A single piece of wood can't build a house, and a brick can't build a wall.

- Aquarium proverb

After the class reunion, Ma Xiaoping made an appointment with Niu Mulin, Nathan and Gong Xiaoli, and took his youngest daughter Ma Anna to drive a newly purchased Lexus car and go to Dongxiang, Linxia and Xunhua to visit the land of his ancestors and feel the vicissitudes of life there in the past 30 years.

Their car drove out of downtown Lanzhou, and instead of crossing the mountains through the newly built tunnel, they climbed the old rugged road to Guoyuan Mountain.

At the highest point of Orchard Hill, Ma Xiaoping stopped his car. Everyone jumped out of the car one after another, looking at the rolling mountains and high-rise buildings of Lanzhou City from afar

Niu Mulin said with emotion: "Alas, the vicissitudes of world history and the rise and fall of human nations have always been an irresistible topic. ”

Ma Xiaoping picked up the conversation and said: "You said that you have been studying the world's ethnic issues recently, so I will test you." ”

Niu Mulin replied, "Okay." Let you get over the examiner's addiction. ”

Ma Xiaoping asked, "Let's start simple." What is Ethnicity? ”

Niu Mulin replied: "A nation is a group with the same or similar ancestors, language, writing, customs and lifestyles, and most of them are relatively concentrated and self-identifying, which is the product of the development of human society to a certain stage, and is an objective existence, which is not generated, developed and died out by human will. ”

Nathan then asked, "How many nations are there in the world today?" ”

Niu Mulin replied mischievously: "Report to the examiner, there are now more than 200 countries and more than 2,000 nationalities in the world. However, I have been thinking that the earth is so huge, and the history of mankind is so long, there must have been a greater number of peoples on the earth. It's just that most of the nations have disappeared in the long river of history. The more than 2,000 ethnic groups that exist are only a small fraction of the survivors. ”

Gong Xiaoli said: "So much! There are now 56 ethnic groups in China. ”

Niu Mulin corrected seriously: "The 56 ethnic groups are officially recognized. In fact, there are far more than 56 nationalities that self-identify. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were more than 400 ethnic names reported nationwide, of which more than 260 were in Yunnan Province alone. ”

Ma Xiaoping also said: "Please give an example of the living conditions of the nation. ”

Ma Anna shouted, "You guys get in the car and talk about it." We still have to hurry. ”

So, they boarded the car and headed in the direction of Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture.

Niu Mulin said: "Okay, I will answer Mr. Ma's question now."

Through the transformation of several social forms, such as slave society, feudal society, capitalist society and socialist society, the nation has developed from an ancient nation to a modern nation. In this process, the nation is not static. Forced assimilation caused by national oppression or natural assimilation by a variety of factors has caused some ethnic groups to disappear. In addition, a part of the people who have been separated from one or several ethnic groups have lived together for a long time, and a new nation has gradually been formed.

The first is a nation that has been passed down since ancient times.

Such peoples abound in the world. Although some of them have been separated or absorbed from other ethnic groups, the core of her has always remained stable.

For example, since Gong Xiaoli's Han nationality formed a clear nation in the Han Dynasty, although it has integrated many ethnic groups for thousands of years, the main composition has not changed significantly.

For another example, Nathan's Mongol ethnic group was part of the Donghu in the pre-Qin period, and has remained until now after the formation of the Mongol nation in the early 13th century.

Since the Uighurs moved westward from the Mongolian Plateau and merged with the indigenous people of the Tarim Basin to form the Uyghurs, the basic situation of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang has not undergone tremendous changes. There are also Manchus, from the ancient Su Shen to the Jurchens and Manchuria, and have been living in the northeast. The Tibetan people evolved from the ancient Qiang people to the Tibetan people, all the way to today. As for the Qiang people, they have always been one of the protagonists of Chinese literary works in the past dynasties. ”

Gong Xiaoli interjected: "Why should Qiang Di complain about Yang Liu. ”

Niu Mulin nodded and continued:

"The second is the vanished people.

On the big stage of the world's nations, many nations appeared like marquees, and then quickly dissipated like clouds.

For example, the Sumerians and Akkadians of the Two Rivers Valley, the Hittites of Asia Minor, the Elamites of the Iranian Plateau, the ancient Egyptians of North Africa, the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans and the Mayans of Central America have been lost to the vast river of history. The glorious civilization they created today is nothing but ruins and silent sculptures, frescoes and clay tablets.

