Scholars And Toast

Based on the travel book Rong Mei Ji You of Qing Dynasty,this dissertation aims to inquire "the ideas of others " in prehistory of Chinese anthropology.This travel book was written by a gentry named Gucai who was born in WuXi in the South of Yangtze River after a five-month trip to RongMei Tusi in the 43th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1704 A.D.).In this book,Gucai described what he heard and saw,and how he communicated with the Rongmei leader Tian shunnian when he was in travelling.Doing the research on this book? I want to analyse " the ideas of others "of the Chinese gentry in Late 17th and Early 18th Century,through showing how the Chinese gentry who was ruled by the Manzu represent the Tusi which had to be seen to the barbarians in Dynasty.With the help of the American anthropologist Johannes Fabian's discourse on "the ideas of others ",I will take the history of anthropology as a expression of the history of ideas,then to discuss the problem "the ideas of others " in prehistory of Chinese anthropology.Gucai was a Confucian gentry of China at the late period of 17th century. His family had always been a Great Families in Wuxi since the Ming Dynasty. His father was a famous gentry.He was born at the time when the Manzu occupied his hometown in a few years.The Qing Dynasty replaced the Ming Dynasty is not just the change of the ruler,at the same time,it's also the turning point which the Gucai's family began to decline gradually.When Gucai was young,on the one hand,under the influence of his father,he read the classical works of Confucianism widely and he was supremely gifted.On the other hand,He knew many adherents of the Ming Dynasty and understood their integrity. Growing in this environment and affecting by the Chinese traditional culture ideas "Yi-Xia distinction",Gucai was not intent on getting the official rank in the empire.In the middle of Kangxi reign,most of the Adherents of the Ming Dynasty had died and social morals had changed in large measure.Gucai began to travel in the empire,and then he past in this way all his life.At the same time,he became a teacher which taught the descendants of Confucius in Shandong Qufu which is the hometown of Confucius.Rongmei Tusi is located in the west of Hubei province.Now the minority Tujia people live in there. The history of Rongmei Tusi can be tracked back to the early Chinese Jimi System which empire rulers governed through the traditional chiefs and headmen who was allowed to manage local affairs according to their own customs.Since the Yuan Dynasty had set up the Tusi system,Rongmei Tusi started to build up the tribute relationship with the empire. The power of Rongmei was controlled under a family named Tian.In the Ming Dynasty,Rongmei Tusi started to accept and study the Confucianism Culture.The leader Tianshunnian which Gucai communicated with in his travelling had studied from the Han people when he was young.In the travel book Rongmei Ji You,we can see Gucai had a Double-consciousness on the Rongmei Tusi.On the one hand,Gucai took the Rongmei as "The Peach Blossom Spring"and wonderland. These description represents Rongmei Tusi to be a noble place in Gucai's heart.His travel became a pilgrimage to seek the Moral Spirit or others.On the other hand,Holding the distinction between civilization and Barbarians, and considering Rongmei Tusi as the "ManYi" which was the low-level people in culture comparing to himself, Gucai thought that Rongmei Tusi need the Confucian Civilization to enlighten.From the book,we can see he became the teacher of Tusi.At the same time,Gucai became symbol of the empire and civilization,and he accepted the tribute from Tusi.In fact,the double relationship between Gucai and Rongmei which is shown in the travel book is the reflection of Gucai's double "ideas of others " to Rongmei Tusi,and we can see, this is related to the age in which Gucai lived.For the Chinese Confucian gentry,just like Gucai, Manzu——the ruler of the empire,is also the low-lever Ethnic groups in culture. With the traditional culture ideas "Yi-Xia distinction", Manzu don't have the legitimacy for its governance.However, when Gucai went to Rongmei,it's the later part of the Kangxi reign and the emperor had obtained a series of successes which contained maintaining social order and keeping Empire unification.The rule of Manzu had been accepted by most of Han pepole.The difference between the culture and politics leads to Chinese gentry admit the political reality,but keep the Confucian culture spirit.The "other"just as the Rongmei Tusi, become the place which hold the culture spirit.We also can understand that the civilization world which is made up of Comprehensiveness in spirit but not by force can to be the truth by the gentry who has the double "ideas of the others "travels in the different culture in the civilization.