Wang Yanwu: What is a Chinese in Singapore?(Mid -chapter)

The desire for "national country"

These nation -states have been transformed from countries that have developed into empires.From the empire governed by the king to the dynasty ruled by the feudal lord, most of the empires have been transformed into an empire belonging to citizens.This is the case of the French Empire. Napoleon, the emperor, believes that he represents the French people.All French citizens are masters and no longer allow the king and nobles to rule them.It is believed that the nation -state can establish a national empire, but such an idea was completely disillusioned after two World War.

It began to expel Western anti -colonial movement.It is a bit interesting, and even unexpectedly, the anti -colonial movement in this area is actually promoted by the Japanese, but I will not explain it.Since all colonies should fight and get rid of the imperialists and get rid of them, the concept of the empire must make the independence of the nation and the country rise.

Japan has successfully learned from the West, and implemented the concept of national state that should have sovereignty, borders, and citizens should be equal.This has become the examples of China and Southeast Asia. They are determined to build their own unified nation -state after the end of World War II.

The torrent of history has no choice for Singapore.Singapore cannot become a nation -state, but will join Malaya.Because I am from Malaya, I have some feelings about this issue.For us and many Singaporeans at the time, Singapore would of course one day a part of Malaya.This nation will be Malaysia and eventually become Malaysia.

The first unexpected incident was that the British Empire had to leave, and then a national country called Malaya. Singapore would be part of it, but it has not yet joined.Penang and Malacca also have no choice; the British have merged them into Malaysia.Singapore is put aside, but the problem is not solved, because there are too many Chinese in Singapore, and the Malay nationalist leaders do not want Singapore.They want to exclude Singapore out until nine Malaysia, as well as the two colonies, Penang and Malacca, have confidence to form a Malaysian country.When they do this, don't participate in Singapore.

The British are very happy.They turned Singapore into a single colony and continued to dominate the economic activities of Southeast Asia after the war.But everyone believes that Singapore will sooner or later become part of Malaya.In fact, Singapore later really joined Malaysia, and became part of Malaysia, although short time.This is an unexpected event.

British welcomes Chinese people to Singapore

I mentioned many unexpected events.But I think that if you want to explain and understand the topic of Chinese people in Singapore, you cannot forget the question asked at the beginning of this article: "What is Singapore?" Because the British welcomed the Chinese from the beginningThe rules and regulations do not create too much trouble, and the British are happy to let as many Chinese as possible to come here to do what they want to do.As long as the Chinese are in trouble, the British will target it.

When the Chinese become more nationalism, they respond to Sun Yat -sen's call, and they are rejoicing for the annihilation of the Qing Dynasty. In addition, the May 4th Movement brought many radical ideas to Southeast Asia.The British observed all of this very carefully.At first, they ignored most of the activities, but when they realized that it might pose a threat to them, it began to strictly crack down on the Chinese community from the 1920s and strictly controlled control.

"How to manage Singapore Chinese" is the top priority of the British.They did not completely stop the Chinese from coming and encouraged the Chinese to stay.In fact, they want to settle in the right Chinese, not the three -religion and nine -time people.The British were happy to bring their families to settle, becoming a loyal ministers of the Singapore colonies.

The British are very serious about being excluded from the Chinese who only welcome the right and deemed to be excluded as bad elements.Their policy is very clear and can find detailed explanations in the record of historical archives.

The next unexpected incident happened in this background.Singapore did not join Malaysia, but was separated in less than two years after joining Malaysia.

Sudden birth but unique structure

I was in Kuala Lumpur at the time, and I was surprised as Malaysians.To be honest, I'm actually very sad.But this incident has a great impact on everyone.For the first time in Singapore, Singapore will establish a country with sovereignty, which is completely unexpected by everyone.This is the special feature of Singapore.This is a brand new Singapore, which was born when it cannot be controlled.At the beginning, it was a 75%population of Chinese.

It is not a local immigrant group in a new country. As far as I know, no country in the world has such a population structure.Singapore is completely unique.Therefore, the first generation of leaders must find ways to build. In a region of most people, most people are the countries of the Chinese people.

I will not discuss the policy of the Singapore government here, but just want to emphasize that although the Chinese are the main ethnic groups in Singapore, this country is obviously a port city.People from regions and other parts of Asia -Nushan Dala from the Malaysian Islands, people from India, people from the Arabia and Muslim World, and people from different regions of the Christian world.Classification of people, Indians and other ethnic groups.

People are often accustomed to these classifications.It is difficult to abandon them, because Singapore has pursued an extraordinary principle from the beginning, that is, admitting that everyone born here is equal. The diverse society will be the basis of this new country.The country is unique.At the beginning of any other country, whoever occupies the majority will determine the basic principles of establishing the country, and all others must obey or maintain the status of the second minority in any case until they can reverse the situation and become the main group.

Singapore is what I know. The only country with the opposite situation: the main ethnic group understands that they live in a diverse society, but in the area where the country is located, they are ethnic groups.They accept each person equally, and a diverse society is the principle of the foundation of the founding of the Singapore.It is rare to open the national construction process in this way.This is also one of the reasons for the foundation of the founding of the People's Republic of China.This is always a difficult job.

There is another special feature in Singapore.Its existence, survival, expansion and strengthening of activities, and the role that currently played in regions and world affairs has always been closely related to events outside the region, learning to deal with events that are not controlled by it.

