<論説>崑崙四水説の地理思想史的考察 : 仏典及び旧約聖書の四河説との関連において

Abstract

中国西北方の神山崑崙から、黄河、赤水、青水、黒水の四河川が発源するという古代中国の説話を一種の世界地理的構想として把えるとき、それは多分に非中国的要素を含んでいる。一方古代インドの仏教では、ヒマラヤ山中の阿耨達池からガンジス、インダスを含む四大河が四方に流出するという。また旧約聖書創世記はエデンの園を源とするチグリス、ユーフラテスなどの四河を記述する。中国以外にもこうした類似の伝承がある以上、崑崙四水説が単独に発生したとはまず考えられない。一体このような四河説が発生するにはそれにふさわしい地形的環境が必要であろう。ところが中国、インド、ヘブライともにそうした積極的要素に乏しい。つまりこれら三種の四河説は姉妹関係にあるにすぎず、地形その他から見て恐らく中央アジア方面の民族の間に生まれたより古い四河説を受けたものであろう。

In ancient China, there was a popular belief that four rivers rose from Mt. K'un Lun which was venerated among the people to be a mysterious mountain. The mountain was presumed to be situated far to the north-west of China, and although one of the four rivers must undoubtedly be the Hwang ho (Yellow River), the rest of them can't be identified. In India of old, too, the Buddhists believed that the four big rivers of Gaṅgā(Ganges), Sindhu(Indus), Sītā(Tarim) and Vakṣu(Oxus) flowed out of Lake Anavatapta among the Hymalayas. Furthermore, it is written in the Genesis of the Old Testament that there were four rivers proceeding from the Garden of Eden supposed to be in the East. Evidently these four rivers stated in each case were all imaginary ones, since they actually shared no identical river-source. It may of course be said that to give birth to such popular belief, there must be some geographical condition or configuration appropriate to it. No such land-feature, however, can be found in any of these three countries, --China, India and ancient Hebraic country. Should we then regard these legends as a strange coincidence? Since there seems to be little or no possibility of coincidence, the author is inclined to think that the original legend was first created in earlier ages among the tribes who inhabited the mountainous areas in Central Asia, and it later spread far and wide. It is probably because there were actually no appropriately identifiable rivers that not all of the four legendary rivers can be found in China and Hebraic country. It may also be said that from the dominant land-feature of each country, the source of all the four rivers was considered in China to be north-westerly, in India to be northerly and in Hebraic country to be easterly, but another possibility in this connection is that they may, in each case, have meant the direction of the source whence the original legend was brought over.