Original Min Zhongzhi Zhishi
"China" in the pre-Qin era relied on geographical location and etiquette to distinguish the boundaries of various ethnic groups. In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the royal family often emphasized the "Chinese" identity of the princes based on the distance of the clan relationship surnamed Ji as the standard; After the Warring States period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, it was relatively prominent to distinguish whether it belonged to "China" by the degree of observance of cultural etiquette rather than ethnic differences, such as Xiong Qu, an important leader of the early Chu State, mentioned in the "Historical Records of the Chu Family", whose important actions included refusing to adopt the "nickname" system after the death of the king, and his reason was very simple: "I am a barbarian, not a Chinese name". And when Chu sent troops to attack the Sui State, the Sui State defended itself, "I am not guilty!" Chu's response was also very domineering, "I'm a barbarian." The implication is that the "barbarians" do not have to follow Chinese etiquette if they do not belong to "China", and in the cultural sense, the formation of "China" should be compared with other cultures as a reference system, so as to relatively constitute "Chinese identity" and then establish the characteristics of Chinese culture. Ge Zhaoguang and other scholars believe that the formation process of "China" as a "nation-state" was initiated in the Song Dynasty, and the scholars of the Song Dynasty formed a clear sense of boundaries and a cohesive "sense of cultural identity". In his book Ethnicity and Culture, Mr. Qian Mu pointed out that China relies on culture to define the periphery of the nation, which is very different from the West's reliance on blood.
Copper bottle plate, taken by the author at the Hubei Provincial Museum
There was a big difference in the attitude of Confucius and Mencius towards the "barbarians". Confucius advocated the mutual change of Yi Xia, while Mencius was much more arrogant, insisting that "I have heard of those who use Xia to change Yi, and I have not heard of Yi Yi." Liang Qichao of the late Qing Dynasty believed that "the righteousness of Confucius should be followed, not the righteousness of Mencius". Of course, perhaps there is no right or wrong proposition between Confucius and Mencius on the Yixia relationship, but the decision-makers will make the best choice in line with the interests of the moment at different times according to the needs of reality.
Qin Shi Huang once transferred Meng Tian to lead an army of 300,000 to the north to conquer the Xiongnu, set up Jiuyuan County in the north of the Hetao, pacified Baiyue and Southwest Yi, and built Lingqu, Wuchi Road and other projects to strengthen exchanges between various ethnic groups in various places. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, the "view of the world" was already the world of "China + barbarians", that is, the so-called "positive Quartet", Sima Qian wrote in the "Historical Records of Tianguanshu" that "the inner crown belt, the outer Yidi, divided China into ten and two states", his attitude towards Yidi is at least not exclusion. There are also many studies discussing the way the government governed the Xiongnu and Qiang people during the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shao used Wuhuan to wage war, and Xianbei Kebineng was also recruited by Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang. During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms in the North, where ethnic minorities were most active, the rulers made many measures to break ethnic boundaries and promote ethnic cultural exchanges, such as Zhang Jun of the Former Liang regime, Murong Hao of the Former Yan Dynasty, and Fu Jian of the Former Qin Dynasty, all of which relied on the strength of Han Chinese doctors to establish a bureaucratic system, and also attached importance to the cultivation and education of talents; During the Sinicization reform of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, in order to strengthen the integration of Xianbei and Han people, it was clearly stipulated that intermarriage between Xianbei nobles was prohibited; Gao Huan, as a Han Chinese from Huhua, implemented the Liangjing system after establishing his own regime; In the later period of the Northern Dynasties, the consumption of cheese food by the people was very common, and vegetables with the character "Hu" such as carrots were also widely spread; After the establishment of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, in order to alleviate the contradiction between Xianbei and the Han people, the Yuwen clan changed the surname of "Linghu" to "Yuwen", and gave the Henan nationality to Jingzhaoyin.
