英文摘要 |
The mainstream ethnohistory regards the She people as an ethnic minority with a long history, focusing mostly on their origins and migration routes. This article trots a different route by examining the historical changes of the She as an ethnic category from the perspective of mountain governance and social relationships. Against the backdrop of population influx in the southern mountains during the final years of the Southern Song, the term “She” was beginning to be used along the Fujian and Guangdong borders to refer to a group of mountain people who adopted the slashandburn farming method and were not governed by the state. Since the Yuan, the usage had expanded to include rebels in the southeastern mountains, becoming synonymous with mountain people and fugitives. According to mainstream literatures of the late Ming, the She people began to be closely associated with two attributes, namely “descendants from Panhu” and “marrying within several clans.” Categorically, the She gradually became associated more with biological and cultural implications. The demarcation of mountain people from fugitives was the result of official policies governing southeastern mountains. During the early Qing, local governments began adopting different household registrations in different regions. Accordingly, demarcation between the She and nonShe was intentionally kept in northeastern Fujian and southern Zhejiang by allowing the former to self-govern themselves through untaxed units. This was implemented to prevent civil disorder caused by the two sides joining forces. As to the other parts of Fujian, unregistered mountain residents were gradually included in official registration system. This demarcation allowed the She people in said regions to sustain as an ethnic category, which became more pronounced amid intensifying competition against local residents for limited cultural and political resources from mid to late Qing. The stabilized She and non-She demarcation in northeastern Fujian and southern Zhejiang subsequently became the foundation for understanding the She people for officials and researchers. It also served as the basis for the She people to identify themselves as an ethnic group. |