In the history of China, the Xiongnu, Turkic, Dangxiang, Khitan, Xianbei and many other ethnic groups with small populations once appeared in the world, and then disappeared without a trace, and even appeared in another face in distant Europe.

To date, all the peoples that have died out have been forced to disappear. Because no nation wants to automatically withdraw from the stage of history.

There are no more than the following two ways and means for the nation to die.

The first is the forcible destruction caused by the plundering of the population by means of war. In the early days of mankind, there was a predator among nations. Bloody massacres between nations and countries, and the losing side was forced to die. It is difficult for the extinct ethnic lineage to disappear completely, and there is always a more or less bloodline that is integrated into other ethnic groups.

The development or territorial expansion of every nation is accompanied by the disappearance or flight of other peoples. In a sense, all the nations that exist in the world have been executioners of other peoples, and the difference is only more or less.

Donghu was destroyed by the Xiongnu. The main body of the Xiongnu was exterminated by the Han Chinese. After Donghu, it was divided into two parts: Wuhuan and Xianbei. Wuhuan was wiped out by Cao Wei. The main body of Xianbei was assimilated by the Han Chinese, and the rest evolved into Rouran

。 Rouran was defeated by the Turks and divided into Murwei (Mongolia) and Khitan. The Khitan body was assimilated by the Jurchens and Han Chinese. Dangxiang was part of the Qiang people and was later destroyed by the Mongols. The Xiongnu were part of the Xiongnu, and in the 4th century, 200,000 people were slaughtered by the Han Ran Min at one time, resulting in the extinction of the Xiongnu people.

Second, backward nationalities have been assimilated by advanced nationalities. In Chinese history, many ethnic groups, such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Khitan and other nomadic peoples, entered the Central Plains, were influenced by the advanced production methods of the Han people, gradually accepted the Han culture, and finally lost their own national characteristics and became part of the Han people.

The third type is the new people.

With the changes of the times, the migration of ethnic groups, the division of ethnic groups and the integration of ethnic groups have given rise to new ethnic groups.

After the Huns were defeated by the Han, the remnants fled to Europe and merged with the Magyars to form today's Hungarians.

The remnants of the Khitan fled west to Central Asia, where they merged with the natives and became part of the Central Asian peoples.

The Turks, an offshoot of the Xiongnu, later perished to the Rouran, but their main body was wiped out by the Uighurs and Han Chinese. The remnants fled westward and merged with the inhabitants of the peninsula of Asia Minor to form today's Turks.

The Central Asian ethnic groups who migrated eastward from the Khorezm Empire merged with the surrounding Mongols, Han Chinese, Tubo people, and Uygur people in the territory of the Mongol and Yuan Empires, forming the Hui people, Dongxiang people, Salar people, and Baoan people. ”

Nathan smiled and said, "Xiaoli, in this way, our Han and Mongolian ethnic groups are ethnic groups that have been inherited since ancient times. Mulin and Xiaoping are both new peoples. ”

Niu Mulin and Ma Xiaoping looked at each other and smiled, and nodded.

Nathan asked, "Mulin, give us an analysis of the origins of the various ethnic groups. ”

Niu Mulin replied with a smile: "You deserve to be the people of the grassland." The questions are always so vast.

Every nation of our time has evolved from ancient tribes at different times in history and can trace its origins.

The ethnic origins of contemporary Chinese ethnic groups are mainly in several situations;

First, the vast majority of ethnic groups come from ancient tribes that were native to China. For example, Xianbei, Khitan, and Mongolia originate from Donghu; The Manchus, Xibes, Evenkis, Oroqen, and Hezhe originates from Tunguska; The Qiang, Tibetan, Yi, Naxi and many other ethnic minorities in southwest China originated from the ancient Qiang people.

These origins basically existed before the Qin Dynasty.

For example, the earliest ancestors of the Manchus, the Sushen people, were active in the Heilongjiang River valley as early as the Shun period. Others, such as the ancestors of the Xirong, Shi and Qiang ethnic groups in the plateau and some parts of the northwest, the Luo Yue and Ouluo of the distant Baiyue of the southern ethnic groups and later differentiated, the ancestors of the Miao and Yao ethnic groups Wuximan, and the ancestors of the Tujia people, the Ba people, etc., are all ancient tribes that were active in various places in the pre-Qin period.

