Who are the descendants of the Yellow Emperor? -Historical memory and national identity of the Chinese nation.

Although Yanhuang is a contemporary in China's historical memory, Yan Di is portrayed as a rich chieftain in the wild times, while Huangdi is a statue of a civilized emperor. These two portraits show that during the Warring States period, people were in an era when China was just taking shape; In this new era and new cognition, they set off the civilization and unity of the Huangdi era with the primitiveness and chaos of Yan Di era, defeated Yan Di with Huangdi, and showed the fracture between "now" and "past". The historical image of Yanhuang remained in China's cultural memory, and was skillfully expressed in these two portraits of the "Three Talents Association".

Who are the descendants of the Yellow Emperor? Wangmingke

Where are the descendants of Chiyou? Where are the descendants of other people contemporary with the Yellow Emperor? Are the Mongolian, Tibetan, Miao and Manchu ethnic minorities in China also descendants of the Chinese people? -"We are descendants of the Chinese people". In this simplest judgment on the history of the Chinese nation, the deepest password of "history" is hidden.

Five thousand years ago, two "heroes", the Yellow Emperor and Yan Di, fought in Hanquan, and the Yellow Emperor defeated Yan Di. Later, the Yellow Emperor mobilized troops from all walks of life to fight Chiyou, another tribal leader, in Zhuolu, and won Chiyou's victory. Since then, the Yellow Emperor has bred his descendants, so later Huaxia or Han people are descendants of the Yellow Emperor; In other words, some people are descendants of Emperor Yan, so they often call themselves "descendants of the Yellow Emperor". This is the simplest national history of China.

Now, however, everyone has opinions on this history. Where are the descendants of Chiyou? Where are the descendants of other people contemporary with the Yellow Emperor? Are the Mongolian, Tibetan, Miao and Manchu ethnic minorities in China also descendants of the Chinese people? After some textual research, this period of history has become somewhat complicated-it is believed that some descendants of Huangdi and Yandi migrated or fled to distant places, so the Manchu, Mongolian and Tibetan nationalities in northern China and the Korean nationality on the Korean peninsula today are descendants of Huangdi or Yandi. Chiyou was exiled or forced to move south and became the ancestor of many southern minorities. But there are still many people who are not satisfied with this interpretation of history; There are still many ethnic groups in the Chinese nation whose relationship with Yanhuang Chiyou is unclear. What's more, in addition to these heroes, ordinary people at that time should have descendants.

History, the word, has two completely different meanings in Chinese. First, the real past; Second, the "past" we remember, tell and write. In English, a word, history, represents two meanings-historical facts and historical memory. Why is this strange phenomenon happening? This is because human beings live in a society caused by historical memory, and the social reality is so real, so we generally regard historical memory as a historical fact.

The author studied the historical memory of Qiang nationality in western Sichuan. In those high mountains and deep valleys, if there are three stockades in a ditch, the locals often say, "Once upon a time, three brothers came here, and one went to a place to build stockades. They were the ancestors of the people who lived in these stockades." When it comes to a wider group of people, such as the origin of people in villages near Qitiaogou, they say, "Seven brothers have been here before …" At first glance, what kind of history do we think this is? But the locals believe this history. Living in a ravine, people in three stockades all own, distribute and compete for the resources in the ravine. Outsiders come here to dig medicine, and people from three villages unite to drive them away, because "history" tells people that this is the territory occupied by the ancestors of three brothers. A villager went up the mountain to cut firewood and had to stop when he wanted to enter the Erzhai site, because "history" told him that this was the Erzhai site. This is what I said before. Social reality is so real that people generally regard historical memory as historical fact.

