From the Western Suburb to the Southern Suburb contains 9 papers published by the author over the years. The themes of these articles are similar, all related to the political culture of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and then revised and arranged by the author. The main body of this book consists of seven chapters and an introduction. Introduction, the first chapter "Ten surnames of the royal family" and "people", and the second chapter "The national foundation of Tuoba Wei" is a systematic analysis of the formation and structure of the ruling group in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The third chapter "the rise of civilization" and the fourth chapter "the change of civilization" are the studies of the queen mother of civilization. The fifth chapter, "National Sacrifice Reform", focuses on analyzing the localization measures of Emperor Xiaowen and its consequences from the perspective of ritual system. The theme of the sixth chapter "Minjue and popular will" is the policy of "giving Minjue" in Emperor Xiaowen's reform. The seventh chapter discusses the filial piety and politics in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and discusses the aspects related to the concept of filial piety in the cultural measures of filial piety.
Chen Ruanshui, a professor of history at Taiwan Province Provincial University, commented on this book: "Le Kang's analysis of Tuoba GUI's regime structure was quite successful. The most important advantage is that it has a holistic view, can cast concepts and explain key issues with concepts, and has a solid empirical foundation ... The author's discussion on the rites, music and filial piety of the Northern Wei Dynasty is not only a breakthrough in the history of the Northern Dynasty, but also should be inspired by scholars studying other times. "
Le Kang University (1950—2007) studied in the history department of Donghai University. 1973 entered the master program of the Institute of History of Taiwan Province Provincial University, and studied under Fu Lecheng. 65438-0978 entered the history department of Yale University, and graduated with a doctorate from 65438-0983. After that, he worked in the Institute of History and Language of Academia Sinica for a long time. His works include From Western Suburb to Southern Suburb, Buddhism and Vegetarianism, etc. He also served as the editor-in-chief of Xinqiao Translation Series, and collaborated with his wife Jane Hui Mei to translate more than ten works by Max Weber.
The Power Core of Northern Wei Dynasty —— "Dairen Group"
"Western Suburb" and "Southern Suburb" refer to two different national festivals-"Western Suburb" is a sacred ceremony of Tuoba people and represents a nomadic culture of the grassland in North Asia; "Southern Suburb" is the core of the national sacrifice ceremony in Han Dynasty, and it is also a ceremony to worship heaven. From the western suburbs to the southern suburbs, it means that nomadic customs have changed to Chinese style.
In the preface, the author Le Kang said: "In the research field of the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen's move to the capital and sinicization are undoubtedly the focus of attention, which is especially talked about by China historians. It is of course an indisputable historical fact that Emperor Xiaowen tried to sinicize. However, when studying this topic, historians mostly emphasize the inevitability and correctness of the sinicization of Tuoba people, and consciously or unconsciously seem to ignore that when Emperor Xiaowen began to implement his sinicization policy, especially when he moved the capital to Luoyang, the national situation in the Northern Wei Dynasty was in full swing. However, just 30 years after Emperor Xiaowen moved to Luoyang, the "Six Towns Rebellion" broke out in northern Xinjiang, and the death knell of the Northern Wei Empire sounded. From a certain point of view, the relocation of the capital and the sinicization movement enthusiastically promoted by Emperor Xiaowen indirectly led to the collapse of the empire. "
It is the author's recreational interest to study the relationship between the Sinicization Movement and the disintegration of the Northern Wei Empire, and it is precisely the question he wants to answer from the western suburbs to the southern suburbs. "In this book, I not only analyzed the objective situation and pressure behind the localization movement of Emperor Xiaowen, but also focused on the role of his personal will in the whole process. In addition, I also try to understand the reasons why they oppose sinicization from the perspective of opponents-let's call it the conservative generation. "
Tuoba Xianbei rose in the south of the desert. What is the power basis for unifying North China? How did this power base change in the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty, especially after Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital and domestic reform? This is the core issue in the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which has always been concerned by scholars.
From the Western Suburb to the Southern Suburb discusses this group of problems, which is characterized by avoiding detailed textual research and focusing on reconstructing comprehensive images. The author's main conclusion is that the power core of the Northern Wei Dynasty is the "generation group". This group was formed in Pingcheng (now Datong, Shanxi) and its adjacent areas at the turn of the fourth and fifth centuries. In 398, Tuoba GUI, Emperor Daowu, proclaimed himself emperor and made Pingcheng his capital. At about this time, he dissolved the Tuoba department, let most of the Tuoba department settle near the city of peace, and at the same time moved into a large number of other people. This is a key opportunity for the formation of Daidai Group. The members of this group come from complex sources, but they are mainly nomadic people in North Asia, but also Han and other ethnic minorities (such as Koryo and Tuhe). These members have lost the support of tribal life and no other base areas in North China. Dai Yun, where Tuoba GUI's national foundation is located, has become their only home-the core object of their social identity.
