To talk about national spirit, we need to understand the basic history of the formation of our nation. The period from the pre-Qin to the Western Han Dynasty is an important period for the formation of the Chinese nation, which is recorded sporadically in books such as Shangshu, Guoyu and Three Biographies of Spring and Autumn, but the most representative work is Historical Records, which is a general history and a representative work of China history since the pre-Qin period.
The origin of the Chinese nation can be traced back to the era of three emperors and five emperors in ancient legends. However, Huang San was omitted from Historical Records, and the Yellow Emperor was directly taken as the opening, which is a very meaningful arrangement. First of all, the Yellow Emperor period, as the beginning of great unification, laid the basic idea of the Chinese nation, that is, the development of society needs unity rather than division; Secondly, the Yellow Emperor is regarded as the ancestor of the Chinese nation, and the Central Plains and surrounding ethnic groups are descendants of the Yellow Emperor, forming a complete and systematic pedigree of the Chinese nation. The historical clues of the Chinese nation began in the Yellow Emperor and continue to this day. Li Jingxing, a Qing dynasty, pointed out in Historical Records Review: "The official history of Taishi began with the five emperors and also emphasized race."
The unification of China by Qin Shihuang marked the beginning of the history of China's unification of a multi-ethnic country. The Historical Records of the First Qin Emperor records that after Qin unified the world, it was: "East to the sea and Korea, west to Lintao and Zhong Qiang, south to Beihu, north to rivers, and Yinshan to Liaodong." "Liuhe, the land of emperors. It involves quicksand in the west and households in the north in the south. The East China Sea is in the east and summer is in the north. Wherever people go, there are no ministers. " Centralization of authority, which unified currency, weights and measures and writing in Qin Dynasty, laid the foundation for the formation of national unity consciousness. Sima Qian also spoke highly of Qin's reunification as "the great fortune of the world" in the preface to the Chronicle of the Six Kingdoms. It can be seen that the unification of the Qin dynasty is important in the history of the country. The establishment of the Han Dynasty further consolidated national unity and formed a pluralistic and integrated political structure with the Han nationality as the main body and the Central Plains Dynasty as the core. Xiongnu and other neighboring ethnic groups have also become an important part of the Chinese nation.
From Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties to Qin and Han Dynasties, while Huaxia, the ancestor of the Han nationality, developed the Yellow River basin, all ethnic minorities also developed the surrounding areas, and jointly created the history of the Chinese nation in the Central Plains with Huaxia. In the historical process of Chinese civilization, the Central Plains region was civilized earlier and its culture was more developed. As Gong Zicheng said in Historical Records Zhao Shijia, "People who live in China are smart and partial to wisdom, and everything gathers wealth, which is taught by sages, used by benevolence and righteousness, used by poetry, books, rituals and music, tried by different sensitivities, and viewed from afar."
Before Sima Qian, people's national outlook always discriminated against neighboring nationalities and regarded them as barbarians. Sima Qian created biographies of national history with unique ideas, such as biographies of Xiongnu, Nanyue, Dongyue, Korea, Southwest Yi and Dawan. And bring the surrounding ethnic minorities into the territory of the Chinese nation and regard them as subjects of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In Preface to Taishi Gong, Sima Qian clearly explained the reasons for the establishment of biographies of national history, such as: "China was leveled by the Han Dynasty, but YueYang was able to keep the southern governors and pay tribute. Make a biography of South Vietnam. " "Wu Zhi rebellion, ou people beheaded, and left him as a minister. Make "The Legend of East Vietnam". " "yan dan scattered Liao, full of dead people, unique for Haidong, to set true San Francisco, keep the plug as foreign minister. Make a Korean biography. " "Tang Meng in Yelang slightly, Qionglai king want me to be a minister and collectors. Make "Biography of Southwest China". " This shows that the neighboring nationalities recognized the Central Plains regime in the era of great unification.
At the same time, the surrounding ethnic groups are closely related to the ethnic groups in the Central Plains. For example, "The Biography of South Vietnam" said: "The King of South Vietnam is a real person, and his surname is Zhao. Qin and the world are one, and it is scheduled to be in Guilin, Nanhai and Xiang Jun, so as to migrate people and Yue miscellaneous. " The King of Nanyue is a native of the Central Plains, and the "miscellaneous place" shows the integration of different nationalities.
Biography of East Vietnam describes the historical origin of East Vietnam and the Central Plains: "There is no king of Fujian and Vietnam, but all of them are kings of the East China Sea, surnamed Zou."
These biographies not only describe the ethnic integration, but also describe the living environment and customs of each ethnic group. For example, Biography of Xiongnu recorded the characteristics of Xiongnu people: "The city is often in the farming industry, but it also has its own land. No document is bound by words. " "If it is vulgar, then follow the livestock, because it is necessary to hunt animals for a living. If you are in a hurry, you will learn to attack and invade, and its nature is also. " "From the king down, I eat the meat of animals, dress them in leather, and get scolded." "His popularity is outspoken and he has no surname."
In the process of historical development, intermarriage still exists among ethnic groups. Shi Jia in the Book of Jin records that the Duke of Jin fled to Di because of rebellion, and Zhao Shuai followed. The gods scolded Ru (Chidi) and got two daughters. Zhai married his daughter and his eldest daughter to Zhao. Biography of Xiongnu records that after King Xiang of Zhou married Rong Di's daughter, he also had "in-laws" with Xiongnu in the early Han Dynasty. The Biography of Dawan records that Zhang Qian was born to Xiongnu when he married Hu * * *.
Countries in the Central Plains also absorbed talents from other ethnic groups for their own use, such as the State of Qin in the Spring and Autumn Period, where "Qin Mugong gained the surplus and the eight countries in Xirong served Qin".
In particular, the Biography of Huo Zhi records the economic exchanges between the Central Plains and the surrounding ethnic groups, and the Biography of Dawan records Zhang Qian's "seeing the good fortune in summer", which shows the mutual exchanges among ethnic groups.
Sima Qian comprehensively recorded the history of all ethnic groups from the standpoint of the unification of the Han Dynasty, and paid special attention to the political and military exchanges between the Han Dynasty and neighboring ethnic groups. Especially in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, conquering the Huns, setting up a county in Hexi, carrying out the county system in the southwest and Guangdong, and sending Zhang Qian to the western regions were all key measures to promote national integration. Sima Qian also recorded the contributions of the envoys sent by the Han Dynasty to the neighboring nationalities to the unified society, such as,, Gong and Yu in the Biography of Southwest China, Lu Jia in the Biography of South Vietnam and Zhang Qian in the Biography of Dawan. Judging from the social background and historical development at that time, Sima Qian broke the boundaries of "dissimilarity" and regarded all ethnic groups in China as a unified whole, which was undoubtedly progressive and positive.
Historical Records shows the history of the Chinese nation, from primitive tribes to the establishment of a unified feudal empire, from the continuous integration of multiple ethnic groups to the formation of multi-ethnic unity dominated by the Han nationality. This process has gone through different social forms and different nationalities and figures have appeared, but the general trend is towards integration and identity, which has laid the foundation for the common spiritual pursuit and value orientation of all ethnic groups.