In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the Nanyue Kingdom of Panyu and the two emperors of the Han Dynasty were respected alongside, and did not recognize the orthodox status of the Liu regime of the Western Han Dynasty
After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the establishment and operation of the Western Regions Protectorate and the four towns of Anxi were pioneering and integrated measures at the same time, which strengthened the formation of the national community and demonstrated the efforts made by the Tang Dynasty to maintain national unity. Throughout the Song Dynasty, due to the threat and attack of the military forces of the northern minority regimes, they could only hope to be called ministers and even to cross to the south to be peaceful, Mencius's one-way idea of "using Xia to change Yi" gradually revived, and the "Sinicization Theory" became popular"When I come to study Chinese history, I am greeted by a high taste.
The Yuan Dynasty did not make much original contribution to this issue due to its relatively short founding time, strict boundaries between clans, and the retention of more nomadic characteristics, but the exchanges between the Yuan Dynasty regime and the four khanates in the Central Plains have already shown the ruler's attitude towards "Tianxia". The ideological choice between Yi and Xia was eventually resolved by the Qing emperors, who still revered the ancient teachings of the pre-Qin dynasty. Although in the era of Huang Taiji before entering the customs, he still put himself in the position of "Yidi", who was the enemy of the Ming Dynasty on behalf of "China", but the Qing emperors' love for Han culture and hard work in learning after entering the customs have explained many problems, and they do not think that "China" is the most suitable geographical and political and cultural unit to describe the "great unification" of the Qing Dynasty - Zhu Yuanzhang's so-called scope of "Tianxia" actually only refers to "China" after the "expulsion of the Tartars", which is caused by his narrow thinking of small countries and widows and closed off from the country. It is different from the "world view" that embraced all rivers and embraced all rivers in the early years of the Han Dynasty.
Portrait of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, taken by the author at the First Historical Archives of China (Beijing)
The fact is that the Qing Dynasty's "view of China" encompassed all ethnic regions in the frontier outside the eighteen provinces of the interior, which is very similar to the "China view" (community of the Chinese nation) of the People's Republic of China today. Through a combination of military conquest and restraint, the Manchus achieved a unified situation between the northern and southern territories, and all parts of the country agreed with Beijing's rule, which was by no means the so-called "Manchurian colonization" by scholars of "New Qing History". When the Kangxi Dynasty negotiated the Treaty of Nebuchu with Russia, the text of the treaty was symmetrical with "Russia" and the expression "China" was used to indicate that the Qing Dynasty had legitimate sovereignty over "China"; Emperor Qianlong also said that "those who are husband in the world, the world of people in the world, are not obtained by the north and the south, China and foreign countries, but are private", which is intended to show that the lord of "China" is not forbidden by the Han people. As we all know, the progress of ethnic integration in the Qing Dynasty is very prominent, and the rulers of the Qing Dynasty often have two faces, treating the Central Plains people will uphold Confucian etiquette and autocratic rule, and treating the northern nomads will become the Great Khan who rules the grasslands, and has multiple religious and secular identities.
The Palace Museum collects arrows used by the Qing Dynasty royal family, and the author set up a special exhibition in Beijing in the autumn of 2022
As a political proposition, the concept of "great unification" first proposed in "The Legend of the Spring and Autumn Ram" can be better combined with territorial governance and cultural communication, which was taken to the extreme by Dong Zhongshu. Only when orthodoxy is established can the emperor calmly rule the vast space within the "world" and countless subjects and ordinary people, and then design a systematic political and religious order. The more "unified" and compatible this set of political and religious order is with different ethnic groups, the more convenient it is to rule and manage, and the conception of "China" political culture is included in the interpretive framework of the concept of "great unification" and becomes the premise and basis of all political and religious relations.
It must be pointed out that the criteria for "great unification" will be different in each dynasty and each generation, and the indicators generally include ethnic identity, the integrity of the territory, the legitimacy of the emperor's accession, the longevity of the dynasty, the economic situation, and so on. To this day, "great unification" can still be used as the most practical slogan for us Chinese to unite national consciousness and fight side by side with the enemy, which is completely contrary to the nature of the "constructed nation" in the West.