印度华人的“阶序化”现象及其情感与文化认同

On the “Hierarchization” and the Emotional and Cultural Identity of Chinese in India

华人移民印度已有200多年的历史,但其在印度社会的发展并不理想。在传统印度教社会按照阶序原理统合和分割的社会形态下,印度教徒接纳并包容华人移民的存在,但同时倾向于将其固定于阶序链条底端,使之成为“事实上的种姓集团”,并以社会隔离的逻辑不与之通婚和交往。在这种情况下,印度华人也被“涵括”进印度教社会结构体系,成为阶序人社会中的一个特定角色,在阶序链条中有其特定的位置,且很难改变。在这种情况下,印度华人和印度教徒的族群边界被凸显和固化了,印度华人无法通过充分的社会交往融入印度教社会,亦难以通过信仰改宗实现新的印度教社会认同。因此,印度华人在形式上嵌入印度社会体系与秩序,在一定程度上接受了相应的身份与角色,借此获得了印度社会的合法成员资格,并进而形成了某种趋同的行为模式,如职业世袭、内婚和社会交往的界限等,这一心理与社会过程,可以看作华人在印度社会的“阶序化”过程。这既是华人面对印度社会主流文化传统造成的社会隔绝的一种反应,也是华人在印度社会文化传统和自身文化传统双重影响下的生存状态。不仅反映了华人基于生存需要的生存策略选择,也凸显了华人基于心理和情感需要的族群身份认同和文化认同特点。

The history of Chinese emigration to India has lasted for more than two hundred years. However, the development of Chinese immigrants in Indian society has not been ideal. The traditional Hindu society is unified and divided according to the principle of hierarchy. Hindus accepted and accommodated the Chinese immigrants, but they tended to fix them at the bottom of the hierarchy frame, making them a “Proposed Caste Group” and refraining from intermarriage and interaction with them by the idea of social segregation. In this case, the Chinese in India were “encompassed” in the Hindu social structure, became a specific part of the caste society, and occupied a particular position in the hierarchy frame, which is difficult to change. Under such circumstances, the ethnic boundaries between Indian Chinese and Hindus are highlighted and solidified, and Indian Chinese cannot integrate into Hindu society through adequate social interaction, nor can they achieve a new Hindu social identity through religious conversion. Therefore, the Indian Chinese were formally embedded in the Indian social system and order, and accepted the corresponding identity and role to a certain extent. They obtained the legal membership in Indian society and then formed some kind of similar behavior patterns. This is not only a reaction to the social isolation caused by the mainstream cultural traditions of Indian society, but also a special living condition of the Chinese under the influence of both Indian and Chinese traditional culture. It not only reflects the Chinese immigrants’ strategic choice of living based on survival needs, but also highlights the characteristics of Chinese ethnic identity and cultural identity based on psychological and emotional needs.