中国古代国家统一的理论和实践

The Theory and Practice of State-Unification in Ancient China

中国古代国家统一观,是天下一统观,先验地构建一个包容所有大小王权国家、所有民族和文化的天下。王权至高无上,不仅要统一王权国家,而且要统一王权国家之外的整个天下。天下体系是以中原王朝为正统和中心,以贸易、文化、安全保障、儒家家庭伦理等方式把周边政权联络到一起,共同构建一个等级制的同心圆世界体系,它与主权国家平等的国际体系完全不同。天下统一观和天下体系的理论构建,使中国古代国家统一的实践主要表现为国家必须统一于正统王权,天下也必须统一于正统王权,武力统一是古代中国国家统一的根本途径。

The concept of state-unification of ancient China,the view of under heaven,constituted a Tianxia which contained all dynasties,ethnic minorities and culture entities.The supreme power of monarch should not only unify all dynasties,big and small,but also unify the whole world,Tianxia.Under the system of Tianxia,the dynasty covering the central area of China,Zhongyuan Dynasty was often regarded as the orthodox one and the central one,around which all dynasties were linked together by means of trade.culture.security and Confucianism.The system of Tianxia,which was a world system of hierarchy and concentrically ringed,was totally different from the modern international system in which all nation-states,sovereign countries,are equal.The practices of state-unification of ancient China mainly consist of three parts:Dynastystate must unified by the orthodox Dynasty,the whole world,Tianxia,must unified by the orthodox Dynasty also.Unifying by sword was the main method of state-unification.