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As a multi-ethnic unified country, China has gone through thousands of years of tortuous and complex historical processes. In the process, relations between multiple ethnic groups have become closer and the unity of the country has become stronger. A great country where the inheritance of national traditions continues to be passed on and social and cultural unity and diversity develop in parallel.
When we examine the existing situation in the world, it is clear that there are very few big countries like China. But when we look at world history, especially ancient and medieval history, it is not uncommon for large countries of many nationalities, even across continents, to be formed.
The difference is that most of them are short-lived, or the nation is annihilated, the cultural and historical inheritance is interrupted, or although it can last for hundreds of years, it eventually goes to division and cannot achieve unity again. This situation raises a historic question for mainland ethnology and history: As a multi-ethnic country, why has China, as a large country of many nationalities, been able to overcome the many divisions and antagonisms that have occurred in history, and the huge changes in the pattern of state-ethnic relations, but the country has been able to restore unity many times, and ancient historical and cultural traditions have continued unchanged for thousands of years?
Discussing this phenomenon from the theoretical level is not only of great significance for understanding the formation and development of China's multi-ethnic unified state and ethnic relations in history, but also of great significance to the current multi-ethnic unified state and ethnic relations for building socialism with Chinese characteristics.
It is impossible to delve into this unique phenomenon of Chinese history in depth only in terms of China, without studying it from a larger and broader perspective and in contrast.
It is generally believed that China established its initial state from the Xia Dynasty (about 21-16th century BC), and gradually expanded its territory to the Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC-221 BC), and its control area was successively centered on Hao (east of the Fenghe River in present-day Chang'an, Shaanxi) and Luoyi (present-day Luoyang, Henan), east to the sea, and west to Shaanxi and Gansu.
During the Warring States period, the vassal state of Qin gradually became stronger, and finally in 221 BC, it unified the states and established the Qin Dynasty. The unification of Qin Shi Huang eliminated the situation in which all the princes and kings of the Zhou Dynasty dominated one side and fought each other, abolished the system of division and sealing, and implemented the system of emperor arbitrariness and centralized power.
Its territory extends to the Yellow River in the west, the western Sichuan Plain and the western Yunnan Mountains in the southwest, the Daqing Mountains in the north, and the sea in the east. The reign of the Qin dynasty was short-lived, and in 206 BC, amid peasant uprisings and opposition from defenders of the old system of division and fiefdom, the Qin dynasty collapsed, Liu Bang became emperor, and established the Western Han Dynasty (206–8 BC). The Han Dynasty played a very important and fundamental role in the creation of China's multi-ethnic power.
In its 200 years of development, the Han Dynasty actively developed westward based on the territory of the Qin Dynasty, set up four counties in Hexi, operated the Western Regions, and built the Western Regions Protectorate; To the north, the Xiongnu civil strife in the late Han Dynasty, the southern Xiongnu were subordinate to the Han Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty's power reached the north and south of the desert. The Han Dynasty laid the foundation for the development of China's territory.
The Western Han regime was overthrown by peasant uprisings, but soon restored imperial power surnamed Liu, known as the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220) because its capital was in Luoyang. This dynasty inherited the policies of the Western Han Dynasty and basically maintained the huge territory established by the Western Han Dynasty.
From the Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, China basically maintained a unified period of nearly 400 years, but then there was an era of division and chaos in Chinese history that lasted for more than 300 years.
At the beginning of the third century, with the decline and demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a split in China during the Wei, Shu, and Wu kingdoms period (220-280), and after the brief unification of the Western Jin Dynasty for more than 40 years, China entered a chaotic period of division and chaos between the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties (317-589), which was the first era of great division and division in Chinese history after the unification of the Qin Dynasty.
One of the most striking features of this era, similar to what happened to the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries, was the mass entry of northern minorities into the Central Plains, and numerous regimes established by minority rulers emerged.
In 581, Emperor Yang Jian of Sui unified China and established the Sui Dynasty, ending nearly 360 years of great division, but it only existed for 38 years before being overthrown, and Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty took power, and after several years of conquest, established the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
The Tang Dynasty was a dynasty that achieved great unification after the Two Han Dynasties, and the Tang Dynasty was stronger than the two Han Dynasties, with better management of the border areas, and a closer relationship between the Central Plains and the frontiers. The unification activities of the Tang Dynasty restored, consolidated and developed the jurisdiction of the northern and northwestern territories during the Han Dynasty, and deepened the ties with Tibet, which not only consolidated the situation of great unification, but also laid a deeper foundation for the further expansion of China's territory.
