Ancient Chinese society went through three stages and staged a drama of evolution of the times on the historical stage, from the tribes of the original primitive society to the initial establishment of the country in the slave society, and then from the feudal society that had been more than two thousand years, the dynasty changes were shown, and the ups and downs were thriving.
During this long period of historical period, the protagonists were almost all Han people who owned the Central Plains. Of course, they were not the Han people who dominated the entire country. There were many ethnic minorities in the feudal society, and many remote foreign races, known as the barbarians, also established unified countries such as the Yuan and Qing dynasties, and the Chinese and foreigners began to gradually move towards unification.
Since the beginning, the Chinese and foreigners have been filled with troubles, and they are all in a row and are not in a state of opposition. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there has been a transformation from the alien system of Chinese and foreigners to the integration of Chinese and foreigners.
1. The emergence and development of the concept of Chinese and foreign countries
1. The continuous evolution of the concept of "China"
First of all, the concept of "country" should appear before the concept of "China". Regarding this, it should be traced back to the end of primitive society. After Yao and Shun, Dayu passed the position of the tribe master to his son Qi, which directly led to the change of the social system.
The throne hereditary replaced Xuanxian as a successor. After Qi inherited the throne, he began to establish a series of systems, cities and other state machines under the premise of tribal unification, that is, the earliest countries, and later generations to feudal society, during which there were countless changes in the government, but he only regarded taking over the place of the Xia Dynasty in , the Xia Dynasty and other places as "orthodox".
Even if other forces or individuals establish regimes during rebellion or government change, they will not be recognized by people in the world. This difference between ethnic and cultural was formed as early as the establishment of the Xia Dynasty. The concept of "China" was also born during the Xia Dynasty. The surrounding ethnic minority forces are called "barbarians."
Of course, the meaning of the statement "China" was deepened during the th Zhou Dynasty , which generally refers to the Chinese nation produced in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. At the same time, the strict hierarchical concept of the Zhou royal family also led to the emergence of multi-faceted opposition between "China" and barbarian areas.
2. The Chinese-British opposition under the rule of the Zhou king
Following the Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty , the Chinese slave society came to the last era under the rule of the Zhou royal family. Starting from primitive society, in order to maintain social order, strict hierarchical concepts appeared among tribes and even within the same tribe. This concept has been preserved until the establishment of Western Zhou , and it was established with a clear system.
This is the feudal system and the patriarchal system that are in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The feudal system divides the entire Western Zhou royal family into strict ranks, and the levels are clear from top to bottom, and they cannot be overruled at all. These lower-level positions in the feudal must abide by the orders of the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, and usually serve as garrison tasks for territory, and must lead troops to rescue during wartime.
The so-called feudalization is actually a feudal state and acknowledges the legitimacy of the people within the feudal system such as princes, literati and officials. Although this feudalization method is conducive to the stability of the Zhou royal family, it has a fatal flaw, which is that it attaches too much importance to the "China" region and ignores ethnic minorities.
In the enfeoffment system, there are positions from top to bottom. Even the civilians at the bottom of Central Plains society have their own classes. However, as a minority called the barbarians on the frontier, it has not been mentioned. Perhaps the Zhou royal family did not recognize its legal status at all, which led to the deepening of the division between China and the barbarians.
In addition to the feudal system, its internal patriarchal system also aggravates this concept. This system appeared as early as the Xia and Shang dynasties and was completely applied to the court during the Western Zhou Dynasty.In fact, the positions and ranks in the court were restricted by the blood relationship of the royal family. This system would have a subtle influence on the relationship between China and the barbarians.
As the court was gradually monopolized by the blood relationship of the Zhou royal family, the Zhou emperor's own sense of superiority became increasingly inflated, which led to his contempt for other classes and even more neglecting and looking down on the "barbarian land" located in a remote and not within the system, which aggravated the differentiation and opposition between barbarians during the Western Zhou Dynasty.
3. The alien system of the barbarians and Xia and the early recognition of "China"
After the Western Zhou Dynasty, the imperial court gradually established the great world. Could it be the situation of the kingly land ? As the power of the Zhou royal family expanded, the so-called barbarians in remote areas gradually became under the rule of their princes and kings. Although they were not recognized for their social status, they were no different from the civilians at the bottom.
After subsequent development, such groups gradually began to live in mixed lands of the princes and kings, and discriminatory titles such as Rong, Yi, Barbarian, and Di gradually blessed them. With the development of these ethnic groups, the Western Zhou court had to pay attention to them.
So the Zhou emperor, who always believed that he was superior, used a differentiated management method to manage these ethnic groups. This way of handling was the earliest system of alienation between the barbarians and the Xia Dynasty. This differentiated treatment can be said to further differentiate the Central Plains and ethnic minority areas.
