For the formation of Chinese and even Chinese civilization, in a certain sense, it is the result of the gradual extension and diffusion of the Central Plains culture.
Among them, the Pearl River Delta is a special region formed after the spread of central plains culture, especially in the development process of modern times, the Pearl River Delta has an extremely important role.
There is an unsolved mystery in the Pearl River Delta, that is, under what background did the "Guangdong people" who were called "Guangfu people" in ancient times develop and grow?
Therefore, to study the origin and evolution of the "Cantonese people" is to study the social development history of the Pearl River Delta.
There is a very famous legend on this issue, including records of the origin of the "Guangfu people", but these legends circulating in the folk do not completely prove the origin of the "Guangfu people", after all, to prove the authenticity of these legends needs to be supported by historical materials.
Therefore, the following article will combine the legends of the "Cantonese people" circulating and historical facts to explore the truth of the "Guangdong people".
I. Legends about "Cantonese" during the Ming Dynasty
The concept of "Cantonese" was born in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, so the special history of the Pearl River Delta in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties was very important for the influence of "Cantonese".
Therefore, the legend of the "Cantonese people" circulating in the Pearl River Delta still has certain reference value.
The legend about the "Guangfu people" is the most extensive, and its general content is: in the late Years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the ancestors took Nanxiong Zhujie Lane as the original place of origin.
Later, for some reason, they received the "road guide" from Yamen, which means that they need to relocate to the Pearl River Delta region.
However, in the process of migration, they ran out of entanglements, so they found a local "native" to spend the night, and the ancestors thought it would be good to settle here.
So they submitted an application to the local government, and later they also got the consent of the government, so the ancestors lived for a long time and were like the indigenous people, but they had to bear the burden of servitude, pay taxes, and so on.
From this legend, it can be seen that the birth of "Guangdong people" "ancestors", "native people" and so on has a very great influence.
Therefore, if you want to study the "Cantonese people", you must first understand what the legendary "ancestors" and "natives" refer to.
First of all, a brief analysis of "ancestors", in this legend, "ancestors" and "Cantonese people" can be regarded as the same concept, so from the content of the legend, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1. Before the "Guangfu people" moved to the Pearl River Delta, it was Zhujie Lane in Nanxiong, that is to say, the northern part of present-day Guangdong Province, and this place has always been a necessary place for Guangdong to lead to Jiangxi and other Central Plains.
Therefore, many people speculate that perhaps the real origin of "Guangfu people" is actually a Central Plains person, so "Guangfu people" will have a strong sense of "Han identity".
2. The migration of "Guangfu people" is in accordance with the law, because the reason why "Guangfu people" chose to move in the first place was because they had received the "road guide" of the imperial court, and with the "road guide", then the migration was naturally legal.
When he settled in the Pearl River Delta, he also handed in the "road guide" before being included in the household registration, so it can be said that the migration of "Cantonese people" is fully in line with the policy regulations.
3. The legend mentions that this story occurred at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, but according to its content analysis, it can be concluded that there is a deviation in this time point, and the legend shows that the "Guangfu people" originally belonged to the fourteenth map of the civil register.
Later, after moving in, it was incorporated into Tujia, but according to historical data, the terms such as Tujia or Lichanghu were not the names of household registration management implemented during the Southern Song Dynasty, but were only established in the early Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the legendary origin of the late Southern Song Dynasty is false, and the real time is at least the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.
4. At the end of the legend, it is mentioned that they had to bear servitude and pay taxes, but according to historical records, the Yao people at that time belonged to the state of exemption from servitude, and they were also exempted from taxes.
Comparing this with the end of the legend, it can be seen that the "Guangfu people" are not Yao, so the first clue has another corroboration, perhaps the "Guangfu people" are a people from the Central Plains.
Second, a brief analysis of the legendary "native people"
In the legend, "natives" actually have a lot of places worth studying, such as why these "natives" are not hostile to the "Cantonese" who come to their aid, but do their best to help them, and even become the guarantee for the naturalization of "Cantonese"?
Therefore, through the study of the entire legend, the following characteristics can be found: the first "native people" are indeed the indigenous people of the Pearl River Delta and still belong to the list of good people.
Otherwise, how can the "natives" become guarantors when the "Guangfu people" are naturalized; fourth, from the legendary names of the "natives" "Feng Tiancheng", "Gong Yingda", and so on, the "natives" are very deeply influenced by the Han culture.
Therefore, according to the analysis, it can be seen that before the "Cantonese" moved to the Pearl River Delta, the "natives" here had actually accepted the Han culture to a large extent.
Moreover, the Han culture was integrated with its own national culture, so when the "Guangfu people" moved here.