From the beginning of the 10th century to the seventies of the 13th century, in a period of more than three hundred years, China was in a state of second great division, during which the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1126) unified the Central Plains and established a powerful Song Dynasty, and there were also vast Liao, Jin, Western Xia, Harakhitan, Heihan Dynasty, Nanzhao, Dali and other regimes, but they never unified China.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the Mongols on the mainland arose and established the Great Mongol Khanate in the north and south of the desert. However, until 1260, despite the conquests of Mongol khans such as Genghis Khan, Wokuotai, Guiyou, and Mengge, they were never able to unify China.
In 1260, after Kublai Khan ascended the throne of the Great Khan, he changed the policy and tradition of establishing the Great Mongol Khanate, based on the Central Plains, continued the Central Plains tradition, called the emperor, established the year name Zhongunification, and completely focused his attention on the territory of China, especially in 1271, the founding name was Yuan, in fact, the boundary with the Great Mongolian State was drawn, the "Han Law" was implemented, and in 1279 the Southern Song regime was eliminated, realizing and restoring the great unification of China. In the process of unifying China in the Yuan Dynasty, Tibet achieved complete unification in terms of administrative jurisdiction.
The reunification of China by the Yuan Dynasty, although not for a long time, was of great significance, sweeping away the powerful separatist forces on Chinese territory for more than 300 years, and the unification of the Yuan Dynasty was not only a summative convergence of the vast territory of China since the Qin and Han dynasties, a reunification of China, but also a reconfirmation of the scope of China's territory.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the territory under its direct rule tended to shrink. During the Ming Dynasty, although it was unable to exercise direct jurisdiction over Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet and other places, the relationship with these regions was very close, and maintained a certain relationship of subordination and suzerainty, which lasted until the Qing Dynasty.
The unification of China during the Qing Dynasty was the continuation and completion of several great unifications of China over the past thousand years, and the great unification in history laid the political, economic, social, cultural, ethnic, psychological and traditional foundation for the great unification of the Qing Dynasty, and it was also the reproduction of the traditional concept of China's national territory. Moreover, the Qing government's management of the border areas was free from illusory concepts and became more pragmatic, realistic and modern, which brought an end to China's modern territory.
It is clear from the context of the development of the ancient Chinese state that ancient China had four complete histories of great unification, namely the Qin and Han dynasties (221-220 BC), the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907), the Yuan period (1271-1368), and the Qing period (1644-1911). Although the political jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was incomplete, it was still in the era of basic unification.
The great influence on the development of the ancient Chinese state were two major divisions, namely the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-589) and the period of the parallel establishment of the Song, Liao, Jin, Western Xia, Western Liao, Hara Khan Dynasty, Nanzhao and Dali (960-1127).
This situation in China's history has not interrupted China's historical, political, cultural and social traditions, and China, as a multi-ethnic country with profound historical and cultural traditions, still stands tall among the world's major powers. This is because the relations between China's nationalities formed in the course of long-term historical development are very different from those in Western Europe. This is mainly manifested in four aspects:
1. In the development of ethnic relations, China has gradually formed a stable majority and a regional center. China has been a multi-ethnic country since ancient times. China's Xia, Shang and Zhou, from the perspective of ethnic relations, are actually dynasties mainly established by the three ethnic communities of Xia, Shang and Zhou. By the time of the Zhou Dynasty, the area controlled by the Zhou ethnic group included the Central Plains and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River to the sea.
Zhou inherited the Xia and Shang cultures and established the Zhou culture based on the patriarchal system, which is called "Zhou Li". People refer to those who practice the "Zhou Rite" as the Huaxia people. During the hundreds of years of Zhou Dynasty's rule, the activities of "changing the country with the summer" and "respecting the king and destroying the country" have never stopped.
In this case, several "barbarian" states of the Zhou Dynasty - Wu, Yue, Ba, Shu, Chu, Qin, etc., gradually became stronger during the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, on the one hand, annexed a large number of small Chinese states, on the other hand, had frequent exchanges with the Chinese princely states and the Zhou royal family, took the initiative to accept Chinese culture, and appointed Chinese people to carry out political, economic, social and cultural reforms.
By the third century, the Qin state, which was the most thoroughly Chinese and geographically closest to the Zhou royal family, finally pacified the princely states and established the Qin Dynasty in Chinese history in 221 BC. The Qin Dynasty changed the lordship system of the Zhou Dynasty into a centralized system, implemented the county system throughout the country, reformed the official system, unified the decrees, and "the car is on the same track, the book is the same text", and made outstanding contributions to the unification of China and the further strengthening of the Chinese nation.
