The History of Ethnic Minorities: "A Line of Yue Kingdom-Min Yue Chapter"

Minyue State is the earliest, longest and most powerful ancient country in the history of the local separatist regime in Fujian. In the past century, the Minyue people have not only maintained the customs, religious concepts, etc. in the ancient culture of Fujian, but also imitated the Central Plains inland in politics, economy, culture, and art, thus creating a splendid Minyue. Ancient country culture.

Goujian's descendants created the Minyue Kingdom
　　
　　 Fujian and Yue Kingdom, located in the northern part of Fujian Province, China, was the that was destroyed by Chu during the Warring States Period. At that time, a country jointly established with the local aboriginals of Baiyue, existed roughly between 334 BC and 110 BC. Especially in the 60 to 70 years after 202 BC, the national power of Minyue reached its peak. It was the most powerful country in southeast China at that time. The king of Minyue was in the village (now Xingtian, south of Wuyishan City, Fujian Province). The city built by town was also the largest city in the southeast area at that time.
　　
　　 In the middle of the Warring States period in Chinese history, , which was restored by the Yue King Goujian and located in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, was once again destroyed by the country. In 334 BC, King Goujian VII Sun Wujiang fought against Chuwei King , but failed and was killed, and the Kingdom of Yue was destroyed by the Kingdom of Chu. The royal family of Yue entered Fujian by sea, and the nationals of Vietnam moved to Yueqian Mountain (now Changle County, Fujian Province). The physical characteristics and living habits of the Yue people are very different from the Huaxia people in the Central Plains. They have short bodies, short faces, few beards and hairs, wide noses, and round and large eyes. They are accustomed to living near the water, good at fighting in water, good at boating and rafting, and the custom of "broken hair tattoos". After the Vietnamese who had lost their homes settled in northern Fujian,It gradually merged with the local aborigines to form the Minyue people, and established the Minyue Kingdom. "Min" later evolved into the abbreviation of Fujian Province. And more than two thousand years ago, Fujian was still a remote place far from the political center of the Yellow River Basin, with many venomous snakes. People fear snakes and regard snakes as totems of the tribe. Snakes are also called long worms in the old sayings, just because they are worms, the Fujian area is called Fujian. In the Han Dynasty, Xu Shen explained in the book " Shuowen Jiezi " that the word "Fujian" means "snake species in Southeast Vietnam". Because of the arrival of Yue people, Fujian has the title of "Min".

　　 In 221 BC, after unifying the six countries, Qin sent troops to Fujian. In the second year, the Minzhong County was set up in the area where the Minyue people were active. At that time, Qin Dynasty believed that Minzhong was far away from the Central Plains, the mountains were high and the roads were dangerous, and the more powerful people made it difficult to rule. Therefore, although Minzhong County was one of the forty prefectures of the Qin Dynasty, its organizational system was different. Qin Wei sent the Shouwei Commander to Minzhong, only to abolish the throne of the King of Minyue and use the name "Sovereign Chief" instead. Let it continue to rule the place. Therefore, Qin established Minzhong County in name only, but did not actually rule in Minzhong. However, in order to strengthen its control over Minzhong, the Qin Dynasty moved a large number of Minyue people to the provinces of northern Zhejiang and Anhui and Jiangxi on the one hand; on the other hand, it exiled criminals from the Central Plains to central Fujian. On the one hand, this policy caused the integration of different ethnic groups, and on the other hand, it also caused the exchange between the original culture of the Minyue people and the Han culture.
　　
　　 In 209 BC, the peasant uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang broke out, and people everywhere responded. The Minyue King Wuzhu led the Minyue soldiers to move northward from central Fujian, responding to the peasant uprisings in the Central Plains and attacking the Qin regime. In 206 BC, the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, the Chu-Han War broke out,Wu Zhu went north to the Central Plains again, helping Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu and contributed to the establishment of the Han Dynasty. In 202 BC, Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu without the help of Zhu, and Liu Bang made Wu Zhu the King of Minyue and ruled Minzhong. In this year, Wuzhu began to build the Minyue King City.
