象征性权力与“浮岛体系”——中世纪南亚国际体系探析

Symbolic Power and the“Floating Islands System”:A Case Study of Medieval South Asia

受文明传统中世俗王权与神性权力综合关系的影响,中世纪南亚国际体系结构中的组织或排序方式混合了无政府与等级制,而结构根据象征性权力的分布来界定。通过考察这一时期体系单元的历史原型萨曼塔即具有较强独立性的次级王国,可以发现体系结构影响了单元的意图,使它们为获得相对优势而争夺象征性权力。象征性征服与争取神性合法性是单元之间争夺象征性权力的两种主要机制。象征性征服是指在不消灭战败者或不实施领土吞并的情况下通过让战败国国王承认战胜国的优势地位实现统治,争取神性合法性则是指通过参与和神性权力相关的活动增强政治权威。在争夺象征性权力的过程中,体系单元的地位在主导大国、次级王国和独立王国三者间不断变化,最终导致中世纪南亚国际体系的不稳定状态。争夺象征性权力本质上是帝国崩溃后,各政治实体在物质实力有限的情况下通过发展和扩大非物质权力的影响力与效用争取在相对优势上胜出。通过地理信息系统对象征性权力在体系中分布情况的实证分析,我们能够发现中世纪南亚的国际体系结构呈现稳定多极、动态多层和权力交错的特征,可以形象地比喻为“浮岛体系”。

Influenced by the complex relationship between kingship and divinity in South Asian civilization,the organization or ordering of the medieval South Asian system mixed elements of anarchy and hierarchy,with the structure defined according to the distribution of symbolic power.By examining the historical prototype of the system's key political entities during this period,namely semi-autonomous subordinate kingdoms known as Sāmantas,we can assume that the system's structure influenced the intentions of these units,prompting them to vie for symbolic power in order to attain relative advantage.Symbolic subjugation and the pursuit of divine legitimacy emerged as the primary means through which units competed for symbolic power.Symbolic conquest involved achieving dominion by securing acknowledgment of superiority from defeated kings without necessarily resorting to their elimination or territorial annexation.Conversely,the pursuit of divine legitimacy involved engaging in activities related to divine power to enhance political authority.During the contest for symbolic power,the positions of system units constantly shifted between dominant kingdoms,semi-autonomous subordinate kingdoms,and independent kingdoms,resulting in the instability of the medieval South Asian international system.The essence of the contest for symbolic power lay in regimes striving for relative dominance by developing and expanding the influence and utility of non-material power in situations of limited material strength.Through empirical analysis of the distribution of symbolic power in the system using GIS,the medieval South Asian system exhibits characteristics of stable multipolarity,dynamic multilayeredness,and intersecting powers,metaphorically likened to a“floating islands system”.