University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2018 Remaking Chineseness: The Transition Of Inner Asian Groups In The Central Plain During The Sixteen Kingdoms Period And Northern Dynasties Fangyi Cheng University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian History Commons, and the Asian Studies Commons Recommended Citation Cheng, Fangyi, "Remaking Chineseness: The Transition Of Inner Asian Groups In The Central Plain During The Sixteen Kingdoms Period And Northern Dynasties" (2018). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2781. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2781 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2781 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Remaking Chineseness: The Transition Of Inner Asian Groups In The Central Plain During The Sixteen Kingdoms Period And Northern Dynasties Abstract This dissertation aims to examine the institutional transitions of the Inner Asian groups in the Central Plain during the Sixteen Kingdoms period and Northern Dynasties. Starting with an examination on the origin and development of Sinicization theory in the West and China, the first major chapter of this dissertation argues the Sinicization theory evolves in the intellectual history of modern times. This chapter, in one hand, offers a different explanation on the origin of the Sinicization theory in both China and the West, and their relationships. In the other hand, it incorporates Sinicization theory into the construction of the historical narrative of Chinese Nationality, and argues the theorization of Sinicization attempted by several scholars in the second half of 20th Century. The second and third major chapters build two case studies regarding the transition of the central and local institutions of the Inner Asian polities in the Central Plain, which are the succession system and the local administrative system. In the first case study, through applying the crown prince system, the Inner Asian rulers reached the centralization of authority, which was different from and even more centralized than the Han tradition. In the second case study, the polities of the Sixteen Kingdoms Period and Northern Dynasties largely followed the Inner Asian political tradition and the Inner Asian groups also remained as units inside the polities. The two case studies show the transition of the institutions of the Inner Asian polity in the Central Plain. The transition is neither a one-way change from Inner Asian institutions to Han and Jin institutions nor a simple hybridity. For different institutions, here the succession system in the central government and the administrative system in the local level, the dynamics for the transition are also not the same. This dissertation approaches the Chinese history with articulating not only what these Inner Asian groups took from the Chinese tradition, but also what they contributed to the institutional changes in Chinese history, which reshapes our understanding of what we call “Chinese” institutions, in other words, Chineseness. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group East Asian Languages & Civilizations First Advisor Victor H. Mair Keywords Crown Prince, Household registration, Inner Asia, Northern Dynasties, Sinicization, Sixteen Kingdoms Subject Categories Asian History | Asian Studies | History This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2781 REMAKING CHINESENESS: THE TRANSITION OF INNER ASIAN GROUPS IN THE CENTRAL PLAIN DURING THE SIXTEEN KINGDOMS PERIOD AND NORTHERN DYNASTIES COPYRIGHT 2018 Fangyi Cheng This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ For my taidia and my wife’s popo, may they rest in peace! iii! ! ABSTRACT REMAKING CHINESENESS: THE TRANSITION OF INNER ASIAN GROUPS IN THE CENTRAL PLAIN DURING THE SIXTEEN KINGDOMS PERIOD AND NORTHERN DYNASTIES Fangyi Cheng Victor H. Mair This dissertation aims to examine the institutional transitions of the Inner Asian groups in the Central Plain during the Sixteen Kingdoms period and Northern Dynasties. Starting with an examination on the origin and development of Sinicization theory in the West and China, the first major chapter of this dissertation argues the Sinicization theory evolves in the intellectual history of modern times. This chapter, in one hand, offers a different explanation on the origin of the Sinicization theory in both China and the West, and their relationships. In the other hand, it incorporates Sinicization theory into the construction of the historical narrative of Chinese Nationality, and argues the theorization of Sinicization attempted by several scholars in the second half of 20th Century. The second and third major chapters build two case studies regarding the transition of the central and local institutions of the Inner Asian polities in the Central Plain, which are the succession system and the local administrative system. In the first case study, through applying the crown prince system, the Inner Asian rulers reached the centralization of authority, which was different from and even more centralized than the Han tradition. In the second case study, the polities of the Sixteen Kingdoms Period and Northern Dynasties largely followed the Inner Asian political tradition and the Inner Asian groups iv! ! also remained as units inside the polities. The two case studies show the transition of the institutions of the Inner Asian polity in the Central Plain. The transition is neither a one- way change from Inner Asian institutions to Han and Jin institutions nor a simple hybridity. For different institutions, here the succession system in the central government and the administrative system in the local level, the dynamics for the transition are also not the same. This dissertation approaches the Chinese history with articulating not only what these Inner Asian groups took from the Chinese tradition, but also what they contributed to the institutional changes in Chinese history, which reshapes our understanding of what we call “Chinese” institutions, in other words, Chineseness. v! ! TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT!................................................................................................................................!IV LIST OF TABLES!..................................................................................................................!VIII CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION!...........................................................................................!1 CHAPTER 2 THE EVOLUTION OF “SINICIZATION”!..............................................!9 2.1 Early use of Sinicization in the Western Context!..........................................................................!10 2.2 Early use of Sinicization in China in the early 20th century!.........................................................!16 2.2.1 Huahua in early Chinese Context!....................................................................................................!17 2.2.2 Hanhua in Early Chinese Context!...................................................................................................!23 2.3 Huahua and Hanhua in Constructing a National History of the Chinese Nationality (Zhonghua minzu )!................................................................................................................................!25 2.4 Nationalism behind the Huahua and Hanhua Theory!...................................................................!36 2.5 Besides Nationalism, What Else?!...................................................................................................!40 2.6 Culturalism behind Hanhua Theory!.............................................................................................!48 2.7 Discussion!......................................................................................................................................!52 CHAPTER 3 WHY A CROWN PRINCE?!.......................................................................!58 3.1 Two Succession Traditions!............................................................................................................!60 3.1.1 Succession Traditions in Inner Asia!................................................................................................!60 3.1.2 Succession Traditions in Han Dynasty!............................................................................................!64 3.1.3 Questions Proposed!.........................................................................................................................!68 3.2 Crown Princes during the Sixteen Kingdoms Period!....................................................................!69 3.2.1 Heirs Apparent Who Did Not Succeed to the Throne!.....................................................................!78 3.2.2 Strong Competitors!.........................................................................................................................!80 3.2.3 Powerful Assistant Ministers!...........................................................................................................!83 3.2.4 Election Criteria!..............................................................................................................................!86