Before the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), it was unclear how many ethnic minorities there were in China. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), in order to fully implement the policy of ethnic equality, the state organized a large-scale ethnic identification inspection from 65438 to 0953 to distinguish ethnic components from ethnic names. Judging from the history and reality of China, according to the principle of combining scientific identification with national will, as long as it has the conditions to form a single nation, regardless of its social development level, regardless of its living area and population, it is recognized as a nation. After careful investigation and study, by 1954, the China government has identified 38 ethnic groups; By 1964, the China government had identified 15 ethnic groups. Together with the Barrow ethnic group confirmed by 1965 and the Jino ethnic group confirmed by 1979, all the 55 ethnic minorities in China have been officially confirmed and announced. The work of ethnic identification in new China has enabled many ethnic minorities that were not recognized by the rulers of old China to gain due recognition and enjoy equal rights with other ethnic groups in China.
1950, admitted to yenching university, the capital, to study for a master's degree in ethnology and work as a part-time teaching assistant, and began to engage in ethnic studies. He once participated in the investigation team of the Special Affairs Council and went to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia to investigate the problem of "Tumd Banner County Coexistence"; Participate in an investigation team composed of teachers and students from Peking University, Tsinghua and yenching university to investigate the history and present situation of Mongolian, Daur, Oroqen and Ewenki nationalities in Hulunbeier grassland of Inner Mongolia; He has participated in the Central Ethnic Delegation twice, visited Hainan Island, northern Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, Northeast China and other ethnic minority areas, and conducted research on Mongolian, Daur, North Korea, Hezhe, Xibo, Li, Miao and Yao nationalities.
1952, the departments for nationalities were adjusted and transferred to the Central University for Nationalities, becoming one of the earliest teachers in the highest institutions of higher learning specializing in training minority talents in New China.
Over the past 40 years, Shi has compiled more than 20 monographs, among which "Ethnic Identification in China" (1996) won the first prize for outstanding achievements in ethnic policy research of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission.
How many nationalities were there in old China? No one can say for sure. In the first census, there were more than 400 ethnic names, including more than 260 in Yunnan alone.
Today, there are 56 ethnic groups in China, which is well known. But many people don't know that the 56 ethnic groups in China were determined by the names of more than 400 ethnic groups at the beginning of liberation after a long period of scientific investigation and screening. So, what is the reason for national identity? What is the process? This is a problem that attracts the attention of scholars and readers all over the world. To this end, our reporter specially interviewed Professor Shi, a famous ethnologist in China who once specialized in ethnic identification investigation.
According to Professor Shi, as early as 1950- 1952, the central government sent ethnic delegations from southwest, northwest, central south, northeast and Inner Mongolia to express condolences to ethnic areas and publicize the party's ethnic policies. At that time, the issue of national identity was initially involved because some ethnic minorities who had been oppressed by ethnic groups for a long time were not recognized or forced to hide their ethnic composition.
1953 During the first national census, there were more than 400 ethnic names registered, including more than 260 in Yunnan Province alone. In order to implement the party's ethnic policy of equality, unity and prosperity, such as the number of ethnic minority representatives in people's congresses at all levels, implement regional ethnic autonomy, establish ethnic autonomous areas, help develop ethnic economy, set up ethnic schools and develop ethnic culture, ethnic identification must be put on the agenda as soon as possible. To identify these numerous ethnic groups, we must first find out which are part of the Han nationality and which are ethnic minorities; For ethnic minorities, it is necessary to further clarify whether they are a single nation or a part of a certain nation.
Since the early 1950s, the Party and the state have organized a large number of ethnic researchers and ethnic workers to go deep into ethnic minority areas, and conducted a comprehensive investigation and analysis on ethnic names, ethnic origins, distribution areas, languages, economic life, psychological quality and social history of ethnic minorities. On the basis of fully respecting the wishes of the people of all ethnic groups, scientifically determine their ethnic composition and ethnic names. Generally speaking, ethnic identification in China has gone through four stages.
Following the principle of "following the owner's name", it is their right for people of all ethnic groups to decide their own names.