The direct origins of various ethnic groups generally appeared relatively late, but most of them were before the Tang Dynasty. For example, the Mongols originated from the Murwei, the Uygurs originated from the Uighurs, the Kazakhs originated from the Turks, the Tibetans originated from the Tibetans, the Yi originated from the Wuman, the Bai originated from the Baiman, the Zhuang and Li originated from the slang, and the Dong originated from the bureaucrats, etc., which were formed and existed in the Han Dynasty, the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the Sui and Tang dynasties, respectively.

This shows that the vast land of our country has been multi-ethnic for a long time. These ancient ethnic groups have had long-term exchanges and infiltration with the Han nationality and its predecessor, the Chinese nationality, and have made great contributions to the development of the Chinese nation.

Second, there are very few ethnic groups that only appeared after the Tang Dynasty, mainly foreign ethnic groups.

One is that the process of ethnic transformation has been completed before moving into China, and it is part of a mature national community. After moving into China, some of them still maintained the independence of their original ethnic groups. For example, Koreans and Russians were formed on the Korean Peninsula and in Russia, respectively, and began to move into Japan in the 18th century. The Salar people settled in the Xunhua region of eastern Qinghai during the Yuan Dynasty, which traveled long distances from Central Asia.

You see, in the traditional part of the Salar marriage ceremony, the Chinese word for Wai Oyina means camel dance, and there is a dialogue in the performance: The Mongols ask where you are from?

Gareng replied, "I am from Samarkand."

On the other hand, in the process of development, the foreign nationalities who have moved into China have merged elements of some other ethnic groups in China and re-formed a new nation. The immigrants are the main ethnic source of the new peoples. For example, the Hui are a new ethnic group formed by merging with other ethnic groups from Central and West Asia who believe in Islam.

The other is that when they moved into China, they were still in the stage of alliance of tribes or tribes before the formation of the nation, and gradually evolved and completed the transformation of the nation in China, becoming a contemporary ethnic minority. For example, the origin of the Kirghiz people is the Yaks in the upper reaches of the Yenisei River before the Tang Dynasty; The ancestors of the Uzbek ethnic group also migrated to Xinjiang from Central Asia very early. ”

Nathan clapped his hands and smiled when he heard this: "In this way, Xiaoli and I are natives. Xiaoping and Mulin, you two are a foreign fusion of peoples. ”

Ma Xiaoping asked while driving: "Could you please discuss the geographical situation of ethnic distribution?" ”

Niu Mulin replied: "Each ethnic group has a relatively fixed geographical distribution. However, all have experienced multiple redistributions.

The first is that the core remains unchanged. Since the formation of some ethnic groups, the geographical scope of their activities has not changed much, and they have always maintained the same status quo. The majority of the ethnic groups in the South basically fall into this category. For example, the Tibetans have been active on the Tibetan Plateau since the rise of Tibet in the 7th century. When the Yi people were first formed, they lived in the Hengduan Mountains in western Yunnan and the Daliang and Xiaoliang Mountains in Sichuan, and still maintain this distribution pattern. The ancestors of the Li nationality lived on Hainan Island as early as 3,000 years ago, and although their scope gradually narrowed to Wuzhishan and the south due to the migration of the Han people, it never expanded to areas outside Hainan Island. Some other ethnic groups, such as the Gaoshan people in Taiwan, the Tujia people at the junction of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou, and the Zhuang and Dong ethnic groups in Guangxi, are basically the same as the scope of their activities in the early days of their formation.

The second is geographical expansion or contraction. After the formation of the majority of ethnic groups, due to political, historical, socio-economic and other reasons, some of them have expanded their geographical scope much more than before, and some of them have no geographical connection with their original birthplace. For example, the birthplaces of the Manchu and Mongol peoples were between the white mountains and black waters of the two provinces of Heiji in the northeast and the steppe region of the northeastern Mongolian plateau, respectively, and both ethnic groups later unified the country and established the central dynasty. With the shift of the political center and the need to rule the country, they were distributed throughout the country. Although most of them withdrew after the overthrow of power, their current distribution extends far beyond the north-east and Mongolia. The Xibe people, whose birthplace is in Liaoning, the Daur people, whose birthplace is in the area around the Daxing'an Mountains, and the Uygur people, whose birthplace is in Xinjiang, have left their birthplace due to the military conscription of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Xibe and Daur ethnic groups went to Xinjiang, and the Uygurs went to Hunan, Yunnan and other places. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, some of the Kazakhs in Xinjiang were forced to live in Gansu and Qinghai because they could not bear the persecution of the reactionary warlord Sheng Cai, and some Kazakhs still live there.