Instead of having xenophobic ideas about these emigrants, they welcomed them warmly and actively contributed to their settlement.
III. A Brief Analysis of historical facts on the reasons for the birth of "Guangdong people"
The content of the legend has been briefly analyzed, so the following will be further analyzed from the historical data to find out the evidence that can support the legend, or other more direct and powerful evidence, to explore the origin of the "Cantonese".
In fact, in the Ming Dynasty, Guangdong Province had several "non-Han" ethnic groups, most of which were distributed in the northern region, and according to Gu Yanwu's "Tianxia County Guoli Disease Book", the "non-Han" in Guangdong Province can be roughly divided into three ethnic groups.
Specifically, it is divided into: the "Yao Servants" in the north and northwest, that is, the current Yao and Zhuang ethnic groups, the "Gong Yuan" in the central and western parts, and the "Slang Households" in Hainan Island.
1. A brief analysis of the concept of "Yao"
The concept of "Yao" is actually more focused on the Yao people, and the relationship between the Yao people and the imperial court in the Ming Dynasty has a clear record.
According to historical research, it can be learned that the Ming Dynasty's management measures for the Yao people were formulated between the Hongwu period and the Yongle period, and the general content can be understood as the following three points:
1. During the Ming Dynasty, positions such as "Yao Shou" and "Yao Zhen" were set up for the Yao people, the purpose of which was to achieve the purpose of ruling the Yao people through "Yao Shou", and it can be said that the management methods of the Yao people during the Ming Dynasty were an indirect rule.
2. In the history of our country, the vassal states all needed to pay tribute to the imperial court, so the Ming Dynasty also implemented this policy in the management of the Yao people.
Moreover, according to the above legend, it can also be seen that the Ming Dynasty adopted a policy of exempting the Yaos from servitude and taxes, but they must pay tribute.
3. In addition to policies and regulations, the Ming court also set up the post of "FuYao Official" for the Yao people, the purpose of which was to recruit the Yao people, and the position of "Fu Yao Official" must also be held by the Yao people.
2. A brief analysis of the concept of "gong zhi"
In the records of the Book of Diseases, it can be seen that most of the "GongBians" were distributed in the south of the Yao people, and the management of the "Zhizhi" has a history to follow from the Tang Dynasty.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, there was already a policy of registering "officials" for naturalization. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the title of "Gong Zhi" was also given the title of Liangmin, but the relationship between the Ming Dynasty court and the "Gong Zhi" changed.
During the Song Dynasty, the imperial court set up a "chief officer" in the "ChiefTain" because it wanted to prevent Vietnam from invading our border.
In order to protect the security of the border and play the role of border guards, the imperial court during the Yuan Dynasty awarded them gold medals and official seals in order to reward the "soldiers" for their meritorious service in guarding the border, and also stipulated that gold medals and official seals could be hereditary.
However, during the exchange period between the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the various lords of the "Gong Zhi" returned the official seals one after another, hoping that the Ming Dynasty would issue official seals belonging to the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming court refused this request.
Therefore, the contradiction between the imperial court and the "Gong Zhi" was buried at this time, and the "Gong Zhi" and the Ming Dynasty Court also formed a state of sometimes submissive and sometimes opposed, it can be said that "Yao Gong" and "Gong Zhi" had completely different treatment during the Ming Dynasty.
Fourth, the speculation on the reasons for the birth of "Guangdong people"
Therefore, the biggest difference between indigenous people and guests during the Ming Dynasty is whether there is a attribution map armor system, which can be seen from the analysis of the content and perspective of the legend.
From this point, it can be seen that the "Guangfu people" have always been attached to the protection of the "natives" before they became the Tujia system, which also shows that the ancestors of the "Guangfu people" actually have a strong Han cultural identity.
In addition, the ancestors of the "Cantonese" did not have the same right to be exempted from servitude and taxes as the original "natives", which shows that although the "Cantonese" have a Tujia system, they still have some essential differences from the "natives".
Therefore, in order to have enough independent capital, the ancestors of the "Guangfu people" must have their own strength, or be able to obtain protection and support from the Ming court.
Without these, the "Cantonese" would essentially remain in the world of the "natives" and would not be able to develop.
bibliography:
[1] The Six Great Ethnic Groups of Fujian, Chen Zhiping, Fujian People's Publishing House
[2] "Records of the Southward Migration of Ethnic Groups in Zhujie Lane", Huang Cibo, Nanxiong County Chronicle Office
[3] From Loving the Homeland to Loving the Country: The National Discourse of Guangdong Vernacular Textbooks in the Late Qing Dynasty, Institute of Humanities, Peking University
[4] Old Book of Tang, Zhonghua Bookstore