The following sentence stands isolated:

昔から川を治める者が国をよく治めると言われてきた。

"From olden days we are told that the persons who rule the river(s) often rule
the country."

I guess this きた expresses that something comes to me/us here? I didn't
encounter it in a temporal function yet, only in spatial semantics so far.
Thats why I wanted to ask about it.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-14T18:43:16.237
53256
2017-09-14T23:39:20.810
20172
question
grammar
How to interprete this きた
> From olden days we **are told** that the persons who rule the river(s) often
> rule the country."

is translated as: 昔から川を治める者が国をよく治めると **言われている。**

And

> 昔から川を治める者が国をよく治めると **言われてきた** 。

is translated as:

From olden days we **have been told** that the persons who rule the river(s)
often rule the country."

きた in this context indicates the continuation from the past to the present.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-14T20:17:23.423
53258
2017-09-14T20:17:23.423
53256
answer
I think of 言われてきた as "it has come to be said".
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-14T23:39:20.810
53261
2017-09-14T23:39:20.810
9681
53256
answer