民族是基於主觀的共同信念，並且藉由共同血緣、語言、文化等客觀因素所組成的共同體。然而，所謂共同的血緣、語言與文化是可以被建構而成的，換句話說，民族也可以是安德森 (Anderson, 1991: 6) 所提出的由彼此認知為一共同體的一群人經由想像所建構的「想像共同體」(imagined community)。其中，民族歷史的敘述是民族想像建構最重要的途徑之一。本文認為捷克民族想像的建構主要體現在自古相傳的傳說故事中，並由民族主義者發揚光大，其中最具代表性的傳說故事應為相傳在西元七至八世紀時建立捷克第一個王朝普熱米斯王朝(Premyslid/Přemyslovci)以及被視為捷克民族共同祖先的莉布舍(Libuse/Libuše)。本文將以莉布舍的傳說為例，歷時性地檢視各時期的歷史學家、文學家以及藝術家對該傳說的敘述與再現方式，進而論述該傳說在十八世紀後期至十九世紀捷克國族復興運動中所扮演的角色。同時，希望藉著爬梳莉布舍傳說的相關論述，討論想像與真實、傳說與歷史的界限。

A nation is a community which is composed of objective factors, such as common gene, language, history, and culture, at the same time based on a common belief, attitude and perception. However, if the elements of a nation are not a natural and primordial phenomenon, then they should have been created or constructed. In Anderson’s term, a nation can be also an “imagined community” (Anderson, 1991: 6), and narrative is one of the most important approaches to construct such imagined community. This paper takes the legend of Libuse/Libuše, which generally spreads in Czechia, as the ancestor of the Premyslid/Přemyslovci dynasty and the Czech people. Within a diachronic approach to investigate the legend of Libuse, and the way how the historians, writers and artists represented this legend figure, it is discovered that these narratives and representation not only is the Czech people's historical experience and the ethnic group collective memories, but also reflect the complex activities intended to enhance the Czech national identity in the process of Czech national revival during the period from the 18th century to the 19th century. On the other hand, this paper also intends to discuss the borderline between “imagination” and “reality”, and “legend” and “history”, and at the same time to investigate the social and cultural characteristics of Czech nation.