从历史地理学角度看中华民族共同体意识的形成与发展

The Formation and Development of Consciousness of the Chinese National Community from the Perspective of Historical Geography

中国自古以农为本,早期国家的形成与民族共同体意识的萌生与中国独特的地理环境密切相关。炎黄部落联盟是“中国”最早的核心。西周灭商后,天下共尊周天子的宗主王权意识在早期国家的形成与巩固过程中发挥了重要的凝聚力与向心力作用。战国时期,儒家思想逐渐成为最先进的精神文明,也形成让四夷向往的向心力。汉代,不少主流史家认为华夏胡夷均同根同源,其渊源皆出自炎黄,这是将各民族纳入华夏民族共同体文化圈思想的反映。魏晋南北朝,从分裂走向“内聚”,中华民族共同体意识是维系中华重新走向统一的重要情感纽带。各少数民族政权多以华汉苗裔自居,试图入主中原内地,定鼎建国。北方少数民族出于建立民族政权合乎中原王朝法统的需要,往往自称与汉族同祖同源。唐宋元以后,统一国家基本上未再分裂,与民族共同体意识维系作用甚大。从历史地理的角度看,中华民族共同体意识的形成,中国特殊的自然地理环境是外部基础,而文化地理与民族共同体意识始终是重要因素。

China is an agricultural civilization dominated by a continental monsoon climate and has its own geographical space.Around 5000 and 4500 years ago,the legendary Yandi and Huangdi tribes gradually were forming and moving towards alliance in the Yellow River valley.And the surrounding tribes,large or small,were also integrating with eath other through war or cooperation.Due to a high degree of civilization in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River,the tribes of the Central Plains gained a sense of superiority,and a concept of the distinction between Yi and Xia emerged.After the extermination of the Shang Dynasty,the Western Zhou Dynasty established a political system comprised of a patriarchal structure and a basic arrangement of enfeoffment by feudal lords.In this system,all the vassals were under the rule of the emperor of Zhou—This played an important role in the formation and consolidation of the early multi-ethnic country,and aroused the earliest community consciousness of the Chinese nation.During the Warring States Period,the Confucian political system as well as etiquette and music civilization gradually established themselves at that time as the most advanced source of spiritual civilization of the Central Plains,forming a growing centripetal force that was attractive to various ethnic peoples.The Qin Dynasty unified the country,and different ethnic groups integrated more deeply into the cultural circle of the Chinese national community in the Han Dynasty.The period of the Wei,Jin,Southern,and Northern Dynasties was a typical period of division and turbulence in Chinese history,yet separatism and division also bred unity just as ethnic conflicts promoted ethnic integration.After the Tang,Song,and Yuan Dynasties,the unified country basically appeared to be unable to split again,for which the consciousness of the national community played a big role.In the early Tang Dynasty,the rulers repeatedly emphasized that the Hu and Han were one family and improved the tributary system of the central government and the surrounding Siyi(ethnic minorities).During the confrontation between the Song and Liao dynasties,cultural exchange between ethnic groups continued and the officials in Liao were generally heavily influenced by Central Plains culture.The Ming Dynasty continued the philosophy of“Great Unity”.In the Qing Dynasty,the ruler continued to accept and absorb the official traits of Central Plains such as their governance system,rules,etiquette,and literature.Besides,although the political theory of ruling the world jointly by the Manchu,Han,Mongolian,Hui,and Tibetan was formally put forward in the late Qing Dynasty and early period of the Republic of China,it actually can be seen as a recognition of the historical reality of the national politics and ethnic geography in the Qing Dynasty.Thousands of years of history of China have proven that the sense of community for the Chinese nation is a collective consciousness and national emotion that has been forming gradually over the long course of Chinese history,in which various ethnic groups have been identifying with one other,mutually integrating,and jointly developing.From the perspective of historical geography,China s unique environmental geography has been its external basis,and its cultural geography has always been a crucial factor for the formation of the consciousness of the Chinese national community.In other words,the geographical situation and cultural centripetal force of the Chinese nation throughout its history have been determining the“unity”of its development trend.