Ding Qi: How do Mongolian interracial marriage novels express ethnic integration?
China News Service Tianjin, February 23 Title: Ding Qi: How do Mongolian inter-ethnic marriage novels express ethnic integration?
China News Service reporter Zhang Daozheng
Mongolian inter-ethnic marriage novels express the prayer for national integration through the love relationship between young men and women of different nationalities, reflecting the sense of literary mission of safeguarding national unity and forging a solid sense of community of the Chinese nation. How did this unique narrative type come to be? How to express the relationship between national cultures through the theme of eternal love? What is the relevance of these creations? Professor Ding Qi of the College of Literature of Tianjin Normal University recently gave an exclusive interview to the China News Agency", and made an interpretation of this.
The interview transcript is summarized below:
China News Service: Interracial marriage has become an important theme of Mongolian novels, in what kind of social and historical environment was it formed?
Ding Qi: China is a unified multi-ethnic country with the Han nationality as the main body, and the ethnic groups maintain ethnic boundaries between them due to differences in geography, history, culture, and beliefs. However, from a long-term historical point of view, multi-ethnic exchanges and integration are still the mainstream trend, and inter-ethnic marriage is an important form of ethnic exchanges. "Peace and kinship" was once an important way for China's feudal dynasty to consolidate harmonious relations with the surrounding ethnic minorities, and the love stories of Zhaojun, Songzan Gampo and Princess Wencheng were all the crystallization of literature and art in the context of hehe's pro-history.
In December 2021, the dance drama "Zhaojun Out of the Plug" was staged in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province. China News Service reporter Qu Honglun photographed
The Mongols are an ethnic minority that has a high number of intermarriages with foreign nationalities. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Mongols intermarried with other ethnic groups, especially with the Manchus, Han Chinese, and Daur. After the founding of New China, with the inclusive ethnic policy and the large number of Han immigrants, the Han nationality became the main object of Mongolian intermarriage, so the most common story in Mongolian inter-ethnic marriage novels is to tell the story of Mongolian-Han intermarriage.
China News Service: What are the creative characteristics of Mongolian inter-ethnic marriage novels in the new era?
Ding Qi: Mongolian literature has always had a fine tradition of safeguarding national unity, from Malaqin and Odesir in the 1950s and 1960s to writers such as Ayunga, Guo Xuebo, Bai Xuelin, and Haiquan in the new period, all praising harmonious ethnic relations in literary and artistic ways, and condemning narrow national concepts and ethnic separatist behaviors. Interracial marriage novels inherit this fine literary tradition, using love marriage as a carrier to express the cultural kinship between multiple ethnic groups in China.
In the new era, the creation of Mongolian interracial marriage novels has become increasingly prosperous, and reflects the dynamic development and changes of Mongolian society and spiritual confusion. In the process of the Mongols' national modernization, the socio-economic culture developed rapidly, but the machine-led industrial civilization gradually replaced the ancient nomadic way of life and traditional values. Whether to maintain the self or embark on the modern train, at what level to maintain the self, which levels should be innovated, mongolian novels under the guidance of love clues, these eras and social transformation issues, give in-depth thinking and aesthetic expression.
On February 19, 2019, Mongolian students from Changchun Hope High School performed a dance. Photo by Zhang Yao, a reporter from China News Service
Novels often use the love relationship between young men and women as a metaphor for ethnic exchange and integration, on the one hand, express national cultural self-confidence, reproduce the magical regional customs of the Mongolian people with the help of foreign observers, sing the traditional virtues of simplicity, kindness and selfless dedication of the Mongolian people, and carry forward the magnificent, broad and inclusive national spirit; on the other hand, they also reveal the anxiety and development confusion of social transformation, which can also be regarded as thinking about the future and destiny of the nation. The profound ideological connotation and full of emotion of the Mongolian novel are derived from its creative principles of paying attention to the reality of social development and following the authenticity.
China News Service: What are the main obstacles to interracial marriage? How do Mongolian writers express national integration?
Ding Qi: The main obstacle to interracial marriage is ethnic differences. Due to differences in ethnic origin, region, language, customs, culture, religious beliefs, etc., objective ethnic differences have been formed. Generally speaking, when the cultural assimilation of the two ethnic groups is relatively high, and there is no language barrier between the ethnic groups, no religious conflict or mutual tolerance, there will be a large number of intermarriages between the two ethnic groups, otherwise inter-ethnic marriage will encounter resistance.
Based on this social reality, Mongolian inter-ethnic marriage novels often set ethnic differences as narrative conflicts, heroes and heroines fight for pure love, and happy marriages do not cause estrangement, but strengthen ethnic exchanges and cultural integration, and express the strong desire for ethnic exchanges and integration with romantic love narratives.