　　
　　 Minyue King City covers an area of ​​480,000 square meters and has four gates. Between the east and west gates is a 10-meter-wide avenue, paved with cobblestones. To the north of the avenue is the palace area covering an area of ​​20,000 square meters, and the main hall alone has more than 900 square meters. At that time, the Minyue Kingdom was the most powerful country in the southeast in the Han Dynasty, and the city of Wangcheng in the village was also the largest city in the southeast. In the next century of development, the people of Fujian and Vietnam have maintained the customs, religious concepts, culture, and arts of the ancient Baiyue culture in Fujian, and have also been affected by Chinese culture to a certain extent in terms of politics and economy. , Thus creating the splendid ancient culture of Minyue.
　　
　　 After the death of Wu Zhu, the children and grandchildren clashed repeatedly, and wars were frequently provoked. Once conquered and Dongou in the north, and hit South Vietnam in the south, the people of Baiyue surrendered. The neighboring countries with the surname Liu all pleased Minyue with treasures and treasures. Minyue has become a powerful force in the south of the Western Han Dynasty. Yu Shan, the descendant of the King Wuzhu of Minyue, finally developed the seal of " ", proclaimed himself the emperor, and sent troops to fight against the Han. At this time, the Western Han Dynasty, after nearly a hundred years of recuperation, became rich and powerful, especially during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty entered its heyday. He could not tolerate the growing power of the remote areas. After the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty defeated the northern Xiongnu and relieved the northern border troubles, he dispatched a four-way army with hundreds of thousands of people to besiege Fujian and Vietnam. At the same time, the Han dynasty adopted a method of division and disintegration of the Minyue Kingdom, so that some nobles killed Yu Shan and then returned to the Han. In 110 BC (the sixth year of Yuanding in the Han Dynasty), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered the army to move the whole nation of Minyue to the Jianghuai hinterland, and burned down the city and palaces of Minyue Kingdom.

Rich and colorful Minyue culture
　　
　　 Minyue culture is a local culture created by ancient residents in Fujian.There are two types of Minyue culture in a broad sense and a narrow sense. The broad sense refers to the entire history and culture of the Minyue nation, and the narrow sense refers to the Minyue culture in the Qin and Han dynasties, that is, the culture of the Minyue nation.
　　
　　 The contact and exchange between the Minyue culture and the Chinese culture of the Central Plains can be traced back to primitive society. According to earlier records in our country, during the Yao and Shun era , the Huaxia people in the Central Plains had been in contact with primitive tribes in the Minyue area. For example, "Shang Shu•Yao Dian" said: Yao "Shen Mingxi Xu Zhai Nanjiao, called Mingdu". "Dadai Notes • Shaojian Chapter" also said: " Yu Shun to Tiande to Si Yao, Nanfu Jiaozhi." The names of Nanjiao and Jiaozhi here refer to Minyue and Lingnan Yue ethnic areas. Yao Shun is a legendary figure from the previous Xia Dynasty in our country, probably equivalent to a tribal alliance chief under the military democracy at the end of primitive society. Although the specific contents of "Zhainanjiao" and "Foot Jiaozhi" are not known in detail today, they at least reflect people's vague memories of the historical facts of the interactions between the Minyue area and the Central Plains in ancient times.
　　
　　 Since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the cultural exchanges between the Minyue Region and the Central Plains have been increasingly strengthened. Shang Dynasty In the early years, Yiyin was ordered by the soup to order the surrounding ethnic minorities to pay tribute with their native products, including "Zhengnan Ou, Deng, Guiyuan, Houzi, Chanli, and Baipu" , nine fungus, please offer Zhuji, tortoise shell, elephant tooth, arachnid rhinoceros, cuiyu, fungus crane, and short dog." From the perspective of "Zhengnan", the Ou mentioned here refers to the Yue people living in northern Fujian.
　　
　　 The historical facts of cultural exchanges between the Fujian-Vietnam region and neighboring regions and the Central Plains are also confirmed by archaeological materials. In 1986, the Fujian archaeological team discovered the Shang and Zhou Minyue people's activities and life in the places of Wuyishan , luster , Shaowu, Songxi , Zhenghe and other places.For example, the geometric printed pottery widely distributed in southern my country, the cloud and thunder pattern and the Kui pattern in the printed pottery are common patterns on the Shang and Zhou bronze ritual vessels, and they should be the result of the influence of the Shang culture. In 1971, the tripod, bottle, chime and Ge unearthed from the Chunqiu Tomb in Gongcheng were basically the same in shape and decoration as the similar objects from the Central Plains of the same period, and they should have been imported from the Central Plains.
