出土文献与考古视野下“中华”观念的形成

The Historical Genesis of the Conceptualization of“China”through the Lens of Unearthed Documents and Archaeological Discoveries

日渐丰富的出土文献与考古实物中,蕴含着在先秦时期“中华”观念形成的历史信息。“中”的起源与先秦时期的“地中”“土中”“天下之中”等地理概念息息相关。西周春秋时期“华夏”族群的融合与发展,为战国晚期“中华”观念的出现奠定了坚实的基础。自产生之时,“中华”观念的基本内涵即包括以“华夏”文化为共同文化标准,以“禹迹”“九州”为共同活动地域,以黄帝子孙为共同世系认同。

The burgeoning corpus of archaeological findings offers valuable insights into the historical genesis of the conceptualization of“China”during the pre-Qin era(prior to 221 BC).The etymology of the character“中”(zhōng,middle)is intricately linked with geographical paradigms such as“the central ground,”“the midpoint of the cardinal directions,”and“the center of the world.”The sustained amalgamation and advancement of the Huaxia ethnic groups throughout the Western Zhou Dynasty(1046 BC-771 BC)and the Spring and Autumn Period(770 BC-476 BC)established a robust groundwork for the eventual crystallization of the notion of“China”during the late Warring States Period(476 BC-221 BC).Since its conceptualization,the fundamental essence of the notion of“China”has encompassed the elevation of“Huaxia”culture as the shared cultural benchmark,the recognition of“Yuji”(lands where the sage-emperor Yu left his traces)and“Jiuzhou”(Nine Provinces,an ancient administrative division of China)as communal activity domains,and the affirmation of the descendants of the Yellow Emperor as a collective lineage identity.