But historical memory doesn't mean it's untrue. I am a Taiwanese historian. Let's take the history of Taiwan Province Province as an example. One of the strongest historical memories of Taiwan Province Province at present is that the earliest residents of Taiwan Province Province were aborigines. Immigrants from Fujian and Guangdong came to Taiwan with Zheng Chenggong 300 years ago, and they are the ancestors of Minnan people and Hakka people. Sixty years ago, a group of mainland soldiers and civilians followed Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan Province. They were the ancestors of mainlanders. Believe this history, the social reality of Taiwan Province Province is that people are divided into four ethnic groups, among which the aborigines are conquered, the mainlanders are new residents, and the Minnan people and Hakkas are real people from Taiwan Province Province. Which of the above periods of history is not a historical fact?

However, the history of Taiwan Province Province can also be written in the way that Qiang people talk about history in a deep ditch. Not to mention those heroes, "Once upon a time, four brothers came to Taiwan Province Province, and their descendants became the four major ethnic groups in Taiwan Province Province." Believe this history, the social reality of Taiwan Province Province will be: there is no distinction between conquerors and conquered people, and there is no distinction between old residents and new immigrants. History doesn't have to start with "heroes" like Zheng Chenggong and Chiang Kai-shek. However, in most human societies, there are conquerors and vanquished, old residents and new immigrants, so everyone likes to talk about heroic history.

The Yellow Emperor stands out from the memory of many ancient emperors.

The war between the leaders of the Yellow Emperor, Yan Di and Chiyou five thousand years ago may of course be a historical fact. I don't know how many similar tribal wars happened before Shang and Zhou Dynasties. There are no records of Huangdi, Yan Di and Chiyou in Shang and Zhou Oracle Bone Inscriptions. At that time, no one claimed to be Huaxia. Interestingly, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, nobles of various vassal states began to call themselves Huaxia, and at this time, many historical records about heroic ancestors such as Huangdi, Yan Di and Qiu appeared. Moreover, just as the thinkers of the Warring States put forward various opinions on how to govern the people and calm the war, the so-called "a hundred schools of thought contend". At this time, people also put forward different plans on how to assemble the ancestral memories of tribes such as Huangdi and Taiyi into a "history". For example, one plan is to call the Yellow Emperor and Yan Di brothers. But in the end, there was a widely accepted version history; This "history" is that Tai Hao and Fuxi were emperors in the ancient wild world, while Emperor Yan and Chiyou were tribal leaders who were defeated by the Yellow Emperor and became the only emperors who ended troubled times and started civilization. Politically, the Yellow Emperor claimed to be a foreigner in China at that time, driving out Rong Di and striving for hegemony. In fact, all these phenomena-the political struggle for kings and mergers, the ideological struggle for long-term social stability, and the emergence of multiple versions of the ancestors of various tribes in historical memory-indicate that China at that time was moving from pluralistic separation to unity. Even the word Huaxia has changed from plural to singular. "Hua" originally had many meanings. During the Warring States Period, "Huaxia" was called "Zhu Xia", which means "many Xia countries" different from Yidi. However, from the end of the Warring States to the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, Huaxia gradually referred to an entire nation. "Ethnic group" refers to people who are condensed in an ancestral memory and share and allocate resources in the same field. Therefore, the historical memory of ancestors also "planned" the internal relations of a ethnic group or nation. Taking Yanhuang as brothers, the significance of this historical plan lies in trying to connect two peer groups represented by Huangdi and Yan Di with the brotherhood of ancestors. This is a kind of "brother ancestor history". In any case, in China's historical memory, the Yellow Emperor became the only heroic ancestor who defeated his opponent and ended the troubled times, which also indicated that China was on the road to political unity and centralization.

