Is it necessary for China to downplay its national identity in the future? paper

In today's world, ethnic issues are one of the most influential, important and far-reaching issues to the development of human society and the world political process. At present, ethnic problems and contradictions are widespread all over the world. Ethnic riots, regional conflicts and local wars caused by ethnic contradictions and religious disputes are one after another, which have a profound impact on the social and political life of many countries and regions. In China, ethnic problems, ethnic differences and ethnic contradictions are also objective facts, which we should acknowledge and face squarely. If ethnic problems are not solved well, the country will be in chaos and even split. We must attach great importance to it and handle it carefully, and we must never treat it lightly, which will lead to great disaster.

On the other hand, ethnic differences are only differences in culture, customs and religious beliefs of different groups of people. They are always in the process of constant change and integration, and have nothing to do with politics and should not be over-politicized. The differences between the ethnic minorities in China and the Han nationality are smaller than those in different areas of the Han nationality, such as Hakkas, Chaoshan people, Fulao people and northern residents. As long as they are tolerant and equal, they are easy to get along with and handle well. More than 90% of the nearly 200 countries in the world are multi-ethnic countries, and the so-called "new world" such as the United States and Australia are basically immigrant countries. The United States has almost all ethnic groups in all countries in the world, but it has become a melting pot of ethnic groups, and there is no so-called ethnic problem. Only a few countries in the world politicize ethnic identity and ethnic contradictions, such as China. The process of multi-ethnic interaction in China has never stopped for thousands of years. There are some problems now, so we should review China's own ethnic policy more and learn from the successful experience of other countries in dealing with ethnic issues in order to improve it.

On the other hand, in fact, from a scientific point of view, the ethnic issue is completely a pseudo-issue. Where is there a fixed so-called "nation" in the world? Whether a person's race is black, white or yellow; Both Mongolians and Malays may be born unchangeable, but there is no guarantee that their next generation will remain unchanged. If a black man marries a white man, his next generation will change. This country has been changing. Nationality is a historical and cultural phenomenon of a certain group in a certain period, which is constantly changing. Different nationalities are always in the process of continuous migration, integration and assimilation. Stability is relative, and flow and change are absolute. Everyone can change their national identity by getting married, emigrating and going abroad. For example, many ethnic minorities have joined the Han nationality for thousands of years, and many Han compatriots have joined other ethnic minorities, such as the Eight Banners in Manchu. Tens of millions of people go abroad to become overseas Chinese, Chinese, and even marry foreigners and integrate into foreign nationality. Even the most violent Uighur, there is no such ethnic group in history, but the northern Asian ethnic Uighur on the ancient Mongolian grassland moved westward to Xinjiang in the 9th century. The descendants of Muslim nations in the Middle Ages of United and Central Asia are composed of nine surnames of Oguz and ten surnames of Uighurs. After the westward movement, some Uighurs used Turpan as the center to unite with the local Kucha-speaking ethnic groups, and later merged into ancient times. Including some Han Chinese who migrated to the western regions from the Han Dynasty, gradually formed today's Uighurs, which is much shorter than the history of Han Chinese in Xinjiang. Where did the saying "Xinjiang has been the land of Uighurs since ancient times" and "Han people living in Xinjiang are all foreigners" come from? Tibetans are also formed by the integration of many ethnic groups in Tibetan areas by their predecessors, such as Tubo and Xiqiang. After the Revolution of 1911 in China, many Manchu people became Han people, and now many Han people also want to become ethnic minorities. Therefore, national identity is largely the result of people's subjective identity under certain conditions.

The definition of nation has always been extremely complicated and inconclusive. On this basis, a new trend of thought has emerged in the west in recent years, among which the representative works are American scholar Benedict? Anderson's classic book Imaginary Isomorphism defines a nation as: "It (a nation) is an imaginary political isomorphism-and it is imagined to be limited in nature and also enjoys sovereignty."

"The nation is the imaginary * * * isomorphism", which is very incisive! Benedict. Anderson said: "It's imaginary, because even members of the smallest ethnic group can't know most of their compatriots, meet them or even hear about them. However, their interconnected images live in the hearts of every member. Imagine being a monarch.

The imagination of a country is limited, because even the largest countries, even though they may cover 10 billion living people, their borders, even though they are variable, are still limited. No country can imagine that it is equal to all mankind.

This nation is imagined as the same body, because "although there may be universal inequality and exploitation within each nation, this nation is always imagined as a profound and equal homosexual love." In the end, it is this friendly relationship that has driven millions of people to be willing to slaughter or die calmly for the nation-this limited imagination-in the past two centuries, which has become one of the greatest tragedies in the world. So sad! Wang Xiaoqiang, a famous scholar, also has many brilliant expositions in his masterpiece Only Socialism Can Save China, published in Hongkong Fax and Reference Manuscripts.

Therefore, in today's world, except for China, officials of other countries never get involved in the identification of national identity, or even avoid the identification of political labels. Today, Chinese mainland's national concept, national consciousness, national policies and theories are all the products of studying the Soviet Union in an all-round way in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China and being shaped by Soviet national theories and policies. Over the past 60 years, it has deeply influenced the concept of mainlanders, even to the extent of being used to it. However, history has proved that the Soviet Union's ethnic policy was completely wrong and failed, which directly led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and other countries. The politicization of national identity is a unique phenomenon in the former Soviet bloc countries. In other worlds outside this camp, national identity and national identity are never discussed by other countries' officials, because the official involvement in the identification of national identity means the political solidification of national identity. The state's involvement in the identification of national identity not only artificially strengthens the self-identity within each ethnic group, but also hinders the natural blending and flow between different ethnic groups, weakens the national identity, and has endless future troubles. Nowadays, Chinese mainland is in a period of high incidence of various social contradictions, especially in ethnic areas, and any social contradiction can easily rise to ethnic contradictions. In recent years, with the contradiction of social transformation and the change of international environment, ethnic problems in some areas of China have become more prominent. While the central government continues to increase assistance policies and measures to maintain stability, it should also go back and re-examine and review our ethnic policies from the source.