Therefore, we will ask from time to time, Singapore is a country or what else is it: it is a city country, a country that is formed, and eventually becomes a nation -state as a global city?As long as you understand the meaning of these terms carefully, you will find that they are contradictory, but I will not discuss it in depth.

Let me turn the topic back to Singapore is a distinctive and unimaginable place.The establishment of Singapore surprised many people at home and abroad.For decades, the situation in Singapore has not changed, the region is full of uncertainty, and the country still faces a certain degree of vulnerability.This is why the Singaporean people are so alert to the country's status in the world and are willing to work hard to maintain this unique position.

To some extent, this reflects a fact that it is not accidental that Singapore has become Temasek in the 13th and 14th centuries.We should remember that this situation may occur in any government in the world world.Although Singapore is in a different position today, the Singaporean people and leaders understand this.More importantly, they understand that the Chinese position in this country is of particularly important significance for Singapore's survival and development.

I have tried my best to answer the first question: "What is Singapore?", Detailed it about it surprisingly.When I say "accident", it is also highlighting such a fact: Since there have been so many accidents in the past, when I say that there may be accidents in the future, I should not be surprised.

My second question is very interesting, but maybe not so surprising.It is worth noting that the word "Chinese" makes the problem complicated.

What is "Chinese"?

I always explain to my non -Chinese friends to explain the origin of the word "Chinese".For the Chinese, "Chinese" does not have a corresponding word.Today, we are most commonly used by Chinese and Chinese to translate "Chinese".But the word "chinese" is unfamiliar to China.Before the 20th century, Chinese did not have a completely equivalent word with "Chinese", which allowed all Chinese to describe themselves.

It was not until the 19th and 20th centuries that people gradually realized that there was a word to translate with "Chinese".When the Qing Dynasty died and was replaced by the Republic of China, the term "China" was officially used as a national name for the first time.Prior to this, the country or the empire was called Daqing, followed by Daming, and earlier, it was Han and Tang. These were the names of the ruling dynasty.

If we want to go further, what we talk about is the philosophical meaning that can be found in the civilization represented by the words represented by Huaxia, China, or the Republic of China.Huaxia contains all Chinese civilization status. They belong to the great philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty, as well as various groups and philosophers that have continued until now.This story is too complicated to discuss in -depth.Most people know that defining Chinese people is never an easy task.

In the earliest time, the formation of "China" known to people, including different ethnic groups in China today, came from home and abroad.The "Chinese" nation is fused.They accept and recognize certain civilized values, which enables them to agree with Huaxia and become the Huaxia nation.But the word "Huaxia" cannot be translated into "Chinese".

In ancient Indian language such as Sanskrit and Prakrit, "chin" or "China" is the name of China and is considered to originate in the Qin Dynasty.The word was passed on to the Muslim and Christian world.The ancient word "China" was later used in the local language influenced by Indians, and was then used by Japanese.For centuries, it has been widely used by many foreigners, but the Chinese have never used themselves.

Chinese civilization and Chinese nation country

So why do we use this word?When the Republic of China replaced the Qing Dynasty, it became the official name.Sun Yat -sen, the leader of the Kuomintang, believes that modern nation countries are the source of the wealth and strength of European powers.In order to revive and revive the civilization that was stabbed and humiliated throughout the 19th century, China must become a nation -state and re -gain strength and wealth in order to stand up and no longer be bullied as in the past.According to this background, people can fully understand why the Kuomintang has such a view.It was the 1912 Revolution of 1912 that made China a nation.

This is a brand new concept.For decades, most Chinese have not understood this.You may have heard that Sun Yat -sen had complained that the Chinese did not understand nationalism.They do not have the consciousness as members of a country.Most Chinese people use their villages, hometown, dialect groups, and family relatives to identify their identities, and use long -term records or genealogy to pursue their roots.

All these ways to agree with their civilization did not make them feel national.The concept of nationality is very new.For me, the Chinese found that China could not be said to have no "nationalism" after making in -depth explorations in the past.This is unusual.

The Han people do not resist the ruler of the foreigners

For centuries, the Han people have not resisted the rule of non -Han people.Before China was conquered by the Mongolians, the Han people in northern China had been ruled by the Turkic, the Khitan, and the female real. Since the 17th century, it has been ruled by the Manchus.For most Han people living in the north, they only lived under the rule of the Han Dynasty during the Ming Dynasty.For the rest of the last millennium, they have been living under the rule of conquering the dynasty.

For the Han people in the south, the time when they are ruled by the Han people are as long as the history of the Song Dynasty.But as long as you look closely, the Southern Song Dynasty was just a desperate battle to resist the non -Han nation in the north and was forced to the small kingdom of the south.

Nevertheless, all dynasties believe that they belong to the same Chinese civilization.They are proud of sharing a continuous history and are willing to use classical Chinese to rule China.Even Mongolians who use their own languages than other languages have accepted the dominant position of Chinese history.The Manchu people especially used the Chinese cultural system.

From beginning to end, they all agreed with the historical coherence from Shang Zhou to Ming and Qing Dynasties.In the eyes of the elites, officials, as well as proficient in history, classics, a common moral values, and key principles of governance, all of them are regarded as a single tradition.They all accept the historical continuity of China.This has nothing to do with the word "China" or the concept of modern nationality.

The author is a famous local historian

This article is an English speech published by his lectures with the lectures co -organized by Yale -Singapore University of Singapore on March 19

The next part is published tomorrow

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