　　
　　 The new period of the spread of Han culture to the south began in the Qin Dynasty and reached its first climax during the Minyue Kingdom period. In the battle for the unification of Min-Yue by the Qin Dynasty, 500,000 Qin troops guarded Minyue and Lingnan, and 15,000 women made up their clothes for the defenders. After that, the people of the Central Plains and Vietnam moved into various places. The composition has undergone major changes. The unification of the Qin Dynasty was conquered by force, and the political system promoted was backed by a powerful army. Therefore, the Han-Vietnamese ethnic divide was still very deep, which affected the cultural exchanges between Han-Vietnam to a considerable extent.
　　
　　 After the death of Qin, Zhao Tuo promoted the correct policy of "harmonizing Baiyue" in Lingnan, which gradually eliminated the ethnic barriers between Han and Vietnam and gradually harmonized ethnic feelings, which accelerated the spread of Han culture and promoted The harmony of Han-Yue culture.
　　
　　 The spread of Chinese culture is first manifested in language. Due to various reasons of geographical environment, there is a big difference between the culture of the Yue ethnic group in the Minyue area and the culture of the Central Plains. In addition to clothing, food, transportation and shelter, the language is also very different from that of the Central Plains, so there has long been a saying in history that "re-translation is a pass". According to the Western Han dynasty Liu Xiang "Shuo Yuan•Shan Shuo Pian", in the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chu State ordered Yin E Jun Zixi to go boating in the lake. I can’t understand it. I need to ask someone to translate it into Chu language to understand. This shows that the ancient Vietnamese is different from Chinese in basic vocabulary and grammatical structure. The language barrier will inevitably affect the cultural exchanges between Chinese and Vietnamese. However, because the Han and Vietnamese people lived together on a large scale for a long time, the Han and Vietnamese people finally overcome the language barrier and accelerated the spread of Chinese culture. These historical records are reflected, such as Likou’s "Annan Keluo" said: "Zhao Tuo and Wang Nanyue,"Slightly transform the people with poems and etiquette" etc.
　　
　　 Words are the sign of language and an important tool for people to exchange ideas. However, due to historical reasons, Minyue people did not create their own words, but directly accepted Chinese characters. Before the Qin and Han dynasties, Chinese characters in the Central Plains may have begun to circulate in the Minyue area, but judging from the unearthed characters, the wide use of Chinese characters in Minyue was still in the Minyue period.
　　
　　 was discovered in Weitian Town, Songxi County. The ancient tomb relics (306) show that at the latest in the Western Jin Dynasty, the people of the Central Plains had moved south to the Song Dynasty on a large scale, and the ancient Chinese of the Central Plains was also introduced. After long-term evolution, the traces of the ancient Chinese of the Central Plains still remain and become ancient Living fossils of Chinese. There are still many ancient Chinese in the Northern Fujian dialect, such as "pot" is called "ding", "walking" is called "xing", "escape" or "run" is called "walking", and so on. The wide use of Chinese characters
　　
　　 is of great significance to the cultural advancement of northern Fujian. It symbolizes a bridge connecting the Han and Vietnamese peoples, and enables the cultural level of the Vietnamese areas to rise rapidly. While the Chinese characters are circulating, 中原汉族 That A set of feudal ethics and ritual funeral system was also imported into northern Fujian and gradually accepted by the people of Fujian and Yue.
　　
　　 The music and dance of the ancient Yue people are rich in ethnic characteristics. As mentioned earlier, according to Liu Xiang’s "Said Yuan•" "Shan Shuo Pian", Chu State Order Yin E Junzi heard the Yue language song in the boating lake, interpreted in Chinese means: "Where is this night? In the middle of the boat. What day today, I learned of the prince. Being in the same boat and being ashamed and disgusted, not being ashamed, and being upset, I learned of the prince. The mountains have waters, but the trees have branches. "Although the tune of this song is not known today, the thoughts and feelings expressed in the lyrics are very rich and euphemistic. No wonder E's gentleman listened to it, "Nai Ji repaired his arms and embraced him, and he was met with him." . That is to say, the singer was treated with special courtesy. This song was made by the boatmen of Vietnamese boatmen. This shows that the Yue nationality is a nation that is good at singing.