The first stage, from the founding of New China to 1954, is the initial stage of national identity. From 65438 to 0953, the Central Ethnic Affairs Commission sent an investigation team to Zhejiang, Fujian and other provinces to investigate and study the ethnic differences of the She nationality, and came to the conclusion that the She nationality is neither a Han nationality nor a branch of the Yao nationality, but a single minority. In the same year, under the leadership of the Central Ethnic Affairs Commission, the Central Institute for Nationalities sent a Daur investigation team to investigate and study the ethnic identification in Daur areas of Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia, and confirmed that Daur is a single minority, not a Mongolian. In the ethnic identification work in Xinjiang, the insulting name "naturalized nationality" imposed on Russians before the founding of New China was renamed as Russian nationality; The "Talanqi" people who moved from southern Xinjiang to Yili during the Kuomintang rule in Xinjiang were named Uighurs. 1954, Suolong was changed to Daur.
At this stage, after identification and merging, the names of 38 ethnic minorities were initially confirmed from more than 400 ethnic names. In addition to the confirmed Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yao, Yi, Korean and Manchu, the newly confirmed ethnic groups include Zhuang, Buyi, Dong, Bai, Kazak, Hani, Dai, Li, Wa, Gaoshan, Dongxiang and Naxi.
The second stage, from 1954 to 1964, is the climax of ethnic identity.
1954, the central ethnic affairs commission sent a Yunnan ethnic identification investigation team. Among the more than 260 ethnic names in Yunnan, only a few belong to the question of whether they are identified as Han nationality or ethnic minorities, and a large number belong to the question of whether they are a single ethnic minority or a part of other ethnic groups through the merger of ethnic branches. Among them, the merger of Yi and Zhuang branches has a heavy workload. During the period of 1954, there were about 3 million Yi speakers in Yunnan, and there were different nationalities called by others or themselves, which were divided into dozens of branches. Call or call yourself Tujia, Luo, Shuitian, Zhili, Ziyi, Liming, Langue 'e, Tagu, Dade, Taru, Rice from the aspects of phonemic system and grammatical structure of language, economic life, torch festival and other social culture, patriarchal clan system, unmarried surname, cremation site, ancestral mourning platform, witchcraft and polytheism. Wenshan's farmers, sand people, natural forest protection, men in black, Long 'an people, native old people and other nationalities with different names all belong to Zhuang language branch. Classify Nuobi, Suobi, Kadu, Biyue and Rao into the Hani branch; Tujia people who live in Eryuan and call themselves "Bai Gang" belong to Bai Zhi; Incorporate "Heipu" ("Bai Yi") into the branch of Dai language. In short, more than 260 nationalities with different names in Yunnan have merged into 22.
Before the founding of New China, there were more than 100 ethnic names in Guizhou. 1950, when the central government sent ethnic groups to work in Guizhou, more than 80 ethnic names were reported throughout the province. The ethnic identification investigation team has investigated and studied more than 80 ethnic groups, and initially divided most ethnic groups, but more than 20 ethnic groups have not been finally identified, such as, Nanjing, Cape Horn (Huguang), Li (Limin), Doudou, Dongjia, etc. The ethnic identification investigation team also went to Anshun, Bijie and other areas to investigate and study the ethnic composition identification of "Qing Chuan" people.
After 1956 investigation and study, the country officially announced the name of the Gelao nationality. In the same year, the Central Ethnic Affairs Commission sent an investigation team to identify Tujia people in Hunan and confirmed that Tujia people were a single minority.
1964 identified and investigated 183 ethnic names registered in the second national census, and 15 ethnic minorities were newly identified, and 74 different names were merged into 53 ethnic minorities, and dozens of ethnic names were automatically revoked during the identification process. So far, the identification of reported ethnic groups has been basically solved, and only ethnic minorities have yet to be identified.
The third stage, from 1965 to 1978, is the stage where ethnic identity is disturbed.
