Abstract

Russian initial chronicle compliation the Primary Chronicle is the oldest and most important chronicle compliation of ancient Rus. Its first edition was compiled at about 1113. This is a beginning but most important link of the building of ancient Rus’s country，the history of ancient Rus’s religion and the history of Russian national thoughts in the form of history books，which recorded the holy origination of ancient Rus，the building progress of ancient Rus from clannish tribe to Rus country，the religional introductional progress of ancient Rus’s chriatianization，the communicating progress between ancient Rus and the other races and countries，the history of ancient Rus’s wars，and the changing progress of ancient Rus’s national thoughts. In nowadays，the Primary Chronicle itself and some religion-cultural phenomena from this work have become important cultural phenomena in the history of Russian nations，religions and thoughts.

As a literature-historical work with the type of chronicle，the text of the Primary Chronicle contains double narrates of literatural and historical dimensions，which forms the unique narrative and compiling characteristics of the Primary Chronicle：with the election，sequence，codification and arrangement of the different historical events in and abroad the ancient Rus，by using biblical writing，repetition，deletion，blanking and other means of arrangement，chroniclers from ancient Rus shows unique view of history and arrangement，and the text of the Primary Chronicle demonstrates a special textual structure and narrative strategy. Chroniclers tried to give a holy origination from the Bible，the holy time and space with the characteriatics of the biblical time and space to the ancient Rus，in order to establish the holy of slavic race and ancient Rus’s people，the participation and intergration of ancient Rus to the whole history in the Bible and the whole process of world’s history，thus establish the important role and special position of the ancient Rus nation in the forest of nations in the whole world.

In the history books of middle ages of various nationalities in the world，the religious narrative is an important narrative part of many historial books. As in the recording text of the Primary Chronicle is also the same（according to the narrtive content，it can be divided into polytheistic narrative and Christian narrative）. Based on the different historical events surrounding Christianization of Kievan Rus，chroniclers of ancient Rus shows a colorful historical picture about Christianization of Kievan Rus，reflects the Christianization of ancient Rus and the religious introductional process from polytheism to Christianity. Most nations in the world have their own original imagination and national observation of the world，creation，god，human and other dimensions. In the Primary Chronicle also recorded the initial thoughts of ancient Rus’s people to the origination of the world and their nation. As an important image that stands up to and accompanies the image of the God，the image of the devil in the Primary Chronicle not only can be regarded as the “reference” and “opposite” to the interpretation of the image of the God，but also reflects the differences and obstacles in the process of Christianization of ancient Rus to a great extent.

The idea of “Holy Rus” was first advanced by the whole Rus’s metropolitan Hilarion in his work “The word on Law and Grace”（1051），which got more clear and concrete interpretation in the recording text of the Primary Chronicle：people from ancient Rus regarded themselves as a holy nation，which was chosen by the God lastly and closed to the God mostly，ancient Rus is the real nation “chosen by the God”. The chroniclers from ancient Rus impilcitly reflected the opinions of the God and people，life and death，kindness and evil in the time of ancient Rus by a serious of historical events in ancient Rus and abroad，expressed ancient Rus’s national spirits like heroic and brave spirit，ethnic solidarity，devotion to the God and the seek of the terminal. It is believed that the Primary Chronicle is an initial and original work that demonstrates many Russian national spirits，which laterly was considerablely inherited and retained in the Russian national spirits，forming an important picture of Russian national spirits.

Key Words：The Primary Chronicle；Ancient Rus；Literature；History；Religion；National Spirits