The political and military power of the Northern Wei Dynasty Central Committee was almost entirely in the hands of several generations. In addition to this group, the gentry of the Central Plains and the chieftain who led the people also played an important role in the Northern Wei regime. Like Daidai Group, most leaders come from nomadic people in North Asia. The difference is that they also have tribal organizations, many of which are scattered outside Pingcheng and have sparse relations with the central government. In addition, this book also puts forward the concept of "town people". Because the disintegration of the Northern Wei Dynasty directly originated from the "Six Towns Rebellion", the establishment of the Northern Qi Dynasty and the Northern Zhou Dynasty was mainly based on six towns, and scholars at home and abroad have been studying the problems of military towns and townspeople. On this issue, the author's main point is that, according to the available information, the origin of the town people is mostly handed down from generation to generation, but the actual situation may be more diverse. This book holds that people in northern towns developed a sense of * * * during the long-term frontier life and the turmoil in the late Wei Dynasty, and became an important independent force that impacted the political situation in the Northern Dynasties.
Emperor Xiaowen's Reform in China
Another theme of From the Western Suburb to the Southern Suburb is the language reform of Emperor Xiaowen. In this discussion, Le Kang paid little attention to such well-known words as changing one's surname, deciding one's surname and forbidding Hu Fu Hu Yu, but focused on etiquette and filial piety.
"The localization measures of Emperor Xiaowen include quite thorough reform of the etiquette system. His actions in this regard mainly follow two principles: one is to strengthen the sacrificial ceremony in the Central Plains system, and the other is to abolish miscellaneous sacrifices, including the old ones in Xianbei. After Tuoba Wei Jianguo, the old customs in North Asia still played an important role in official ceremonies. For example, the worship to heaven in the western suburbs in April, the feast on May 5th, the feast on July 7th, and the Deng Bai Shandong Temple Fair at the turn of September and October are all obvious examples. After Emperor Xiaowen came to power, on the one hand, he formulated the etiquette system of the Central Plains system, on the other hand, he reduced the importance of the old etiquette system in North Asia. After he moved the capital to Luoyang in 493, he gave up the worship ceremony in the western suburbs and changed to the southern suburbs the following year. In the short term, Xiao Wen's measures are not very successful. Festivals that require the emperor to attend are naturally abolished immediately, but other old customs in North Asia may continue to be popular. His ritual reform, like other China measures of Xiaowen, obviously increased the cultural alienation of many Hu people from the central government. " Chen Ruoshui talked about it in the article "Comment on Recreation from the Western Suburb to the Southern Suburb".
During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen, he also promoted the concept of filial piety among the Northern Wei emperors, trying to popularize the Chinese family etiquette system. His specific actions include translating the Book of Filial Piety into Xianbei language, discussing the names of ancestral temples, implementing the five-service system and respecting the elderly within the clan. These measures obviously had a considerable impact on Tuoba nobles.
For example, in June (526), the second year of Xiaoming Emperor Xiaochang, the imperial envoy Yi Longhu lost his father. Yuan Zhen, a member of the royal family who commanded the imperial army, interpreted Zheng Xuan's three-year mourning period as July, thinking that Yi Longhu's mourning period had not expired, and decided to impose a heavy sentence of five years' imprisonment according to law. This matter was also defended by Cui Hong, the minister of the Han nationality. It can be seen that some Xianbei nobles have a very persistent belief in the etiquette contained in Confucianism. On the other hand, Le Kang also thinks that Emperor Xiaowen's five-service system may lead to the disintegration of the royal family. Because once the five-clothing system is strictly implemented, many nobles who are traditionally regarded as members of the royal family are excluded from the five-clothing system of the imperial clan and cannot participate in the ancestral temple ceremony. One of the main arguments of the author's research on the cultural problems in the Northern Wei Dynasty is obviously that many of Emperor Xiaowen's behaviors are contrary to the feelings and customs of most North Asian Hu people, and he is undergoing extremely fierce changes. Filial piety moved the capital and localization later caused confusion, which can be said to have its reasons.
This book discusses the etiquette, filial piety and family etiquette in the reform of China in the Northern Wei Dynasty, which has profound academic significance. This is not only because of the scarcity of relevant research in the past, but more importantly, these are the core issues in ethnic relations.
"Culture is an important factor in ethnic relations, and it is also universally recognized common sense. However, in the past, when discussing the history and ethnic relations of non-Han people in traditional China, scholars rarely touched on the issues of beliefs, values, emotions and even behavioral norms. This is certainly related to the scattered materials, but I personally suspect that underestimating the importance of the above problems may also be one of the reasons. From the contemporary study of nationalism, we know that ethnic conflicts are largely caused by the desire of ethnic groups to protect their culture with political power. In ancient East Asia, where there was no sense of nationalism, people would not think of maintaining their own culture and lifestyle by means of independence or ethnic division. However, ethnic contact and cultural conflict are indeed common situations in the history of China. What are the experiences and feelings of the people inside? How to deal with these situations? What efforts have non-Han people made to preserve their culture and identity? Who usually advocates joining the mainstream culture? What are their motives and consequences? These are all worthy of our in-depth discussion. The author's exposition of etiquette and filial piety in the Northern Wei Dynasty is not only a breakthrough in the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty, but also should inspire scholars in other times. " Chen Ruoshui wrote in the article Comment on Recreation from the Western Suburb to the Southern Suburb. Thank you, for your reference only.