By the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, China and its empire had been firmly formed. At this time, the most complete history of the Yellow Emperor also appeared in Historical Records, the first simulation history of China-the simulation history and the simulation society situation were formed at the same time. This also explains why China people did not doubt this "history" in the next two thousand years, because people lived in the world planned by "history". The nature of China is fully reflected in the description of the Yellow Emperor in Historical Records. Let's take a look at how Sima Qian, the author of Historical Records, defined China through the Yellow Emperor. In the book, the Yellow Emperor is the conqueror and founder of the dynasty, and he is the ancestor of China's political system. Huangdi is the ancestor of Yao, Shun, Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, which shows that Huangdi is the ancestor of Chinese blood clan. Historical records show that the Yellow Emperor, his concubines and courtiers have many inventions, so the Yellow Emperor represents the beginning of China culture. "Historical Records" also said that the Yellow Emperor marched eastward to the sea, westward to the Kongtong Mountain, southward to the great river, and northward to the meat porridge, which is the origin of China's expression space. Therefore, from the description of the Yellow Emperor in Historical Records, it can be seen that at least from the beginning of the Han Dynasty, China was a political, ethnic, cultural and territorial entity. This also shows the preciousness of historical memory-it is not necessarily a historical fact, but many historical facts are hidden in it by "passwords".

The descendants of the Yellow Emperor are in the frontier.

The people of Qin, Chu, Wu and Yue, who were on the edge of China during the Warring States Period, were regarded as barbarians by Huaxia in the Central Plains, but their ruling families may all claim to be descendants of the Chinese people at that time. According to many Chinese documents, after the royal family of Wu was Zhou Taibo, the family of Yue Wang was descended from Dayu, and the royal families of Chu and Qin were descended from Emperor Zhuan Xu. However, some brothers and ancestors often appear in the historical memory of these families. For example, according to Historical Records, Kunwu and Peng Zu, ancestors of Chu people, were brothers, while Uncle Bird and Shi Fei, ancestors of Qin Yuanzu, were brothers.

In the northeast, Prince Shang ran to North Korea; In the southeast, Prince Zhou Taibo ran to the sentence of Wu; In the southwest, General Zhuang Biao of Chu ran to Yunnan; In the northwest, Qin escaped from slavery and ran to Xiqiang without a sword. According to historical records, they and their descendants have been kings of these places for generations. According to historical records, the first three heroes (Ji Zi, Taibo and Zhuang Zhi) were descendants of the Yellow Emperor, while the fugitive slave Jian Qin was descendants of the Yan Emperor. Four heroes, running in all directions, have become civilized local tyrants-are there any rules in historical facts? Or is there a pattern in historical memory?

According to historical records, some descendants of Wu, Qin and Chu were in China and some were in barbarians. This paved the way for China's later generations to look for "descendants of the Chinese people" in distant foreign countries. Some people in China in the Han Dynasty thought that the Huns were descendants of Dayu, so they were descendants of the Yellow Emperor. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, some people thought that Murong and Tuoba of Xianbei were descendants of the Yellow Emperor. From the Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, this kind of historical writing often followed a pattern: a frustrated or frustrated hero ran away from home, where he was convinced and worshipped and became the local king. For example, in the north of Rudong, the Shang prince Ji Zi ran rampant in North Korea; In the southeast, Prince Zhou Taibo ran to the sentence of Wu; In the southwest, General Zhuang Biao of Chu ran to Yunnan; In the northwest, Qin escaped from slavery and ran to Xiqiang without a sword. According to historical records, they and their descendants have been kings of these places for generations. According to historical records, the first three heroes (Ji Zi, Taibo and Zhuang Zhi) were descendants of the Yellow Emperor, while the fugitive slave Jian Qin was descendants of the Yan Emperor.

Do historical facts follow a certain pattern? It's a long way and the language is unreasonable. How do these heroes go there to convince the aborigines to become the local ruling king? I have another explanation for these four historical memories: the Shang, Zhou, Qin, Chu, princes, generals and fugitive slaves in these historical records are all "passwords", which hide China's different feelings and intentions towards these people at that time-they think that Koreans and Wu people should be noble descendants of China, and Dian people are also descendants of China, but their status is slightly lower, while Xiqiang became Emperor Yan.

