(East-West Question) Du Jianlu: Why are Song, Liao, Xia and Jin all called "Peach Blossom Stone"?
China News Agency, Yinchuan, April 29th: Why are Song, Liao, Xia and Jin all called "Peach Blossom Stone"?
——Interview with Du Jianlu, Dean of the Institute of Chinese Community of Ningxia University
China News Agency reporter Li Peishan
China is a unified multi-ethnic country.
The Song, Liao, Xia and Jin periods were a period of great national integration in Chinese history. The Khitan, Dangxiang, Jurchen and Han people who entered the farming area and the interlaced area of agriculture and animal husbandry had long-term exchanges and exchanges.
Du Jianlu, a distinguished professor of "Changjiang Scholars" and dean of the Institute of Chinese National Community of Ningxia University, said in an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East-West Question" that during this period, both the Han regime and the minority regimes considered themselves "China". This recognition of "China" and Chinese culture is an inexhaustible source of the cohesion of the Chinese nation.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Service reporter: The Song, Liao, Xia and Jin periods were another period of great ethnic integration in Chinese history. What are the characteristics of ethnic integration in this period?
Du Jianlu:
The great integration of ethnic groups in the Song, Liao, Xia and Jin periods is both similar and different from that in the Han and Tang Dynasties.
The most prominent feature is that the ethnic minorities in the north have successively entered the inter-agricultural and pastoral areas or farming areas, and gradually abandoned the traditional nomadic life and began to turn to farming and semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral life, which is itself a cultural identity.
The previous northern ethnic groups, such as the Xiongnu in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Turks in the Tang Dynasty, and the Uighurs, mainly lived in the north and south of the desert, and lived a nomadic life of chasing water and grass.
As the strength of the Central Plains dynasties changed, the two cultures of farming and nomadism were in a state of "tug-of-war" in the Hetao area.
During the Song, Liao, Xia and Jin Dynasties, the northern minorities and the Han people lived together and lived in the interlaced area of agriculture and animal husbandry.
As far as Xixia is concerned, from the Yellow River Datao to the Hexi Corridor, Dangxiang and Han people, Uighur people, and Tubo people intertwined.
Western Xia Mausoleum.
Photo courtesy of the Institute of Chinese Community of Ningxia University
China News Service reporter: During this period, how did the various ethnic groups communicate and communicate? What are the influences of Confucian culture on minority regimes?
Du Jianlu:
In Chinese history, the influence of Confucian culture on the surrounding ethnic areas has never ceased. When Wang Zhaojun of the Han Dynasty left the fortress, and Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty entered Tibet, they brought Confucian culture with them.
But in terms of the depth and breadth of influence, it is far less than the Song, Liao, Xia and Jin periods.
The semi-agricultural, semi-pastoral and farming areas where Dangxiang, Khitan, and Jurchen moved to were originally places where the Han people lived and farmed. Advanced farming techniques, metal tools, water conservancy irrigation facilities, cultural forms, etc., promoted the economic and social development of ethnic minorities.
Therefore, the Liao, Xia, and Jin regimes were not tribal chiefdoms, and the idea of establishing a country was the Confucian guideline of the monarch, the monarch, the ministers, and the ministers, not the tribal thought of the nomadic society.
The dominant position of Confucianism in Liao, Xia and Jin is most prominent in the respect for Confucius.
In the Tang and Song dynasties, Confucius was honored as "King Wenxuan".
In Western Xia, Confucius was honored as "Emperor Wenxuan", which was the only regime in Chinese history that honored Confucius as the emperor, reflecting that Confucianism had become the mainstream ideology of minority regimes at that time.
Xixiawen "The Analects of Confucius".
Photo courtesy of the Institute of Chinese Community of Ningxia University
China News Service reporter: Khitan, Xixia, and Jurchen are one of the bases for historians and linguists to decipher the history of Liao, Xia, and Jin. Their font structure has many similarities with Chinese characters. In addition to the similarities in words, what other similarities do the Liao, Xia, and Jin cultures have with the Central Plains culture?
Du Jianlu:
The political system, ideology and culture of Liao, Xia, and Jin all inherited and developed Chinese traditions.
Khitan script, Dangxiang script (commonly known as Xixia script), and Jurchen script all draw on the square shape of Chinese characters.
At the same time, it also inherited the political, military and economic systems of the Central Plains Dynasty.
For example, institutions such as Zhongshu, Privy Council, Sansi, and Yushitai in Xixia borrowed from the Song Dynasty, and even copied the name of a highly regional government office such as "Kaifeng House" as the government office of the capital Xingqing House.
In addition, the agricultural production technology and economic system of Liao, Xia, Jin and other countries are basically the same as those of the northern Song Dynasty, such as water conservancy irrigation technology, iron farming tools, farming technology of "two ox raising bars", land tenancy system, etc.
It can be seen from this that during the Song, Liao, Xia and Jin dynasties, there were more and more commonalities between the various ethnic groups from the material level to the spiritual level, which was the endogenous driving force for the formation and development of the Chinese national community.
