论“闽人三十六姓”在中国海外移民史上的特殊性——东亚朝贡体制下的海外移民个案分析

On the Particularity of "Fujian 36 Family Trees" in the History of Overseas Chinese——A Case Study of Emigrants under the Tribute System of East Asia

“闽人三十六姓”,是明朝政府赐给琉球以发展该国与中国的朝贡贸易的移民。与同时期同属于中国朝贡体制下的东南亚国家的其他海外移民相比较,这支移民具有自身的一些特点:比如他们是明朝的政治移民,人数不多,最初仅为“三十六姓”,且明代“三十六姓”在琉球的发展,曾一度出现凋零,以致于后来有万历“再赐”和琉球国王“补姓”之举。尽管如此,他们在琉球的特殊地位与深远影响却令人刮目相看。他们往往身居高位,有担任权倾朝野的国相,有担任举足轻重的法司官,相当多的人都获得爵位,担任紫金大夫、正议大夫等官职的人比比皆是,在科学、教育、文化等领域中,他们也发挥了重要作用。这支移民的身分、构成、在居留国的地位与影响都具有特殊性和典型意义,是以往华人华侨史研究中所忽略的问题。

＂Fujian 36 Family Trees＂ refers to the overseas Chinese bestowed by the Ming Dynasty government to Ryukyu with the aim of promoting the tribute trade between the two countries. Compared with other overseas Chinese under the tribute system of China, this group of overseas Chinese possessed the following characteristics： they belonged to political emigrants in Ming Dynasty and were small in number; there were only 36 family trees at the beginning. Despite this, their special status in Ryukyu and far-reaching influences were held in high esteem. They usually held high positions and played a vital role in the fields of science, education and culture, which was specific and significant. However, this aspect was neglected in the past research of the history of overseas Chinese.