身份之辩:大理“西镇”的祖先叙事

Identity Debate: Ancestry Narratives of the “West- Towners” in Dali

尽管在元明以来的官方史志中,大理"西镇"的"名家大姓"仍被视作一个不同于"汉人"的群体,但在民间同一时期的墓志铭与族谱等民间文献中,他们则大体上一直延续与不断地强调着他们所拥有的"汉人"祖先。"西镇"基于其祖先叙事之上的这一身份之辩,与大理洱海地区和国家之间历史关系的复杂性有关,亦与将"民族"想象为一个具有共同"血统"的历史实体的文化传统有关。在历史的进程中,处于华夏边缘的大理洱海地区与国家之间的关系曾经历几次重大的转变。每一次转变,均会重启这一地域社会空间的"结构化"过程,孕育或塑造其"地方文化的特色"。因此,对"民家人"到底是"汉"还是"白"的追问,本身就已简化或遮蔽了地方社会在历史时间中"结构化"过程的复杂性。

While regarded as an ethnic group different from the ＂Han Chinese＂ in the official historical documents since the Yuan dynasty, ＂the Great Clans with Chinese Surnames＂ of the ＂West Town＂ continually claimed or stressed their ＂Han Chinese＂ ancestry. This debate on the ethnic identity is related not only to the historical complexity of the relationship between Dali in the Erhai Lake area and the Imperial Court, but also to the Chinese cultural tradition which invariably imagines a ＂nationality＂ as a historical entity with a common ＂blood＂.