1965, the Barrow nationality was recognized as a single minority. Barrow people live in the Luo Yu area in the southeast of Xizang Autonomous Region. "Loba" is what Tibetans call them, meaning "southerner"; There are different self-names or other names, such as Baurgard, Benny, Ben Ru, Ningbo Er, Bumper, Degen and so on. Language belongs to an independent language of Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman language family, and has no characters. Believing in the primitive religion of animism; It has different ethnic characteristics from the Tibetans around it, so Barrow is considered as a single ethnic minority.
Since 1965, Guizhou Province has carried out a survey of ethnic composition in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture and Anshun area for more than one year, mainly understanding the identities of the fighting, Dong, Mulao and Sanshou ethnic groups.
During the Cultural Revolution, ethnic identification, like other ethnic work, was forced to stop for more than ten years.
Many ethnic minorities "seek their roots" and become equal members of a unified multi-ethnic family.
The fourth stage, from 1978 to 1990, is the recovery stage of ethnic identity.
1979 confirmed that the Jinuo people are a single minority. 65438+100000 Jinuo people live in Youleshan, Jinghong County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. In ancient times, they called themselves Jinuo people or Youle. There are famous myths and legends that Jino, Han, Dai and Hani (and brown) all come from a big gourd, which reflects the close relationship between Jino and Han, Dai and Hani in ancient times. The language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language family, and its grammatical structure is close to that of the Yi language branch and the Burman language branch, and they all have obvious corresponding relations, but they have their own characteristics in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. For example, there are ancient clan elders such as Zhai Lao ("Zhuoba", Lao Huotou) and Zhai Mu ("Zhuose", "Lao Bodhisattva", Zhai Zhai Zhai) in the village, and the monogamous small family left over from the pairing marriage and group marriage has the habit of farming, so the Jinuo people are considered as a single minority.
Since 198 1, Guizhou has once again carried out a large-scale investigation and study on national identity. Incorporate more than 7,000 people's "around the family", 4 1000 people's "Dong family" and 37,000 people's "Nanlong" (including 654,380+0,000 people's "Long family", which considers itself a Bai) into the Miao nationality; Incorporate more than 30 thousand people's "films" into Maonan nationality; More than 600,000 people "wear green" and still maintain their original ethnic identification opinions and are classified as Han nationality. In southwest Hunan, some Han people who have lived together with ethnic minorities for a long time have changed some characteristics due to the influence of ethnic minorities, such as "Waxiang people", "local people" and "Wuzhou Yao people", and they hope to be recognized as a single ethnic minority. After identification and investigation, it is confirmed that they are not ethnic minorities, but part of the Han nationality.
From 65438 to 0985, some people thought that some Mongolians in Altay, Xinjiang were "Tuwa people". After investigation and study, they do not have the conditions of a single nation, but are part of the Mongols. During this period, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region also identified 10 ethnic minorities, involving 20 counties and cities and more than 50 townships, with a population of * * * 65,438+10,000.
Some ethnic groups, such as Kucong people and Mosuo people in Yunnan, once again call themselves a single ethnic group after being classified as a certain ethnic group. After re-appraisal and investigation, the original opinion is still maintained. Kucong is a branch of Lahu nationality, and Mosuo is a branch of Naxi nationality.
Some ethnic titles of ethnic minorities belong to the Han nationality or other nationalities, and some are even insulting. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), in order to respect the wishes of ethnic minority people, all those who proposed to change their surnames or the Chinese characters used in their translation and writing were made in line with the principle of "obeying the Lord". For example,1April 1963, the Wa nationality changed to the Wa nationality,1June 1965, the Dong nationality changed to the Zhuang nationality, and1September 1985, the Benglong nationality changed to the German nationality.
Since 1982, 5 million people have demanded the restoration and change of ethnic composition, and 2.6 million people have been restored and changed. Among them, mainly Manchu people living in Liaoning province and Chengde area of Hebei province; Tujia nationality in the border area of Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Sichuan; Miao and Dong people in Hunan and Guizhou provinces; Other ethnic minorities in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces.
Up to the fourth national census 1990, it was officially confirmed that there were 56 ethnic groups in China.
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