明代华夏族群边缘的形成、维持与变迁 = The formation, maintenance and shift of Huaxia ethnic boundary during Ming dynasty.

Abstract

The concept of ethnic boundary has provided the studies of ethnicity a new direction of research. The traditional way of studying ethnicity focuses on the objective cultural traits of ethnic group but this restricts the scope of study and is incapable of providing answers to most of the ethnic problems the world is facing currently. In 1969, Anthropologist Fredrick Barth introduced the concept of ethnic boundary which provides a solution to problems such as how an ethnic group is formed. This concept recognizes an ethnic group as a subjective category and takes the point of view that ethnic boundary defines the group. This paper analyses the Huaxia ethnic group during Ming dynasty and explains its identity with the formation, maintenance and shift of its ethnic boundary. As its ethnic boundary shows different traits under different circumstances, this paper also employs the theories of instrumentalists and primordial sentiments to further explain such differences. During Ming dynasty, the Huaxia ethnic group defined its boundary which separated itself from the others, by taking the competition for resources into consideration. At the same time, it relied on the primordial attachments between the people within itself to agglomerate and cohere. Hence both of these factors pose great significance to the formation, maintenance and shift of the Huaxia ethnic group during Ming dynasty.族群边缘研究为当前的族群研究提供了一个新的研究方向。传统的族群研究主要关注族群的客观文化特征，但往往不足以解释许多族群问题。1969年Fredrik Barth所提出的边缘理论，利用族群边缘来解释族群的形成与其本质的问题。边缘理论将族群视为一种主观的认同，并以族群边缘将异族排除在外。本文引用其族群边缘理论对明代华夏族群进行研究，通过边缘的形成、维持与变迁来分析明代华夏族群的认同。明代华夏族群的认同具有一定的弹性，在不同的边缘与情况下有不同的表现。本文也结合族群理论中的根基论和工具论来分析明代华夏族群认同在不同边缘上所表现的特质。明代华夏族群以资源分配的竞争为考量，划定族群的边缘，将他人排除在外的同时，也以族群内人群间的根基性情感将人群凝聚起来。这两者都是明代华夏族群边缘形成、维持与变迁的重要因素。