On February 10, 2019, the entertainers performed the marriage scene in the Mongolian wedding. Photo by Liu Wenhua, a reporter of China News Service
Based on the first case of inter-ethnic inter-ethnic marriage in Mashan Mucun, "Mashan Intermarriage Examination" reproduces the historical process of inter-ethnic intermarriage before and after the founding of New China from the perspective of life emotion. Before the founding of New China, Dagui and Alima were forced to separate due to the opposition of their people, and the injured Dagui became a defender of the backward concept of "Non-marriage between Menghan and Han", opposing the love between his nephew and Alima's daughter, until after going through twists and turns, a lover finally married. The works reflect the historical process of interracial marriage from closed to open, explaining that ethnic differences do not exist forever, and the social and cultural commonality of human beings make this concept a history.
With the progress of the times, the resistance to primary ethnic differences will decrease, but at the same time, new dynamic ethnic differences will be generated, which will bring resistance to inter-ethnic marriage in a more hidden form. Novel creation should have the power of realistic observation and artistic expression, excavate these dynamic differences, interpret resistance and break resistance in literary forms, and show the moving power of unity and unity of all nationalities.
Surtaratu's Reunion is one such classic text. The novel tells the story of the Han Mother Wang from Beijing to the grasslands to find the daughter of the young man who fell in love with the grassland, Wang Xiaomei, Wang Mother resolutely opposed the relationship between the two, she found that the Su Mu secretary here is a former lover when she handled the transfer procedures for her daughter, the two single old men continued the frontier, and the mother and daughter were married to Mongolians.
This work touches on the dynamic ethnic differences, the progress, methods and forms of modernization between the Mongolian and Han chinese, thus forming de facto differences in economic, social and cultural aspects. Wang Xiaomei's mother and daughter are in the central city, rich in economy and represent advanced culture, which determines that they have the initiative in marriage, while the Battle family has little say due to its remoteness, poor family and low level of education. The transformation process of Wang's mother from exclusion to recognition has a certain drama and accident, and Wang Xiaomei shows a contemporary youth style of heavy hard work and super fame and fortune, and has not fallen into the stereotyped national impression, choosing to take root in the grassroots and struggle with her sweetheart who is in line with her feelings. This work not only reflects the hidden and dynamic ethnic differences, but also shows the multiple possibilities for resolving this contradiction.
China News Service: What is the social reality of Mongolian interracial marriage novels?
Ding Qi: Interracial marriage novels always have a sense of literary mission to strengthen national unity, starting from the perspective of national harmony, showing the customs and customs, cultural psychology and values of various ethnic groups, and expressing the open national concept of "the beauty of each country, the beauty of the United States and the commonality". Under the aesthetic vision of seeking common ground while reserving differences, efforts are made to strengthen the cultural kinship between various ethnic groups in China, which also forms the overall aesthetic style of warm, clear, harmonious and reunion of interracial marriage novels.
On May 18, 2021, two girls dressed in Mongolian costumes enjoyed the oil painting "Festivals – Dressed Buryatia". Photo by Liu Wenhua, a reporter of China News Service
Mongolian inter-ethnic marriage novels are committed to expressing the theme of national harmony, believing that although there are ethnic boundaries between various ethnic groups, there is no cultural gap, and the commonality of human culture enables different ethnic groups to achieve integration on the basis of mutual understanding, and on the basis of this idea, they deduce one love myth after another, and eliminate the rigid national concept of "if it is not my race, its heart must be different".
In reality, interracial marriage is a complex issue involving economic, social, cultural, gender and many other factors, which cannot be completely solved overnight. In the future, the creation of Mongolian novels must be rooted in real life, deeply consider the primary differences between ethnic groups and the dynamic differences developed with the times, and create works that truly reflect the real society and are full of ideological creativity. Let literature play a role in participating in reality and shaping the world in addition to aesthetics, exert influence in the field of national thought, and contribute wisdom to the realization of the sense of the Chinese national community. (End)
Respondent Profiles:
Ding Qi, Professor of the College of Literature of Tianjin Normal University, Director of Tianjin Liberated Area Literature Research Association, Director of Tianjin Liangbin Literature Research Association, And Contracted Writer of Tianjin Writers Association, mainly research areas are Chinese contemporary literature and ethnic literature. He has published 2 academic monographs, presided over 2 projects of the National Social Science Foundation, published more than 70 academic articles in journals such as Chinese Social Sciences, Ethnic Literature Research, and Journal of the Central University for Nationalities, and won the third prize of the 15th Tianjin Municipal Social Science Outstanding Achievement Award, the Excellent Research Report Award of the Propaganda Department of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee and other awards.