“古国”“酋邦”之争与中国文明起源的研究路径

The“Proto-State”/“Chiefdom”Controversy and the Study of the Origins of Chinese Civilization

“古国”与“酋邦”是研究中国文明起源的两种主要理论,有关二者关系及其学术意义的争议较多。从多个层面辨析可以发现,两种理论所回答的问题存在明显差异:其研究视角分属主位与客位,研究路径分属人文与科学。酋邦理论来自人类学,是进化主义的,其理论构建通过类比获得,优势在于探讨社会复杂化的机制,在考古学研究中,其研究逻辑是演绎推理。古国理论来自中国考古学,是历史主义的,优势在于理解文化意义,其研究逻辑是归纳推理。两种理论所代表的研究路径可以相互补充,但不能相互替代。中华文明探源的目的不仅仅是得到真实的历史,还在于理解与继承文化意义。在中国文明起源研究中充分结合“古国”理论与“酋邦”理论代表的两种路径,对于构建中国考古学话语体系具有重要意义。

“Proto-state”and“chiefdom”are two major theories used in exploring the origin of Chinese civilization.There is much debate about the relationship between the two and about their academic significance.In several respects,the questions answered by the two theories are distinctly different:their perspectives are emic and etic,and their research paths are humanistic and scientific.The chiefdom theory derives from anthropology;it is evolutionist and its theories are constructed by analogy.Its strong point lies in exploring the mechanisms of the development of social complexity,but when used in archaeological research,the logic employed is deductive reasoning.The proto-state theory comes from Chinese archaeology,and thus is historicist.Its strong point lies in understanding cultural meanings,and the research logic employed is inductive reasoning.The two theories represent research paths that are complementary but not interchangeable.The purpose of exploring the origins of Chinese civilization is not only to find the truth of history,but also to understand and inherit its culture.Therefore,it is important to fully combine the two theories in building the discourse system of Chinese archaeology.