Descendants of China in the Middle Ages

Emperor Yan, the ancient emperor who was regarded as defeated by the Yellow Emperor, did not withdraw from the historical memory of China. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, only a few families in China claimed to be descendants of Emperor Yan. After all, in China's historical memory, Emperor Yan was a defeated ancient emperor, so people still like to call themselves descendants of the Chinese people. During the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Yellow Emperor fought against Chiyou, because a large number of northern nobles moved into the Central Plains and entered the court and local gate society. At this time, some descendants of Emperor Yan who were born in the northern grassland tribe appeared. For example, the Yuwen family of Xianbei, which established the Northern Zhou Dynasty in northern China, has its ancestral origin according to historical records. After Emperor Yan was destroyed by the Yellow Emperor, his descendants fled to the north, and one of them developed into Xianbei Yuwen. Yuwenwan, a Xianbei aristocrat in the Tang Dynasty, also said in his epitaph that Yuwenjia was a descendant of Emperor Yan. The Book of the New Tang Dynasty records that Wu Zetian once asked a courtier in the Tang Dynasty: learned people talk about the origin of various clans and say that they are descendants of the Chinese people. Were there no ordinary people in ancient times? This is really a good question. It can be seen that there are quite a few families claiming to be descendants of Emperor Yan at this time. Later, the Yelushi family, a Qidan aristocrat who established the Great Liao Dynasty in the north, was also after Emperor Yan, according to the records of Liao history. There is also a passage in Liao history to the effect that there are many descendants of the Yellow Emperor, and most of the four emperors are their descendants when they grow up, so the emperor who established the Central Plains Dynasty actually came from this root. Liao History was compiled in Yuan Dynasty, and the editor-in-chief was Mongolian historian Tuoketuo. This can be said that historians used "descendants of the Yellow Emperor" to legalize the Liao and Yuan regimes.

The dispute between the descendants of Huangdi in modern times

In the history of China, there were two heated discussions about the Yellow Emperor. One was during the Warring States Period, that is, during the formation of China mentioned earlier. The other time happened in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, when traditional Chinese and China people evolved into contemporary China people.

The dispute between the descendants of the Chinese people in modern times took place under the background that China was impacted by the world nationalism and nation-state thoughts at that time; China must become a "nation-state" in order to unite and exist in the world, which is also the same idea of many intellectuals in the late Qing Dynasty. However, it was controversial at that time whether this nation (or nation) was only the Han nationality or included all the nationalities in the Qing Empire. Therefore, on the one hand, many intellectuals advocate national unity as "descendants of the Chinese people", on the other hand, they argue with each other about who is the descendants of the Chinese people. Finally, under the framework of the political map of the Qing Empire, when the European and Japanese powers competed for the economic interests of Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet and the southwest frontier, they United all ethnic groups to become a Chinese nation and eventually became the national ideal of intellectuals in the late Qing Dynasty.

In the minds of intellectuals in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, there were Han, Manchu, Mongolian, Hui and Tibetan in China. How to explain that these ethnic groups are descendants of the Chinese people really makes many scholars take pains. Roughly speaking, the ancestors of Manchu were descendants of Huang. Huns, ancestors of Mongols, descendants of Chunwei after the Yellow Emperor. Hui people rest in peace, and rest in peace is a country established in the west by the grandson of the Yellow Emperor "An". Tibetans belong to Xiqiang, and the descendant of the Yellow Emperor "Hugh" is the ancestor of Xiqiang-so everyone is a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. Although all the above theories can be found in China's ancient history documents, this kind of "national history" obviously can't satisfy another knowledge trend at that time-scientific rationality. As a result, scholars such as Gu Jiegang began the debate on ancient history, and many scholars were eagerly involved in the dispute between the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, indicating that a national history was really needed to unite the Chinese nation at this time, but the history of the descendants of the Yellow Emperor was far from meeting this demand. Later, the national history of China used a lot of knowledge of archaeology, linguistics, ethnology and physique, established the unity of the Chinese nation from the aspects of language, culture and physique, and explained the process of its differentiation and integration with history. Yan Di and the Yellow Emperor were once interpreted as representatives of various ethnic groups, and their war migration explained the origin of the Han nationality and various ethnic minorities, but historians are increasingly reluctant to talk about them.

