신화를 생산하는 신화학자 : - 교량으로서 袁珂의 『山海經』연구

Abstract

It would be nonsense to try and find original myths, mythologist Ivan Strenski once commented, given that the very word myth “names a reality that we ‘cut out’, not one that ‘stands out’.” Nevertheless, ever since the word‘myth’ was first translated into Chinese as ‘shenhua (神話)’ in 1903, Chinese scholars have endeavored to trace‘original’ Chinese mythology and group it into ever more beautiful, well-organized collections. This long-cherished ambition was finally fulfilled in the late 20th century by Yuan Ke (袁珂), the “little giant” of the discipline. Yuan Ke’s version of Shan-hai jing (山海經, The Classic of Mountains and Seas) represents a large part of his entire mythological output. His annotation and commentary is the most respected in Chinese literary history. He also wrote multiple academic articles on the special text. However, today’s Chinese scholars claim that modern studies of Shan-hai jing make a completely new leap forward; an interdisciplinary approach, rather than Yuan Ke’s mythological or literary approach. They regard Yuan Ke as someone who merely saw Shan-hai jing as a book of mythology or shamanism. This paper focuses on two questions. First, what did Yuan Ke cut out or manufacture in his work on Shan-hai jing? Second, do current studies of Shan-hai jing really break with Yuan Ke? To answer these questions, this paper reexamines Yuan Ke’s work on Shan-hai jing. In doing so, it reveals that Yuan Ke took a mythological approach to the text, part of his grand plan to “compile Chinese mythology,” and that he weaved its fragmentary contents with completely different texts to reconstruct ‘original’ mythology. It also reveals that Yuan Ke’s work on Shan-hai jing already adopts an interdisciplinary approach, something clear in his understanding of the concepts Wu (巫, shaman) and mythology itself. In addition, his approach surely built on the work of Lu Xun (魯迅) and Mao Dun (茅盾). In reality, Yuan Ke played the role of a bridge, spanning the gap between Shan-hai jing studies of the early 20th century and those of the early 21st.