Research On The National Identity Of The Northern Dynasties

In the period of the Northern Dynasties, in the guidance of the Confucianthoughts concerning national identity and on the historical conditions of the greatnational migration, northern minority mainly Tuoba Xianbei and Han nationalitywhich followed the trend of national identity and national fusion since the SixteenStates Dynasties realized the identity with the new culture system and the nationalcommunity by going through the practice of national interaction, thus completed theprocess of national fusion, which was an arduous and tortuous way. National identityof the Northern Dynasties played a decisive role in the national fusion and theformation of the national community. In a certain sense, the history of nationalrelations in the Northern Dynasties is a history of realizing national identity andnational fusion by means of the cultural identity.For the ruler and his subjects in the Northern Dynasties, the Hua-Yi nationalidentity thought which was included in the Confucian national ideology from thepre-qin Dynasty had become the thought source and theoretic power to promotenational identity. By learning and explaining the Confucian Hua-Yi national identitythought they enriched and developed the national identity and made unremittingefforts to establish the image of the orthodox and promote unity with the encourage ofthe feeling about the whole China unification(???). The policy of scattering tribeswhich the ruler continued to carry out and the national migration of three stagesincluding PingCheng period, luoyang period and the period after six town uprisingchanged national distribution pattern greatly. The combination of Lingmin chieftainsystem, six states Dudu system(?????), country system and othermilitary-political system, join of Lingmin chieftain and six states Dudu, andtransformation of Lingmin chiefdom to formal military-political official weresymbols of disintegration of tribes had been to the southern, and mature of objectiveconditions of realizing national identity.In the process of the national identity of the Northern Dynasties, the nationalcultural identity and the national identity recognition of the Northern Dynasties were two sides of one national identity which couldn't be separated. The national identityrecognition of the Northern Dynasties was the first level and intuitive characterizationof national identity of the Northern Dynasties. Many kinds of ways and forms, suchas consanguinity identity, Working-out consanguinity identity, regional identityrecognition, political identity recognition and cultural identity recognition i.e. all wereused to construct and support Tuoba Xianbei and Han' national identity recognitionfor the new national community in the Northern Dynasties by various positive forces.Then Tuoba Xianbei and Han's national identity gradually became consistent.Cultural identity is the second level of the nationality identity, which is its core andsoul. With the same time of the national identity recognition of the NorthernDynasties, national cultural identity containing language identity, system culturalidentity, spirit cultural identity i.e. advanced multi-levelly and all-round and tend tocomplete.Language identity of the Northern Dynasties was not only the base of thenationality identity, but also an integral part of the cultural identity. Tuoba Xianbeihad its mother tongue-Xianbei language, and no corresponding character. At thattime, people had to record Xianbei language in Chinese characters. Xianbei languagewas gradually abandoned from top to bottom by Tuota Xianbei and finallydisappeared in the course of the contact and competition with Chinese. Chines, whichwas blended with Xianbei language, became the only language used by the integratedXianbei and Han nationality community.The system cultural identity and spirit cultural identity were two sides of thecultural identity. The process of culling hereditary factors of official system andadministrative system of the Northern Dynasties, was the process of Xianbei systemculture tending to disappear while the Han nationality culture gradually becamestronger, the evolution of hereditary of general title and hereditary of state, prefectureand county system(??????)and hereditary chieftain system were its examples.The etiquette culture identity of the Northern Dynasties was an important part of thesystem cultural identity of the Northern Dynasties, which evolution trend was towardthe Confucian etiquette culture.That the etiquette of viewing fishing of Tuoba Xianbeicontinued and stopped in the Northern Wei Dynasty and revived and stopped in the Western Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties reflected the fluctuation and qualitativechange of the complying with the etiquette of viewing fishing and was thecharacterization of the change of the position of agriculture and fishing in theNorthern Wei Dynasty and was also the direct reflection of the change of the contentof etiquette of the Northern Dynasties and the miniature and evidence of nationalidentity in the Northern Wei Dynasty.The spirit cultural identity of the Northern Dynasties was an important part ofTuoba Xianbei and Han nationality achieving cultural consensus and shaping unifiedcultural identity.The Confucian ideology and culture identity was the core and thehighest form of the cultural identity of the Northern Dynasties. Confucian classicsstatements and thoughts were quoted by the ruler and his subjects in the NorthernDynasties on various occasions more and more and were applied in the practice ofcultivating morality, regulating family, governing the state and uniting the country,and the generalization of the royal given name had Confucianism color and emperorsrepeatedly gaving and changing officials' name connotation with Confucian thoughts,which were the two forms that Confucian cultural identity tended to complement.Thecomplement of Confucian cultural identity in the Northern Dynasties meant that thestatus of Confucianism as the core ruling idea had been established and consolidated,and national common value, ethics and common cultural consciousness had beenformed, an important symbol of the Xianbei-Han nationality community havingnearly formed.The hard journey of the heart of scholars of the Han nationality and the TuobaXianbei in the Northern Dynasties, was mental projection of the culture conflict andfusion process of Northern Dynasties. The process of cultural identity was also theprocess of re-selection and sublation of culture,so resistance of identification wasobvious. All sorts of contradictions and conflicts were essentially reveals of culturalconflict and hardship of identity. Under the cultural conflict and integration, TuobaXianbei and Han had experienced a spiritual dilemma, through arduous efforts; bothnational estrangement and alien feeling gradually disappeared completely andcomplete the cultural identity. The psychological experience was arduous andtortuous, and identity achievement was difficult. The way of the national identity of the Northern Dynasties showed commoncharacteristics such as differences, stage, twists, systematic, selective and inevitable,and personality characteristics such as initiative of dominative nationality and rulers,steadfastness and creativity of rulers.The background of occurrence and developmentand achievement of the national identity of the Northern Dynasties as well as thedriving force and strengthening approaches included: historical inertia and trend ofnationality identity and foundation during the period of the Sixteen States Dynasties;the ideological basis; an era opportunity provided by the change of nationaldistribution which was caused by the great migration; deep national interaction; rulersvigorously promoting for nationality self development and state stability and unity ofNorth and South and Han Scholars promoting too; economic transformation frommilitary plunder economy and the nomadic hunting and fishing economy early toagricultural economy working as support; under the Chinese identity, culturalinteracting of North and South and religious and folk beliefs identity working aspower etc.The completion and maintain of national identity of Northern Dynasty whichmutually had reinforced with national refusion promoted the state identity and socialdevelopment and developed the Chinese nation integration which had never stoppedto a new stage, which laid the foundation for the reunification of North and Southlater and formation of brilliant culture of the Sui and Tang dynasties. The nationalidentity of the Northern Dynasties was a successful history sample, a historymasterpiece that Chinese identity and Chinese cultural identity playing a decisive rolein the integration paradigm of Chinese nation.