　　
　　 is closely related to music is dance. Min Yue The artifacts unearthed from the tombs of the Kingdom of China have dancing patterns, which just reflect the flourishing of singing and dancing at that time. Among them, the dancing patterns on bronze drums are the most representative.The dancers dress up very distinctively. The dancers wear feather caps with bird feathers on their heads and dance skirts decorated with feathers. In the pattern, the dancers decorate the flying heron with a contrasting brushwork over the sky. The implication is clear compared to the intention of the heron. From the analysis of the dance patterns, there are about two or three dancers in a group. Each group of dances is separated by geometric patterns to form a separate picture. There are as many as eight groups of pictures around the waist. If these pictures are unfolded one after another, it is a long picture scroll. It is conceivable that these relatively independent dance groups, dancing together at the same time, are undoubtedly a large-scale group dance with a variety of colors. The dancer's posture is very graceful, the body's center of gravity is slightly lower, and the upper body is slightly raised. The characteristics of the dance seem to focus on the movements of the hands, while the chest, body, and head parts maintain corresponding postures. This kind of dance mimics the fluttering posture of heron bird, and the graceful posture is vividly displayed on the picture, which is amazing.
　　
　　 Among primitive peoples, dances that imitate animal movements are common. For example, the frog dance and kangaroo dance of the Australian natives, the fish dance of the Brazilian Indians, etc., while the Fujian-Vietnam tribes simulate poultry and mountain beasts. During the grand festivals, men and women of all ages and children dance together, and men wear swords or swords on their waists. Such weapons, with feathers on the head, dance around the elder as the central figure, showing the collective singing and dancing of primitive tribe leaders and tribe members in large gatherings. Dance is of great significance in the daily life of Minyue tribes. It is popular in both fishing and hunting tribes and farming tribes. It is necessary to dance for hunting success, to dance for agricultural harvests, to dance for burying the dead, and to dance for victory in wars. To conclude peace treaties or to dance... …They expressed their strong emotions and pursuits in the form of dance. A distinctive feature of primitive dance is its strong sense of rhythm, and another feature is collective dance, which sometimes gathers thousands of people. This is not only a collective dance of a nation, it is simply a collective dance of an entire tribe. It is true that this kind of dance is not gentle enough, not graceful enough, but it makes people feel a strong shocking power. The dance of the Huashan Cliff Murals in Guangxi has the above characteristics. It makes people seem to see their heads up at the same time, showing a high spirit, and then at the same time drooping down, making a sad howling sound; it seems that people can hear the dancing group. He fell to the ground and uttered a song like weeping. Although the dance and specific content of the picture need to be further studied, there is no doubt that thousands of people dance in a unified rhythm.Waving together, jumping together, shouting together, the artistic shock is conceivable.

The peculiar customs that have been passed down by the Minyue people for thousands of years are also very distinctive. Minyue is located in the area of ​​Fujian and Zhejiang, with a vertical and horizontal water network. Mountains and waters are close to the sea. According to historical records, most of their people have moved here from the south. Their hair has obvious characteristics-brown-red. They hunted in the deep mountains and old forests and fished on the river for many years, making their eyes particularly deep and sensitive, and affected by the geographical environment (more The influence of factors such as humid water and mild climate have determined their living habits, with fish, mountain beasts, and millet as their staple food. Housing also has its own characteristics. Most of the buildings are built with dry fences. In the early days, they built nests on tree trunks to prevent animals and moisture, then developed into a shelf between several trees, and finally became tribes to defend against natural disasters and external intrusions.
　　
　　 The snake totem of the Minyue tribe can best illustrate their cultural and custom characteristics. Snake totem is one of the beliefs of the people, and this belief existed in primitive society. Primitives believed that each clan originated from specific species in various specific environments and had a special relationship with animals, plants or other species. Therefore, as the symbol and protector of the clan, they worshiped and protected them.
　　
　　 The Minyue tribe believes in dragons and believes that dragons are snakes. Many people use snakes as a symbol to seek the protection of dragons. For this reason, Minyue people have the custom of cutting hair, getting tattoos, and pulling teeth.
　　
　　 Haircutting is the tailoring of the growing hair by the Minyue people. It was originally a common thing, but it was regarded as a strange custom in the eyes of the Han people in the Central Plains. The people of the Central Plains believe that the body, hair, skin, etc. should not be damaged by their parents, otherwise they would be unfilial, so they can only grow their hair without daring to cut it. This is the custom of the Central Plains talents after the establishment of Confucianism, and the Minyue people obviously have not been affected by this.
