董仲舒“大一统”理论对中华统一多民族国家的历史作用

Historical Influence of Dong Zhongshu’s Theory of“Great Unity”on Chinese Unified Multi-Ethnic State

“大一统”一词始见于《春秋公羊传》。董仲舒的“大一统”理论赋予其政权统一和意识形态统一的含义,以解决统一多民族国家政权合法性及国家文化认同的问题。两汉四百年的空前统一更使大一统思想固化为民族心理,中华各民族逐渐发展成为一个完整的不可分割的统一整体。董仲舒确立的“大一统”学说为中华民族长期自在存在提供了理论支撑,使各族人民能够在政治、思想、文化上超越既往的历史局限,使多元一体的格局成为中华民族精神生活的价值追求。在中华多元一体的融汇进程中,各民族间的征伐与战争既是融合的阻力,也是融合的助力,因为他们共同维系着“大一统”政治实体。帝制时代结束后,“王权”不复存在,“大一统”观念去除掉王权内核,经过现代性转化,在现代意义上指涉国家在政治、经济、文化上的“统一”。“大一统”思想曾经也必将在未来凝聚中华各族文化向心力方面发挥历史性的作用。

The term“greatunity”first appeared in Gongyang’s Commentary on The Spring and Autumn Annals.Dong Zhongshu’s theory of“greatunity”gave it the meaning of unity of regime and ideologyto solve the problems of the legitimacy of unified multi-ethnic state and the identity of national culture.The unprecedented 400-year unification of the Western and Eastern Han Dynastiesfurther solidified the idea of greatunity into a national ideology,and the ethnic groups in China gradually developed into a complete and indivisible unity.Dong Zhongshu’s theory of“greatunity”provides theoretical support for the long-term existence of the Chinese nation,enabling people of all ethnic groups to surpass historical limitations in politics,ideology and culture,and making the structure of plural unity become Chinese nation’s value pursuit of spiritual life.In the process of the pluralistic integration,the punitive expedition and wars among various ethnicswere not only the resistance to the integration but also the help of it,because they jointly maintained the political entity of“greatunity”.After the feudal era,with the decline of the concept of“royal power”,the core of the royal power was removed from“greatunity”.In modern sense,“greatunity”refers to the“unity”of the state in politics,economy and culture and the thought of it has played and will play a historic role in the cohesion of the cultures of all ethnic groups in China.