Author ｜
Chiu Wei-yun
Abstract ｜
This paper, based on Wang Ermin’s seminal study on the pre-Qin concept of zhongguo (China), explores the evolvement and reconstruction of the idea zhongguo in the Twenty-Four Histories. Four types of identity formation and reconstruction can be distinguished, namely the view of China as the cultural center of the world, a spatial understanding as the geographic center, as the political center of the world, and an international concept of China apply to the wanguo. Since pre-Qing times there have been three crucial instances of remodeling of zhongguo which are deeply imbued with meaning: first, the writing of “orthodox history” on behalf of states peripheral to China and their subsequent identification as Chinese despite cultural discrepancies in comparison to the central China; second, identity transformation of “non-Chinese” to “Chinese”; and third, the materialization of Chinese identity from spatial boundary to central identity.
keywords ｜
zhongguo, identity, idea, the idea of the world, the idea of nation