神聖的秩序－－〈楚帛書.甲篇〉中的創世神話及其宇宙觀

Sacred Order: Cosmogonic Myth and Cosmology in Part Ⅰ of the Chu Silk Manuscript

長沙子彈庫〈楚帛書〉三篇中的〈甲篇〉（四時篇）述及先秦文獻中少見的創世神話，彌足珍貴，為研究中國創世神話的重要資料。本文即以饒宗頤、李零的釋文為主，在跨文化的比較神話學視野下，運用母題（motif）分析方法，重新檢視〈楚帛書.甲篇〉中所具有的創世神話的結模類型、神話思維模式及其宇宙論。又由於創世神話主要講述宇宙的起源，而宇宙從渾沌到分化的過程，也是一種秩序化的過程。因此本文亦從「秩序」的角度探討〈楚帛書.甲篇〉中的創世論及宇宙觀，以見〈楚帛書〉中所開展出獨有的創世神話思維及其神聖的宇宙秩序圖式。〈楚帛書.甲篇〉的創世神話可分為二階段創世，第一階段是：從混沌創世，第二階段是初創宇宙歷經崩壞失序的過程，諸神進行再創世的宇宙調整神話，〈楚帛書.甲篇〉中的創世神話是由多種創世類型組合而成。〈楚帛書.甲篇〉的創世神話，不但解釋了楚人宇宙的起源，大地的形成；四時與日月的發生，更說明了楚人對天文的探索，以及豐富的天象觀察與神話想像。〈楚帛書.甲篇〉的創世神話具備了世界創世神話中多種重要類型母題，有其跨文化的共通性存在；但整體而論，其聖數的秩序思維，以及譜系式神創宇宙觀仍亦富含濃厚的戰國楚文化色彩，自有其文化殊性的特色。The Chu Silk Manuscript is the earliest and most complete astronomical text from ancient China. Part I of the Chu Silk Manuscript is a rare pre-Qin text that makes cosmological myths available in a complete version. This paper attempts to explore the mythological types and symbolic structures of the cosmogonic myth in the Chu Silk Manuscript, from the points of view of comparative mythology and motive analysis. Cosmological myths can be divided into two stages: the first stage is the creation from chaos; the second stage is the re-creation of differentiated order by the gods. Therefore, this paper also further analyzes the relationship between cosmogonic and social order. The cosmogonic myths in the pre-Qin Chu Silk Manuscript still have their original and symbolic power and efficacy. They explain not only the origin of the Chu people's universe, but also the creation of the earth, the appearance of the seasons, the sun and the moon, as well as other astronomical explorations. There is a rich store of observation of astronomical phenomena and of mythological imagination. The cosmogonic mythology of Part I of the Chu Silk Manuscript does have some archetypical motifs known from world cosmological myths, showing some cross-cultural similarities; but generally, its concept of the sacred numbers that constitute order, and its spiritual cosmogony really give it an intensively Warring States period Chu style, that is unique to the culture that produced it. The basis for symbolic thinking in Chu culture was not only those elements of cosmogonic myth that could lead to explicit astronomical and philosophical principles, but also the overall concept of world order.