What exactly is Pu Songling's nationality?

Pu Songling's ethnic affiliation is not a problem. Before 1980s, few researchers mentioned this problem. Obviously, everyone acquiesced in Pu Songling's Han identity. Later, with the deepening of research, Pu Songling's ethnic affiliation began to attract the attention of researchers, resulting in a variety of views and disputes, which once became an academic hotspot.

Generally speaking, when discussing this issue, researchers mostly start with Pu Songling's ancestors and family background, and use this as the main basis for judging Pu Songling's ethnic affiliation. Its specific opinions mainly include the following four:

First, the Han people said. This statement is believed by most researchers, mainly based on Pu Songling's self-assertion that "my family is from Nanyang" in Genealogy Preface. Obviously, he himself considers himself a local, and his descendants also admit this. The article Pu Songling is not a minority is quite representative in Pu Songling Memorial Hall. This paper holds that Pu Songling's ancestors, including Pu Luhun and Pu, were all from Puyang (Zichuan), and the ethnic composition of Pu Songling should be judged according to Pu Songling's genealogy. However, according to the materials that can be verified at present, it cannot be concluded that Pu Songling is a minority 1.

First, the Hui people said. The main reason is that Pu Songling said that his ancestors came from Pulu Soul and Pu, but the name of Pulu Soul is not like Han people, but Hui people. Secondly, Pu Lu Soul and Pu used to be general managers, and most of them were Semu people in Yuan Dynasty, mostly Hui people. So "There is no doubt that Pu Songling was a Hui before him" 2. Some researchers have pointed out that Pu surname is a common surname of Arab immigrants, and Pu Luhun is a Chinese translation of Arabic and an Arabic name. Third, Pu was a salt envoy in Fujian and other places. At that time, most of the people who held this position were Muslims. In this regard, opponents believe that whether the soul of Pu Lu and the people of Pu Ju are the ancestors of Pu Songling is "an extremely unreliable proposition". Even if they are indeed the ancestors of Pu Songling, "it is not necessarily possible to draw the exact conclusion that they are Hui, so Pu Songling's ancestors are Hui" 4. Furthermore, according to relevant historical data, people with Pu surname were not uncommon before the Song Dynasty, so it was not necessarily the surname of Arab immigrants, and so was the name of Pu Luhun. Taking the multi-color person who was the general manager of the Yuan Dynasty as evidence, there are also logical loopholes.

First, jurchen said. Its main basis is that "Prouhun" means "cloth bag" in Jurchen language, which is the title used by Jurchen. The general managers of the Yuan Dynasty were Han Chinese, Jurchen and Qidan people, all of whom were customized. The Han people here include Han people in the north at that time, Nuzhen and Qidan people. It can be inferred that Puzupuluhun may have been Jurchen 5 originally.

First of all, the Mongols said. The main basis is that Pu Lu Soul is a Mongolian name, and both Pu Lu Soul and Pu were the general managers of the Yuan Dynasty. There is also a folk legend that Pu is a Mongolian. Lv Dahuang mentioned in the article 1957 "Pu Songling" that he visited many people named Pu, and it is said that they are Mongolians. A Brief History of Mongolia published by 1977 clearly lists Pu Songling as a Mongolian writer. A Brief History of China's Novels written by the Chinese Department of Nankai University also adopts this theory, saying that Yun Pu Songling's ancestors were Mongolians. Qiu Xin's articles Pu Songling, a Mongolian writer, and Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio also identify Pu Songling as a descendant of the Mongols. Later, Pu Xizhang further wrote that "Pu Songling's distant ancestor was not only a Mongolian, but also a royal family among the Mongols" .9. Sheng Wei also agreed with the Mongolian theory, but at the same time said: "The ancestors of Pu family in Zichuan were Mongolians. As for Pu Songling and his descendants, it is needless to say that they are Mongolians. " 10

It is worth mentioning that Pu Songling's ethnic affiliation has also attracted the attention of relevant government departments. 198 1 03 19, people's daily published a special commentator's article "patriotism is a great spiritual force for building socialism", which mentioned that pu Songling was a minority. Therefore, the Policy Research Office of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission published the article "Four Views on Pu Songling's Ethnic Composition", holding that "the four views have their own basis and reason. Generally speaking, it is reasonable and well-founded to say that Pu Songling is a minority. Of course, this cannot be used as a conclusion. " At the same time, he pointed out: "No matter which nationality Pu Songling belongs to, it does not determine or affect the ethnic composition of his present descendants." 165438+ ... but it goes without saying that there are still many doubts about the basis of these statements, and the conclusions drawn are naturally not completely convincing. So this problem can only be said to be a mystery so far. To solve this mystery, we need to find new and reliable data. "12 Obviously, there is still academic space for further discussion on this issue.

Precautions:

1 Pu Songling Memorial Hall Pu Songling is not a minority, Guangming Daily, July 26th, 198 1.

2 Bo Yan's Pu Songling's Theory that Ancestors are Hui, Journal of Minzu University of China, No.2, 198 1.

3 See that Bai Chongren's Pu Songling should be Hui, Beijing Evening News1980 65438+February 20th; A textual research on Pu Songling as a descendant of Hui nationality, Journal of Qinghai University for Nationalities No.4,1981; Textual research on Pu Songling as a descendant of Hui nationality, research on Pu Songling,No. 1992,No. 1.

4 Wang Zhizhong's Query on Pu Songling's predecessor is Hui Hui, in Pu Songling's Essays, page 18-24, Culture and Art Publishing House, 1990.

5. See Su Xing's "Pu Songling's distant ancestors were about the Jurchen nationality", the third collection of Pu Songling's research works, Qilu Bookstore 1982 edition; Supplementary proof that Pu Songling's distant ancestor is the Jurchen nationality, Pu Songling Textual Research No.5, 199 1 year.

6 Lu Ye Pu Songling, Outpost 1957. 1.

7 A Brief History of Chinese Novels by the Chinese Department of Nankai University, p. 189, People's Literature Publishing House, p. 1979.

8 Qiu Xin, Mongolian writer Pu Songling and Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, Hohhot Wenyi No.5, 1978. Here, I refer to Wang Qingyun's supplementary theory on the study of Pu Songling's ethnic composition (Pu Songling Research No.3 1997).

9 Pu Xizhang's "On the Ethnic Composition of Pu Songling's Distant Ancestors", Pu Songling Research No.2,1999; On the ethnic affiliation of Pu Songling's distant ancestors from Pu's Genealogy, Pu Songling Research, No.2, 2000.

10 Sheng Wei's Three Questions about Pulun, Pu Songling's Research, No.3 and No.4, 2000.

1 1 Four Views of the Policy Research Office of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission on Pu Songling's Ethnic Composition People's Daily1981August 14.

1Review of Pu Songling by Shi Shuo and Xu Zhongwei in 2 yuan, pp. 3-5, Nanjing University, 2000.