A map of preparing tea in the Liao Dynasty (copy).
Photo courtesy of the Institute of Chinese Community of Ningxia University
China News Service: During the Song, Liao, Xia and Jin dynasties, exchanges with the West were also very close. What were the forms of communication between the East and the West at that time?
Du Jianlu:
Many people think that the Song, Liao, Xia and Jin periods were the era of multi-ethnic regimes, and the Silk Road trade was greatly restricted or blocked.
In fact, it is not. During this period, the exchanges between China and the West are still close.
The Liao Dynasty, which controlled the north and south of the desert, maintained close contact with Central Asia and West Asia through the grassland silk road, and spread silk and other items from the East to the West.
Through the Hexi Corridor, an important land transportation route, Xixia actively develops Silk Road trade, and resells the cross-honeysuckle saddles, carved saddles, cross-honeysuckle incense burners, and beeswax produced in the Western Regions, Central Asia, and West Asia to the mainland through trade missions. .
The Song Dynasty continued to expand the Maritime Silk Road, and opened up a Qingtang Road in the northwest region, that is, starting from Qinzhou (now Tianshui, Gansu), and extending to the Western Regions through Qingtang (now Qinghai Xining), which became an important channel for trade exchanges at that time. .
It can be seen that the grassland Silk Road, the Silk Road through the Hexi Corridor, the Silk Road through the Qingtang Road, and the Maritime Silk Road coexisted in this period. The exchange and integration of different cultures promoted the economic and social prosperity of this period.
Liao Dynasty travel map (copy).
Photo courtesy of the Institute of Chinese Community of Ningxia University
China News Service reporter: How did Chinese culture gradually become recognized during the inter-ethnic blending of Song, Liao, Xia and Jin dynasties? What effect does it have on the formation of the Chinese national community?
Du Jianlu:
Traditionally, the Han regime in the Central Plains is the Chinese orthodox, and the surrounding ethnic groups are the barbarians.
However, with the entry of ethnic minorities into the mainland, especially the Central Plains, the exchanges and integration of various ethnic groups have been strengthened, and the ethnic minorities have gradually recognized the traditional Chinese culture and considered themselves to be China. It is the Western Dynasty.
It can be said that Song, Liao and Xia are the three brother regimes on the land of China, all of which are China.
Therefore, the ancient Central Asians called Song, Liao, Xia and Jin as "Peach Blossom Stone".
On September 27, 2019, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, pointed out in his speech at the National National Unity and Progress Commendation Conference that when all ethnic groups jointly wrote Chinese history, he pointed out, "Divided like the Southern and Northern Dynasties, they all claim to be Chinese orthodox; confrontation is like Song, Liao, Xia Jin, They are all called 'Peach Blossom Stone'", which highly summarizes the characteristics of all ethnic regimes in ancient China.
China News Service reporter: How did the Liao, Xia and Jin survivors gradually integrate into the "big family" of the Chinese nation?
Du Jianlu:
Ethnic integration is a long historical process.
The Liao, Xia, and Jin regimes were composed of many ethnic groups. In addition to the Khitans, the Liao Dynasty also included Han, Dangxiang, Uighur, and Tatars.
In addition to the Jurchens in the Jin Dynasty, there were also Han, Khitan and other ethnic groups living in the Northeast.
In addition to the Dangxiang people in Xixia, there are also Han people, Tubo people, Uighur people, Xianbei people and so on.
Therefore, the process of Liao, Xia, and Jin establishing states is a process of national exchanges, exchanges and integration.
At the same time as the exchanges within the multi-ethnic regimes, the exchanges between the various regimes are also very close. The political, economic and cultural exchanges between Song, Liao, Xia and Jin have never been interrupted.
This multi-level and multi-dimensional exchange, when the Yuan Dynasty unified China, between the Khitan, Dangxiang, Jurchen and other ethnic groups and the Han people who entered the mainland was "you have me, I have you".
Therefore, the Mongols collectively refer to the Han and Jurchen under the Jin Dynasty as the Han.
Liao Dynasty Zhuo Xie map (copy).
Photo courtesy of the Institute of Chinese Community of Ningxia University
The exchanges and blending of various ethnic groups have enriched and expanded the traditional Chinese culture, which is the source of the 5,000-year-old Chinese civilization.
Openness and inclusiveness are the basic characteristics or basic models of Chinese ethnic exchanges and integration.
Chinese culture is a culture created by all ethnic groups, not the culture of any single ethnic group.
At the same time, Chinese culture is a culture that keeps pace with the times. In the long river of history, it has continuously absorbed the essence of the cultures of various ethnic groups and eliminated its dross.
Because of this, it is brilliant and endless.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
Du Jianlu, Ph.D. in History, Doctoral Supervisor, Distinguished Professor of "Changjiang Scholars", Dean of the Institute of Chinese Community of Ningxia University, Dean of the Institute of Xixia Studies, National Leading Talent in Philosophy and Social Sciences, National Advanced Worker, National "May 1st" The winner of the "Labor Medal", the model individual of national unity and progress in the country, enjoys the special government sticker of the State Council.