The third is the distribution of an ethnic group across the borders of two or more countries. This is also formed in the course of the historical evolution of the nation.

For example, the Korean ethnic group is distributed in the northeast of China and the Korean Peninsula, and has always maintained its independent characteristics; For historical and political reasons, Mongolians live in China, Mongolia and Russia, respectively; Kazakhs are scattered in China, Kazakhstan, Russia and other countries; The birthplaces of the Dai and Miao ethnic groups are all in China, and later due to migration and flow, some of them are distributed in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and other neighboring countries. ”

Ma Xiaoping preemptively said: "Nathan, do you want to say that the Mongolian people are cross-border ethnic groups this time, and Mulin and I are both unchanging ethnic groups in the core area?" ”

Nathan smiled and replied, "Definitely." Modern society is a large-scale mobile society, where are the people who are stubbornly guarding the land of their ancestors? There are Chinese people all over the world. There are Dongxiang people all over the country and even in foreign countries. ”

Ma Xiaoping said: "If you answer correctly, add 10 points!" Mu Lin, your answers are all memorized from textbooks. Anyone can see it. Now it's up to you to make your own point of view. ”

Niu Mulin said, "You ask." Anyway, it's a family statement, just for reference. ”

Ma Xiaoping asked: "Should a multi-ethnic country have one culture or multiple cultures?" ”

Niu Mulin replied without hesitation: "Of course, there are multiple cultures." ”

Ma Xiaoping said: "Please argue about it." ”

Niu Mulin said: "Human civilization is a pluralistic civilization. Different peoples have created their own cultures in their own environments. National culture is the foundation of national survival and the deep driving force for national cohesion and development.

National culture is the core of mutual recognition within the nation, and the basic elements include clothing, festivals, language, food and living patterns, etc. These are naturally formed in the long historical activities, and the local climate, mountains, rivers, customs, traditions, etc., are the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the ancestors of the nation, and are the fundamental symbol that distinguishes a nation from other nations.

Within a nation, whether illiterate or intellectually elite, whether ordinary people or leading figures, are consistent in these characteristics.

The weaker the national culture, the weaker the cohesion, like a plate of scattered sand. Once the national culture is dissolved, the nation will die.

Some ethnic groups in Chinese history eventually disappeared from the stage of history because they did not pay attention to preserving their national culture.

A typical example is the Khitan.

The Khitans had their own unique culture and strong military power, and once established the Liao State, which had a long confrontation with the Northern Song Dynasty regime, and had a great influence, so much so that the Russian word for China is a transliteration of the Khitan.

In the process of interacting with neighboring ethnic groups, the Khitan people did not pay attention to sticking to their own national culture, blindly following the culture of other ethnic groups, and over time there was no core of mutual identity within the ethnic group. Although the descendants of the Khitan people may still live in our land, they have completely disappeared as a nation.

History is unforgiving. A nation without a national culture will inevitably be eliminated.

As long as the national culture of a country or nation is still there, even if it is occupied by the invaders, there is still hope for the restoration of the country; On the contrary, if the national culture has disappeared, it will exist in name only, if it is not occupied. ”

Gong Xiaoli asked: "In real life, some people claim to be pure so-and-so people, what do you think?" ”

Niu Mulin replied:

"Although the historical period of the formation of each contemporary nation is different, in the development after the formation of the nation, no one has always maintained its original integrity and independence from its origin to the present. On the contrary, they were mixed with elements of other peoples, and successively integrated, absorbed, assimilated and infiltrated members of many other peoples.

In Chinese history, the expansion of the Han nationality to the four directions, and the result of the outflow of displaced people during the turbulent period completely broke the geographical concept of ethnic groups such as the Central Plains, the Southern Barbarians, the Northern Dixirong, and the Donghu, and began to change the exchange and integration of ethnic groups.

Modern science has also proved this view. According to the genetic profile of each ethnic group, each ethnic group contains the genes of different races, but there are some differences. For example, 73% of the genes of the Han in the north are East Asian and South Asian genes, 11% are New Guinean genes, and a small amount of Northeast Asian-Australian genes, American genes, Altai genes, Arab genes and Turkic genes are also included.

My conclusion is that you have me, I have you, and there is no pure and pure nation. ”

Anna, who had been silent, asked, "Why are almost all the places where ethnic minorities live in remote, poor and backward places?" ”

Ma Xiaoping replied, "Let your Uncle Niu give you an answer." ”