For example, in terms of clothing, etiquette, tribute and even sacrifice, they are different from the Central Plains. Under such discriminatory regulations, these ethnic minorities still have requirements, such as maintaining the Zhou Dynasty in military and political affairs, and when necessary, they should serve as the protection of the Zhou royal family.
Economicly, these ethnic minorities must maintain a tribute relationship with the Zhou royal family. If there are areas that do not comply or fail to pay tribute on time, the Zhou royal family will directly send troops to conquer.
Judging from this series of measures, the Zhou royal family wanted to shock the barbarians through their own power, and wanted to force ethnic minorities to identify with "China" through the alien system of the barbarians and Xia.
2. The division of during the Warring States Period and the integration of Chinese and foreigners
1. The situation of great separatism and the prosperity of all races
In the previous understanding formed by the Western Zhou Dynasty, all ethnic groups that were not in the Central Plains region under "China" were called barbarians, so that some remote areas in the north and the West were also divided into this ranks, but this situation did not last long because the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty was about to come.
With the King You of Zhou , the authority of the Zhou royal family rapidly declined, and the vassal states, whose power gradually became stronger, were no longer willing to obey the orders of the Zhou royal family. After their separation, society entered the chaotic Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and then split, naturally, there were ethnic minorities called barbarians.
At this time, the Zhou royal family was in a turbulent period of "rituals collapsed and music were broken". All the previous regulations and promises naturally no longer existed. Many princes and kings with large soldiers and generals began to conquer the four sides with the slogan of "respecting the king and expelling the barbarians" and establish their own forces. At this moment, all princes and kings were trying to win over the surrounding forces, naturally including ethnic minorities.
In this way, the surrounding ethnic minority forces gradually changed, and gradually attached their forces to the more powerful vassal states in the Central Plains. The most typical one is " Qin " Qin Qin Mugong . The reason why Qin 7 Duke Mugong became one of the five hegemons after his achievements was because of its encirclement of the barbarian land.
2. The gradual emergence of the integration of China and the barbarians
The original territory of Qin was in the eastern border of Eastern Zhou period, and lived in mixed with these ethnic minorities. Even if it became a vassal state that dominated the country during the Western Zhou Dynasty, it was still a relatively weak one. Therefore, after the chaos, we had to start to strengthen ourselves and take measures against the surrounding ethnic minorities.
is exactly "those who follow me will prosper and those who go against me will perish". For those who obey the surrounding tribes, a relatively gentle system of gentleness will be adopted, and for those who have resistance, appropriate force will be carried out. In short, the early phenomenon of integration of China and the barbarians began to appear.
The phenomenon of integration of China and the barbarians not only occurred in Qin. At that time, the Chu State traced its roots and could also be related to the so-called barbarians. The king of Chu State was born in Jingman and first appeared in the fiefdoms during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou. At that time, he did not advocate "integration of China and the barbarians" and only said, "I am a barbarian, and I am not a posthumous name for China."
even threatened the Zhou royal family at that time with force, demanding that he be granted an independent barbarian title, or to directly claim to be king by himself. Of course, this matter ended up in the end, and the Chu State gradually separated with the division of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. At this time, King Huai of Chu supported the view of the integration of China and the barbarians. He advocated the conquest of the Central Plains and even China.
3. The final sense of identity
With the emergence of the phenomenon of the seven heroes' coherence, whether it is war or civilized exchanges, the national concepts between various countries gradually disappear in the inevitable exchanges between each other. The "barbarian tribes" that were originally marginalized by the Zhou royal family also began to gradually move towards the Central Plains. At the same time, major ideological changes in society began.
With the emergence of the phenomenon of Hundred Schools of Thoughts on , representatives of various schools came to express their views. " Confucius ", the representative of Confucian , put forward the statement that "there are brothers in the world", which once again promoted the general trend of integration of China and the sense of identity and belonging of "China".
and then inherited Confucius' Mencius , and even proposed that Shun belongs to the Western Yi, while Zhou Wenwang belongs to the Dongyi . However, the reason why the two can rule the world together is because of the same origin and unify various ethnic groups from the source. In other words, no matter what ethnic group it is, they all come from the lineage of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors , which is fundamentally the same.
The emergence of the concept of China and barbarians is only a relationship between the unknown distance and the Central Plains, which will lead to a long-term division. After this view emerged, the integration of China and the barbarians officially took root in everyone's hearts.
Summary
In short, Chinese society’s views on China and its identification with “China” are actually like subsequent dynasties. However, after a strong sense of identity with “China” will not change easily.
