重建“多民族中国”的历史叙事 20世纪中国民族史观的形成、演变与竞争

Reconstructing Historical Narratives for Multi-ethnic China:A Study on the Historical Views of Nationality and Ethnicity in China during the 20th Century

中国近现代民族议题的基本问题意识是探寻在"民族—国家"的背景下建设"多民族中国"的可能路径,而对历史上多民族体系形成和演变过程的描述与阐释则是这项努力的重要组成部分,这正是晚清、民国直至中华人民共和国成立后,汉语知识精英主导或参与的民族史重建工作的意义所在。本文通过梳理和分析20世纪重要的民族史论著,提炼了三种关于"多民族中国"形成和演变逻辑的叙事方案。尽管这三种方案在叙事结构和价值立场上各不相同甚至相互对立,但它们却隐含了共同的理论焦虑——汉族在中国的主导地位与民族平等的政治原则之间的紧张关系。这一张力呈现了近现代中国作为一个"多民族的民族—国家"的内在矛盾,直到今天依然为我们理解和讨论中国的民族议题提供了基本的分析框架。

For modern China,the fundamental issue concerning Minzu is to find a way to position multiple ethnic groups appropriately in the system of nation-state,both institutionally and ideologically.As a part of this endeavor,Chinese intellectuals during the 20 th century made great efforts to reconstruct historical narratives on how a"multiethnic China"had manifested and consolidated over time.This paper outlines three narratives after a systematical analysis of the important works on national and ethnic history during this period.The first narrative appeared in the early 1900s came from the writings on history of China,in which China and"ethnic Han"were interchangeable and the formation of"China"was described as a fierce competition for survival between Han and non-Han people.The second narrative came from the new-type"ethnic history"developed in the 1920s and 1930 s,in which the conception of"China"was distinguished from that of"ethnic Han"and the principle of ethnic equality became a consensus.Meanwhile,the concept of"amalgamation"and"assimilation"emerged as important terms,and the formation of multi-ethnic China was depicted as a process of continual ethnic fusion.The last narrative was shaped by the framework of historical materialism.Since the 1940s,a new theoretical perspective had been promoted by Marxist historians.On the one hand,their anti-Han-chauvinism political standing compelled them to oppose a Han-Centered narrative;on the other hand,their belief in Marxist universal development stages of human society allowed them to place ethnic Han in the dominant and advanced position in Chinese history.Although these three narratives are quite different in framework and viewpoints,nevertheless they share one thing in common:the theoretical recognition and anxiety of two contradictory notions:Ethnic Han deserves a dominant position of the nation and all ethnic groups should be equally treated.This tension reflects the fundamental paradox of modern China as"a nationstate of multiple ethnicities."To this day,this paradox still constitutes a basic valid framework for understanding the issues concerning Minzu.