什麼是民族：以羌族為例探討一個民族誌與民族史研究上的關鍵問題

What is an Ethnos? A Key Issue in Ethnographic And Historical Studies of Peoples in the Case of the Ch'iang

“民族”在社會科學中原是一個被忽略的主題；它的定義不明確，它的形成目的不顯明，它的性質又常被種族主義所扭曲。直到近三十年來，族群現象（ethnic phenomenon）以及民族問題才受到西方學術界廣泛的注意。最顯著的現象是，以族群性（ethnicity）或族群關係為主題的研究著作大量出現在人類學、社會學與政治學範疇中。這些研究成果，一方面累積了大量的、多樣性的族群現象材料；由部落民族問題及于現代西方都市族群問題。另一方面，在這些基礎上建立了許多綜合性族群理論。

The purpose of this article is to examine the ethnicity theories of social anthropology in the case of the Ch'iang people, and, taking these theories into account, to examine the authenticity of assertions about ethnic units underlying most ethnohistoric study of the Ch'iang. The ethnography of the Ch'iang demonstrates that the ethnic boundaries of the Ch'iang can not be delineated by objectively cultural traits as well as subjective believes in common origin and ethnonym. Actually, when interacting with the Han Chinese, the Ch'iang declare dualistic ethnonyms and ethnogenesises. For thousands of years, the history of the Ch'iang was written and rewritten by Chinese historians. In doing so, the problem of ''who were the Ch'iang', how to define an ethnic unit, and the distinction between autonym and exonym were generally ignored. Therefore, while Chinese historians were describing the Ch'iang as other people, they were actually delineating their own ethnic boundaries. The case of the Ch'iang also demonstrates the complexity of the ethnic phenomenon among people who have lived in or near by literate civilizations. Ethnicity among them seems to be a discourse between history and reality. Ernie ethnogenesis is a kind of selectively collective memory, or pseudo-history, by which people cohere into an ethnic group. Etic ethnogenises is the interpretation of a people's origins by others as an ideological tool for justifying ethnic relations. Thus, in the changing context of resource competition, people stress, modify and forget their emic ethnogenesis, or accept an etic ethnogenesis to maintain or to adjust their ethnic boundaries.