Speaking of the Yellow Emperor and Yan Di, we forgot about Chiyou. Since the Han dynasty, Huaxia has not regarded him as the ancestor of a certain ethnic group in the south; Huaxia believes that all ethnic groups in the south are descendants of Lin Jun or Pan Hu. Until modern times, when looking for historical sources for ethnic minorities, Chiyou was considered as the ancestor of some southern ethnic minorities. It is worth mentioning that today's Miao people often call themselves descendants of Chiyou and call Chiyou and Yanhuang the third ancestor of China. Whether this is a historical fact or not, in the old Ming and Qing empires, many ancestors of Miao people were discriminated against and claimed to be descendants of the Yellow Emperor. Today, their descendants proudly claim that they are descendants of Chiyou, which is a very meaningful change of the times.

The rubbings of Chiyou Han stone reliefs

Speaking of heroic history, let's not forget the history of brothers. When Shu people in the Han Dynasty accepted "Shu was behind the Yellow Emperor" and became China, there was a historical story circulating there. According to this story, Ren Huang proclaimed himself emperor in the Central Plains, and his eight brothers lived in the surrounding areas. Shu's ancestor was a brother. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Huaxia claimed that the ancestor of the "Five Creeks" in Xiangxi was Pan Hu, but it also recorded the local elders' statement that five Pakistani princes fled here, and their brothers each occupied a valley to reproduce. /kloc-in the 1930s, some people said that the savages (now Jingpo) on the Yunnan-Myanmar border were descendants of Chiyou, but the local old people told another story: "At the earliest, savages, Bai Yi people (now Dai people) and Han people were three brothers ...". Some people in the Yi people also say that there were three brothers in ancient times. The eldest was the ancestor of the Han nationality, the second was the ancestor of the Tibetans, and the third was the ancestor of the Yi people. Miao people in Yanbian, Sichuan also said that Fuxi's brother and sister had three sons after they got married. These three brothers are the ancestors of Miao nationality, the second brother is the ancestor of Han nationality and the third brother is the ancestor of Yi nationality.

Finally, I return to the question "Who are the descendants of China people?". Let's put it this way-Yan Di, Huangdi, Chiyou and other tribal leaders who fought in northern China five thousand years ago, their blood may flow on anyone in China today, just as everyone may flow on the blood of Mo Duhan, Genghis Khan and Songzan Gambu. The fact that ancient Chinese or Han people became descendants of the Yellow Emperor has nothing to do with the "historical facts" of Yan Di and the Yellow Emperor, but because people have such "historical memories". What we need to care about and ponder is, why do they have such historical memories? "Clinging to" is an important social and cultural background, which makes many people become descendants of the Yellow Emperor. In China folk mythology, when the Yellow Emperor ascended the dragon, many people climbed the dragon and wanted to go to heaven with him, which implied this far-reaching social and cultural background. People are obsessed with imitation because they want to live a safe and beautiful life-just like caterpillars disguise themselves as branches or snakes to avoid being hurt-and they become descendants of China people, either because they admire it or because they don't want to be discriminated against. What China people should be proud of today is that the attachment of marginal people to the blood source of the Yellow Emperor has become a thing of the past. This is like, when Americans today are not Americans 200 years ago, few people are willing to talk about "the immigration history of the ancestors of Mayflower heroes."

You can believe or not what I said above about the history of China people. But people often argue about historical facts according to the "clear code" recorded in history, who is the son of Huangdi, Yan Di and Chiyou; These arguments have caused conflicts between people, or brought some people who are not descendants of heroes to the edge. What I emphasize here is that we can also explore the "code" in historical narrative from the perspective of historical memory, to understand and understand why people claim that they or others are descendants of Huangdi, Chiyou and Pan Hu, or descendants of Dangen instead of Ji Zi (such as Koreans today). We can also think about why some people always say that history begins with "brothers' ancestors" instead of heroes, so that we may understand that "brothers' nation" is not only a rhetoric that emphasizes national unity, but also has far-reaching historical and human ecological significance (including long and tenacious masculinity).