近代中國的「四萬萬」國族論述想像

Abstract

本文主要探討「四萬萬人」如何在近代中國從一個人口數字，漸次演化成為近代中國的國族符號的歷史過程及其意義。經由晚清時期的維新思想的運用，尤其是康有為和梁啟超二者論述的催生下，此「數字化」的描述晚清中國人口的方式，配合所謂「同胞」的血緣親屬想像符號，形塑出具有高度同質性意涵的國族認同。「四萬萬」人口符號同時也標示中國作為國族國家，脫離傳統天下秩序的新世界觀的重要轉變。但另一方面，為了強烈激發國族意識，四萬萬的國族想像也經常以全盤負面形象如「四萬萬禽獸」的意象出現。最後，本文也檢討此種人口想像模式和其他近代中國人口想像意象，例如「一盤散沙」、「五族共和」等彼此之間的矛盾和潛在緊張性。不斷出現在近代中國語境的「四萬萬人」符號，不僅扮演如B. Anderson所描述的限定國族國家邊界意識的重要角色，更是長期以來已經很「自然」地嵌入近代中國日常生活國族意識中。藉由去自然化此現象和歷史化此符號，詳細地分析比較各類有關運用「四萬萬」符號的文本，本研究試圖更清楚地解析「四萬萬人」符號產生的歷史過程，以及發揮了哪些想像的力量從而形塑了近代中國國族認同的特定風貌。

My research aims to analyze the historical process and significance of how the term ”Four Hundred Millions,” originally a plain description of the Qing population, has gradually become widely utilized by many people as a national symbol of modern China. Thanks to the late Qing reform thinking, especially the discourses of Kang Yowei and Liang Qichao, the ”digitalized” way of depicting the population size of Qing China, together with the use of the term ”Compatriot,” came to shape a highly homogeneous national identity of modern China. This symbol also indicates the important transition of China transforming into a nation-state from a traditional empire. However, on the other hand, this symbol has also been constantly appropriated to construct negative national identities, such as ”Four Hundred Million Animals,” in order to shame China into becoming a true nation. And since the ”Four Hundred Millions” discourse is also often paralleled to other famous collective images/symbols, such as ”a heap of loose sand” and ”republic of five peoples,” my study has tried to reflect on the complicated relationship and tension between these symbols as well. The symbolic power of ”Four Hundred Millions” not only performs the function of setting the ”boundary” of modern Chinese nation against other nations, a function that has been analyzed by B. Anderson, but also has become ”naturally” embedded in the banal nationalism of modern China. By ”denaturalizing” this phenomenon and historicizing this symbol by means of analyzing and comparing painstakingly a variety of texts which utilize this symbol, my study has tried to further our understanding of the historical formation and the significance of the symbolic power of ”Four-Hundred Millions” in the construction of modern Chinese identity.