The Borderlands of China

A key text for interpreting ethnic phenomena from the periphery-an essential reading for understanding Chinese history and nationhood.从边缘视角解读族群现象，理解中国历史与民族的关键读本The Chinese Periphery: Historical Memory and Ethnic Identity is a seminal work by renowned scholar Wang Ming-ke, exploring the formation of ethnic identity and historical development of the Chinese nation, offering a groundbreaking approach to the question, 'What does it mean to be Chinese?' Wang proposes a powerful analogy: 'When we draw a circle on a piece of paper, it is its ’edges’ that make it appear circular.' He conceptualizes 'Chineseness' (Huaxia) as a human ecosystem within the long arc of history, and its 'periphery' exists not only in temporal and geographical dimensions but also in terms of identity. The formation, transformation, and maintenance of this periphery-shaped by specific resource competition, environmental allocation, and the selective construction and erasure of collective memory-illuminate the very processes through which the Chinese ethnic identity itself took shape and evolved.A paradigm-shifting classic, The Chinese Periphery has remained a vital and widely read text for years. The book is structured in four parts: The first outlines the theoretical framework and methodology. The second utilizes archaeological evidence to explain the human-ecological context in which the boundaries of the Chinese ethnicity formed. The third examines the crucial foundations of this identity, focusing on the origin myths and historical records of the Zhou people, and uses cases like the Chu, Yue, and Wu peoples to demonstrate the fluid movements of peripheral groups between assimilation into and rejection of 'Chineseness.' The final part addresses the modern reconfiguration of this periphery, analyzing the tensions among individuals, ethnic groups, and society during the process of identity formation through micro-level case studies from 1940s ethnographic surveys.Synthesizing social anthropology theory, archaeological reports, and historical documents with his own fieldwork among the Qiang people, Wang Ming-ke delves into the relationship between resource environments and ethnic boundaries, the symbiotic growth of historical memory and ethnic identity, and the dissonances between individual and collective memory. Through this interdisciplinary lens, the work aims to provide fresh reflections and new insights into contemporary issues of ethnicity and identity.《华夏边缘》是著名学者王明珂讨论中华民族族群认同与历史发展的重磅研究，为回答'什么是中国人'提供了全新路径。王明珂认为，'当我们在一张纸上画一个圆形时，事实上是它的’边缘’让它看起来像个圆形。'他视'华夏'为长程历史中的人类生态，而'华夏边缘'不仅是时间上的边缘、地理上的边缘，也是认同上的边缘。在特定的资源竞争与环境分配中，在集体性的记忆塑造与失忆选择中，华夏边缘的形成、变迁、维持，亦可说明华夏族群及认同的形成与变迁。《华夏边缘》是具有理论范式意义的经典著作，出版多年畅行不衰。书中第一部分主要陈述了全书的理论框架和分析方法；第二部分利用考古材料，说明了华夏族群边界形成的人类生态背景；第三部分阐述了华夏族群的重要形成基础，即周人的族源传说与历史记载，并通过荆楚吴等例子，说明了边缘族群华夏化与非华夏化的往复游移；第四部分着眼于近代华夏边缘的再造，通过40年代民族调查过程中的微观事例，分析了个人、族群与社会在认同建立过程中的张力。王明珂运用社会人类学理论、考古发掘报告、历史文献史料等各学科理论与资料，结合个人在羌族的田野考察经历，深入探讨了资源环境与族群边缘关系，历史记忆与族群认同的相