　　
　　 tattoos are carved patterns on the body and painted with colors to leave a permanent mark. "Book of Han Geography" says: "The tattoo was broken and bloodied. It is extremely difficult, but the more it is, the more it is in order to be prosperous."Why do Minyue people like tattoos? The tattoos of the ancient Yue ethnic group are a kind of relic with dragons and snakes like , aquatic , as totems. People belonging to various totem tribes in ancient times must hold a guarantee for eternity when they reach adulthood. Do not lose faith in the honor ceremony of the totem, and tattooing is one of the procedures in this ritual. At first, people in Fujian and Vietnam got tattoos to make themselves resemble the dragons, in order to avoid the mosquito dragons. Gradually, because they try to pretend to be like the dragons. They gradually believed that the dragon was their protector and their ancestors. This gave rise to the concept of totems and recognized that the dragon is their own totem. Since then, the tattoo has a mysterious meaning, and people follow this custom no longer. In order to deceive the mosquito dragon, it is mainly with the help of the totem and the blessing of the spirit. Until the end, the meaning of the totem gradually fades, but the custom of tattoos has been retained.
　　
　　 another Minyue people Unique custom. In ancient times when there was a lack of anesthesia, the artificial extraction of the tooth would undoubtedly endure severe pain. Therefore, after the development, the non-Fujian people replaced the tooth extraction with "tooth decoration".
　　
　　 tooth extraction is also called tooth extraction. Tooth extraction, also known as " chiseling". It is a custom that is popular in many ethnic groups around the world. It is also a custom in Fujian and Vietnam. According to " Taiping Huanyu Ji", "There are slangs, but they are all Wu Hu...When a woman is married, she is missing her front teeth." "The significance of the custom of tooth extraction is very complicated, and there is no consensus at present. " " says: "If it is long, the upper tooth is extracted and one tooth is removed and decorated with its body. "It means that the Minyue people use tooth extraction as a procedure in the coming-of-age ceremony. "The Book of Qian" says: "When a woman marries, she must break two teeth for fear of harming her husband's family. "In other words, before a Minyue woman gets married, two teeth (approximately canine teeth) must be removed to avoid harming her husband's family. "Yunnan Zhilue" says: "For men on the fourteenth and fiveteenth, they will strike two teeth on the left and right sides. Then get married. "This is obviously a marriage tooth extraction." Yan Pao Ji Wen" also said: "When the parents die, the son and the wife will break two teeth and throw them in the coffin to give water to the coffin. "When the parents are dead, the son and daughter-in-law must break two teeth each and put them in the coffin to be buried. If these statements are correct, then,Every Minyue native has to pull out 5 to 7 teeth. This will seriously affect eating and speaking, and it should be impossible. Perhaps only one statement is correct, or it may not be correct. The facts are for further study.
　　
　　 In addition to the unique customs arising from totems and beliefs, the living environment also makes the Minyue people form some seemingly weird customs.
　　
　　 " 乾lan " architecture is the main architectural form of the dwelling of the Minyue people. Unlike the people of the Central Plains who dig foundations and build houses directly on the ground, the houses of Minyue people have a certain distance from the ground, and they are erected with wooden piles. This architectural form is called "dry fence". In ancient literature, "Ganlan" was also called "Jiaolan", "Gelan", "Gelan" and so on. The origin of "Ganlan" architecture is very early, Hemudu has appeared in the early Neolithic site, and it is not the earliest form. According to the records of "Natural History": , Also to avoid the cold and heat". "Nest house" is the most primitive form of "ganlan" architecture, which appeared approximately in the Paleolithic Age. At that time, the ground in Minyue area was wet and densely planted, and snakes, insects and beasts were always touching. In order to avoid the influence of moisture and the invasion of snakes, insects and beasts, people live in trees and build bird's nest-like residences. Later, people went to the ground to build residences, but retained the characteristics of raising the houses, which led to the emergence of "dry fence"-style buildings.
　　
　　 The influence of the environment also makes the clothing of Minyue people peculiar. The people of Minyue people like "short sash without carrying" and "short sash roll". According to the "Huainan Yu•Yuan Daoxun" record: "The south of the Jiuyi...The short sash is not worn, so that you can walk around, and the short robes are rolled so that you can stab the boat." For gears and trouser legs, "short sashes are not worn" refers to simply wrapping the lower body with cloth. "Short robe" means sleeves, "short robe" means short sleeves, and "short robe" means wearing short-sleeved clothes. Minyue people mainly wear shorts and shorts in daily life and production activities to facilitate wading, swimming, and boating.