o r i c a l c h r o n o l o g i e s ; in other s t o r i e s the same p e r s o n s a r e h e r o e s and s a g e s with m a g i c a l power or knowledge, e . g . t h e p e r s o n i f i c a t i o n of a g r i c u l t u r e and b a r t e r , the i n t r o d u c e r of m e d i c a l s c i e n c e , a n d h e who f o r m u l a t e d the signs of divination; in the end, they b e c o m e the m i n -i s t e r s of the so c a l l e d "Yellow e m p e r o r " and fade away -into the myth-ical p a s t . It i s not t h e i r p e r s o n a l f a t e but the p r o c e s s of organising the s t a t e , the organisation of a d m i n i s t r a t i o n following the age of c u l t i c l e a d e r s and c u l t u r a l h e r o e s that a s s u r e s the o r d e r of their s t o r i e s . For that r e a s o n even if the f r a g m e n t a l m o s a i c of m y t h s would b e c a r e f u l l y f i t t e d together or i s s e t into o r d e r a c c o r d i n g to p e r s o n s a n d , l e t ' s s a y , catalogued, they would r e m a i n shadowy f i g u r e s . (For that m a t t e r , nobody a t t e m p t e d to catalogue t h e m , p e r h a p s b e c a u s e of the d i s p i r i t i n g difficulty f i r s t l y with i n t e r p r e t i n g the m a t e r i a l and then r e a r r a n g i n g and selecting i t . )
On the b a s i s of t h e w r i t e r ' s l a t e s t investigations [ 3] , she was led t o the r e a l i s a t i o n that the C h i n e s e myths m a y contain h i s t o r i c a l evidence even in t h e i r p r e h i s t o r i c a n a c h r o n i s m ; that this evidence may often be even m o r e authentic than the e a r l y historical r e c o r d s which can be dated but a r e bound to a d a t e , spotlighting a s i n g l e event; and t h i s conclusion s e e m s t o offer a key t o the m a n y - s i d e d , complex p r o b l e m of the network of tradition and t r a d i t i o n a l t e x t s . Instead of forcing an " e p i c "
i n t e r p r e t a t i o n and c o h e r e n c e on the m y t h s f r o m outside and f r o m a distance of s e v e r -al t h o u s a n d y e a r s , we should g r a s p the h i s t o r i c a l moment of t h e i r c r y s t a l l i z a t i o n ; i n s t e a d of concentrating on the exact date of the events they r e l a t e , we should r a t h e r o b s e r v e t h e p r o c e s s e s evolving f r o m t h e m , in our c a s e , during the period of s t a t e f o r m a t i o n in China which i s not easy t o c i r c u m s c r i b e but p r o v i d e s an u n p a r a l l e l e d h i s t o r i c a l lesson. In China the f i r s t , d e c i s i v e and p e c u l i a r l y long ( " A s i a t i c " ) t u r n -ing p o i n t of h i s t o r i c a l development, t h e foundation of civilisation and its final phase c o n s t i t u t e s the p e r i o d t o which the m y t h s a r e r e l e v a n t , in which the broken p i e c e s of r e a l i t y unite. It would s e e m the main t a s k of h i s t o r i c a l r e s e a r c h to give the due c r e d i t t o written m y t h i c a l tradition which h a s shed light on a c r u c i a l c h a p t e r in h i s t o r y , c r e a t e d and c t y s t a l l i s e d in the m y t h s , so that even the t i m e l e s s m y t h s t h e m s e l v e s — made to s p e a k in their n a t u r a l place and context — can be i n t e r p r e t e d a s a u t h e n t i c s o u r c e s of s o c i a l - h i s t o r i c a l p r o c e s s e s .
Notes = - - ::.-._=-..- = = = = =
1. A p r e l i m i n a r y form of t h i s paper was submitted in Hungarian to the conference devoted to the w o r k and memory of the eminent classical-philologist K. Marót (Budapest 1973, Eötvös L o r á n d University), c f . 'Idő és t ö r t é n e l e m , A Marót Károly emlékkonferencia e l ő a d á -s a i ' [Time and H i -s t o r y . The P a p e r -s of the Károly Marót Memorial Conference, ed. by L . Kákosy, E. Gaál] , Budapest 1974.
2. On the nature of Chinese historical works see E. BALÁZS, ' L ' h i s t o i r e comme guide de la p r a t i q u e bureaucratique (Les monographies, les encyclopédies, les r e c u e i l s de statuts):
H i s t o r i a n s of China and Japan, ed. by VV. G. Beasley and E. G. Pulleyblank, London 1961.
3. Cf. ' T h e Asian Soil of Chinese Civilization': Ancient Socieiv and the Asiatic Mode of I reduction.
e d . by F. Tökei, Budapest (in print).