Between“Guandai”(冠带)and“Yidi”(夷狄):Sima Qian's National Consciousness

During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty,the ethnic relations in China entered a new historical stage.Records of the Historian written during this period gives a basically factual account of the ethnic history in China since ancient epochs.It is the first specialized work on ethnic history.The national consciousness that Sima Qian presents in this work is distinctively different from the Confucian tradition,which draws a strict line between Hua(华,China)and Yi(夷,the barbarians).His attention on the commonality of the cultural genes between the farming peoples of the Central-Plains and the nomadic hunting peoples of the borderlands,his recognition of the integrated impact that multiple ethnic groups have on the rise and development of Huaxia(华夏,Chinese)civilization,his respect for"differences among barbarians of the four directions"(四夷各异),and his approval of the“merits of Hu attire”(胡服之功)are all embodiment of his liberal views.To explore the formation and development of the cultural community of the Chinese nation and to understand and interpret this historical process of ethnic integration,we should attach great importance to the positive significance of Sima Qian's national consciousness.