| Based on the Case study about several epitaphs of non-Han people that moved to the Central Plains and comprehensive analysis through the nearly four hundred epitaphs of ethnic minority group,this paper mainly discusses non-Han people’s dynastic identity in Tang Dynasty.Non-Han people’s epitaphs contain rich cultural phenomena,such as the narrative pattern of ethnic origins,official careers of the family,intermarriage of ethnic groups,religious belief,learning from the Confucian and taking the imperial examination,and burial in homeland or burial at ancestral site and so on,these phenomena show the trend of Sinicization(汉化),but not completely.This paper attempts to reveal the cultural phenomenon of dynasty identity of non-Han people.It is different from the current nation-state identity and has a unique historical context and connotation,and that is the imperial court state identity,which reflects that the non-Han people kept their loyalty to the dynasty government and emperor on the political front,such as taking an action in the military activities of Tang Empire,being as a palace guards or military officer,accepting surname from Tang Court,burying in the imperial mausoleums,and so on.It is in the majority the non-Han elite such as Hus in the Western Region and the northern Turks,the Kliitans which come to the Central Plains lately,such as Peisha(644-724)coming from Shule in the Western Region,A geluo(688-726)coming from in Turks in the north,etc,or becoming the imperial officials in Tang Dynasty bureaucracy by taking imperial examination actively,being as a dynastic state officials from central to local,descendants of Xianbei and Rouzhi people which make up the majority that entered the Central Plains in the early days,such as Yuanmiao(808-844)and Zhisong family which was buried in Luoyang.In addition,due to the importance of traditional Confucian culture and etiquette in Tang Dynasty,it also embodies the convert and identity with Confucian culture’s core values of non-Han people’s Tang Dynastic state identity,acquisition and practice of some etiquette ideas such as concept of family and Fengshui(风水)through funeral activities,following the traditional concept of noble families in central China in marriage,and tending to marriage leading families of the Han,which retains a strong geographic and ethnic characteristics in native place,and it also admits that their ancestor is the Yellow Emperor or Yan Emperor on ethnic origins etc,therefore,we can say that these phenomena expressed acceptance and approval to the core value system of the Central Plains.In addition,non-Han’s dynastic state identity is multiple-layered,which means they are loyal to Tang Dynasty state in politics and cultural identities at the same time,and has not completely given up their own historical memory and ethnic identity;nonetheless,they still maintained their own characteristics of clan in their epitaph,and there has a higher proportion of endogamy such as Turks(突厥人)or Sogdians(粟特人),which are shown in the environment that multi-ethnic groups’communication and interaction at that time,although,have a certain tendency of Sinicization,ethnic boundaries was relatively clear.In this article’s analysis,for adoption of Confucian culture and Buddhism with Chinese characteristics among non-Han people,they change and restructure their collective memory gradually,showing that identification is multi-level,with options and variability.Non-Han people’s entry in mainland China was complex and varied,including the descendant of Rouzhi(月氏)and Xianbei(鲜卑)people in Han Dynasty and Wei-Jin period,and Turks or Sogdians mainly in Tang Dynasty.All these can influence the difference of their identity modes because of different experience and culture.Identity based on the political loyalty and cultural affiliation will change with political and militaiy situation.The dynastic state identity is mainly manifested in the non-Han elite,and they have their own interests to pursue,which is the result of the interaction and competition of strength between each other,viz,that non-Han’s political and cultural identity to Tang Dynasty,and it could lead to identity change with power’s imbalance and interests’ change each other.The above result is based on the analysis of Turks and Ch’i-tans’ identity change,and delicate changes of the relationship between Han and Ethnic minority group after the rebellion of An lushan and Shi siming(755-763),both of which can explain this phenomenon.Non-Han’s dynastic identity,as a kind of subjective consciousness,would not rule out the reasonable imagination and construction based on historical documents,which is associated with dynastic state system policy and the evolution of political situation,this article attempted to disclose this kind of link and influence fi om the imperial court state’s point of view.To illustrate and reveal above clearly,structure of this paper is as follows:the introduction to this paper mainly expatiates the significance and the academic research situation,the connotation of core concepts that this research involves,such as the identification,non-Han people and Tang dynastic state.The first volume(case study)of this section is divided into three chapters:respectively selecting the epitaph of Peisha which comes from Shule in Western Region,A geluo of Turks,An siwen couples of Sogdians and Yuan miao of Xianbei,etc.through the research on related problems,such as family,official career,marriage,funeral and so on;pointing out its specific way of non-Han’s identity to Tang dynastic state,and clarifying the relationship between Sinicization and cultural identity,ethnic identity and imperial court state identity for the ethnic minority group in Tang Dynasty.The second part(comprehensive analysis)of this section is divided into four chapters.Based on about 400 epitaphs of non-Han people and case analysis above,this section carries on the comprehensive investigation,and emphasis has been put on these aspects,such as the phenomenon of Guizang(归葬),especially burial at ancestral site or burial at the capital districts of non-Han people in the culture of funeral,common ancestor of Hua Yi on ethnic origins and ethnic intermarriage phenomena,walking into political field by examination,and also it points out the interconnectedness between dynastic state identity and ethnic identity.On the other hand,the paper tries to explore factors that impact on dynastic state identity of non-Han and its historical evolution.The final part is the conclusion,summarizing the research content,and discussing dynastic state identity of non-Han in special period,and the evolution of the concept and imperial court state identity during late Tang Dynasty,Five Dynasties or Song Dynasty. |