After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, especially after Emperor Wu came to the throne, Dong Zhongshu's suggestion to "respect Confucianism alone and depose hundreds of families" not only strengthened the unity of the country, but also further strengthened the cohesion and national consciousness of the Chinese ethnic group from the ideological and cultural construction, and because of the strength of the Han Dynasty, the surrounding ethnic groups called the Chinese people of the Han Dynasty "Han people". Since then, the Han people or Han people have become a collective name for people with "Zhou Li" as the common culture and the Central Plains and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River as the main activity areas.
Since then, with the development of Chinese history, a large number of surrounding ethnic minorities have moved inward, continuously sinicized, the Han population has increased, the area of activity has become more and more extensive, its economic, social and cultural development level has become higher and higher, the connotation of the community has become more and more stable, its role in China's social development has become more prominent and strong, and it has become the community of people with the greatest impact and stability on China's social development.
With such a huge community of people as the Han nationality and the vast and geographically advantageous Central Plains and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and Yangtze River, no matter how the Chinese regime changes, China's cultural roots will not be broken, and no matter which ethnic ruler comes to power, they must eventually comply with the wishes of the majority and adapt to the huge community of the Han nationality. This is an important reason why although China has had many internal divisions, it has finally moved towards unification, and although there have been changes in different ethnic cultures, Han culture has always been the mainstream.
2. Historically, the ruling elites of China's ethnic minorities have generally formed a consensus and governing philosophy that actively upholds Chinese traditions.
(1) Implement an inclusion and diversity policy. The rulers of all DPRKS can adopt attitudes and policies that respect, tolerate and develop the culture of all ethnic groups in China, and basically do not force the ruled ethnic groups to switch to the religious beliefs, spoken and written languages, customs and lifestyles of the ruling ethnic groups for the ethnic groups living in the population and scattered areas. It has basically maintained the inherent culture of all ethnic groups in China. This policy of tolerance and diversity is the consistent attitude of the ruling class of all ethnic groups in China, including the Han and ethnic minorities.
(2) Safeguarding Confucianism. Most of the rulers of various dynasties respected Confucianism, followed Confucian etiquette, gave high status to the founders of Confucianism, and regarded Confucianism as the criterion for governing the country and the goal of social construction.
(3) Preserve and maintain the traditional Chinese management system. The rulers of each dynasty basically retained or adopted the old system since the Qin and Han dynasties or the previous dynasties, so that the traditional Chinese central management system of "three provinces", "nine qing" and "six departments" and the local county system of roads, prefectures, prefectures, counties, counties, and townships were preserved.
(4) Preserve and maintain the basic systems based on the "Zhou Rites". Most of these regulations and systems are based on the "Zhou Rites" and regulate the succession, promotion, debasement, birth, old age, illness and death, marriage and funeral, worship of ancestors, clothing, food, housing, transportation, and other systems, as well as laws, calendars, solar terms, and the five elements of yin and yang. In addition, such as national names, year names, honorific names, nicknames, etc. have also inherited the regulations and systems of previous dynasties.
Of course, the purpose of ethnic minority rulers is mainly to stabilize their rule, maintain social order, and win the support of the overwhelming majority of the Han population, but at the same time, it also reflects that the rulers of the dominant ethnic minorities identify with Han culture. Agree that Han culture was the most advanced and effective culture and system at that time.
3. In the long-term mutual exchanges between various ethnic groups in China, cultural homogeneity and similarity have been formed. The cultural homogeneity and similarity between the Han and ethnic minorities in the long-term close historical exchanges has laid a profound cultural and social foundation for the rulers of various ethnic minorities to actively adapt to and identify with Han culture. This cultural homogeneity and similarity of various ethnic groups is mainly manifested in:
Politically speaking, although the level of social development of different ethnic groups is different, they generally take centralized power as the basis and institutional basis of public management and ruling ideology. Ideological concepts and value orientations such as centralization, the natural right of kings, family inheritance, and the principle of kings as subjects constitute the essence and tradition of the common political culture of all ethnic groups in ancient China.
In terms of social life, although all ethnic groups have their own forms of social life and social organization, they cherish blood relations, abide by the patriarchal system, attach importance to maintaining family, clan, clan and tribal relations, blood relatives revenge, patriarchal supremacy, patriarchal power, orderly growth and childhood, and attach importance to gates, which have become the basic principles and basic ties of social relations among all ethnic groups.
From the perspective of livelihood methods, although there are differences between farming and nomadism, the two economic lives are interdependent, complementary and intersecting, and both are based on the idea of self-sufficiency in the natural economy, emphasizing agriculture and animal husbandry, light commerce, heavy rural areas, light migration, heavy tradition, and light change, constituting the basic tenets of economic thinking and production activities of all ethnic groups.
In terms of ideology, the ideology of all ethnic groups is highly inclusive and absorbent, and all kinds of religious activities, various literary and artistic forms, customs and rituals can not only be accommodated by all ethnic groups, but also quickly adapted, adopted and accepted according to their own national conditions and the actual conditions at that time, providing a good foundation for cultural exchanges and blending of various ethnic groups.
In terms of social morality and value orientation, although there are great differences among ethnic groups due to uneven social development, generally speaking, the importance of righteousness over profit, son over woman, society, individuality, collective, individuality, faithfulness, variation, tradition, and skill have become important criteria for evaluating social morality and value orientation.
These homogeneous orientations and common pursuits in the cultures of various ethnic groups have made the rulers of various ethnic minorities have a great centripetal tendency towards Han culture and the Central Plains, and in the process of establishing political power, in order to consolidate their rule, it is completely reasonable and logical to adopt the Han culture as a means to consolidate their political power and achieve reunification.
4. The ethnic policies of China's successive dynasties, especially since the Han and Tang Dynasties, have been an important factor in promoting the separation of ethnic groups and the long-term preservation of traditions. According to ancient Chinese texts, as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the so-called "five services" policy was implemented in dealing with the relationship between kings and localities.
Among them, in terms of the relationship between the king and the remote ethnic minorities, it was proposed that "barbarians should obey" and "Rong Di wasteland", that is, only the rulers of ethnic minorities who live close to Wang Gi were required to be restrained (that is, "those who want to obey tribute"), while the rulers of ethnic minorities who are far away from Wang Gi should be granted official posts and thrones, recognize their due ruling status, and make them responsibly assume the status of subordination to the central government (that is, "the "king of the deserted people").
After the Han Dynasty, with the further social and economic development of China's ethnic minorities, new ethnic minorities continued to emerge, and some more complete ethnic regimes were established in the surrounding areas of the Central Plains, and from the Han Dynasty, on the basis of the ethnic policy of the Zhou Dynasty, the so-called restraint policy was established.
This policy was further perfected and perfected in the Tang Dynasty, and until the Qing Dynasty, it became a kind of ethnic policy widely practiced by China's ethnic minority regimes and national power towards other ethnic minorities. The main points of this policy are: 1) follow the unified idea of "under the whole world, it is not the royal land, the coast of the land, and the prince's courtiers" since the Zhou Dynasty, recognize the existence and development of surrounding ethnic minorities, and require the establishment of a certain relationship of subordination and dependency;
2) Its core content is to inherit the Zhou Dynasty's "cultivation of religion, not easy to custom; The traditional ideology of "Qiqi is not easy to govern" only requires ethnic minorities to establish a political relationship of dependence with the Central Plains regime, and does not require that their political, social and cultural life be changed in practice and "rule by custom";
3) In terms of ruling methods, "favor" and "prestige" should be taken into account, and efforts should be made to maintain a stable situation between the Central Plains regime and the surrounding ethnic minority regimes;
4) Establish a bondage institution, that is, while preserving the original administrative institutions and rulers of ethnic minorities, the Central Plains government grants ethnic minority administrative bodies the names of prefectures and prefectures to express mutual support and dependence; 5) The main contents and means of bondage are regular pilgrimage, Nagon, mutual market, peace, canonization, ordination, consolation and, when necessary, mutual support and assistance.
The policy of restraint in China's history has played an important role in maintaining the relations between various ethnic groups in China throughout history.
Through this comparison, we can see that the development and maintenance of China's multi-ethnic country is promoted by China's unique internal and external historical conditions, and can also be said to be the result of the joint creation of China by all ethnic groups in China.
The historical development of China and Western Europe has created a splendid human civilization for the world and embarked on a glorious path with its own characteristics for the development of mankind.
Therefore, the difference in the development paths of ancient China and Western Europe is fundamentally the inevitable result of the natural historical development of the two regions, and we conduct comparative studies to illustrate the many factors that cause the development of the two to be different, so that we can better understand the history of the formation and development of China's multi-ethnic state.