Created on
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2025
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Updated on
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2026
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Ten-Thousand-Year Seeds and the Horizon of Memory: Defining the "Hunanese"
Overturning the "Out of Africa" Theory? The Prehistoric Mists of Daoxian Teeth
Preface: To motherland.
1) 何为湖南人
我原先想写“中国人”这个概念的历史，可惜这个话题太大，完全不知道从何开始。先不说“中国”的疆域一直在改变，各政权的民族、习俗完全不同，甚至各文化可能从完全不同的路线、从非洲板块迁入今天意义上的“中国”的地盘。而关于这些智人、能人是否是从非洲板块迁入的，目前学术界都还没有定论。我只好把话题缩小，从湖南人的历史来看。究竟湖南人的ethnicity是什么意思，需要往上追溯多久，以及我到底是所谓的湖南人吗？我很怀疑。湖南地区最早的化石证据似乎是永州道县的福岩洞人，但具体该化石是什么年代的，争议激烈。发掘的团队，刘武，认为可能是距今8–12万年的早期现代人。而另一团队，李辉团队，则认为或仅为9000年前。
化石在2010–2011年间，被发掘于湖南省永州市道县乐福堂乡塘碑村福岩洞，由中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所刘武、吴秀杰等主导发掘。出土物包括47颗人类牙齿化石，以及丰富的哺乳动物骨骼和石制工具。在这篇2015年发表于Nature的文章 《The earliest unequivocally modern humans in southern China》，他们主张：他们发现的47颗人类牙齿，测年显示最早可达距今12万年，形态上属于完全现代人的解剖学特征。也就是说，南中国可能比中东与欧洲早了整整三万到七万年拥有“真正的人”。这个发现不仅挑战了“非洲单一起源”的晚期扩散论，这好像是主流pop culture认同的论调，在《Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind》 里也是这么说的。但刘武的这个“发现”，如果是靠谱的，会完全推翻这个主流看法。这意味着湖南这片土地，可能是世界最早“现代人群落”的所在地之一。
亚洲南部在更新世早期的古人类化石记录十分稀缺，尤其是能明确归属于现代人类 Homo sapiens、且测年明确的材料。而在中国湖南道县的福岩洞发现的这 47 颗人类牙齿，用他们的铀系测年显示这些化石距今至少8万年，最久可达12万年。牙齿的形态特征高度现代，明显属于解剖学上的现代人类。他们使用的铀系测年（U-series dating），对牙齿上方的钟乳石进行测定，而不是牙齿本身。铀元素会放射性衰变成钍。这个衰变过程是稳定可预测的，半衰期为大约75,000年。通过分析 Th-230 / U-234 的比值，可以推算材料的形成年代。虽然我们并不熟悉每个元素的特性，但化学元素表大家都还是背过的。有这个元素周期表的基础，很多资料可以自己去查到。比如这里使用的铀，读作you2。由来的由一个读音，英语是Uranium，也是《Oppreheimer》里面制作原子的主要原料之一。以下维基百科：
“已知的铀同位素都不稳定，其中以最长寿的铀-238（半衰期44.7亿年）和铀-235（半衰期7.04亿年）在自然界中最为普遍。铀是在地球上大量存在的太初元素中原子序最高的，原子序大于铀的超铀元素由于半衰期较短，从地球诞生至今早已衰变殆尽，且现今自然界中也缺乏形成它们的途径或机制，因此都是以人工合成的方法发现的，仅有錼和钸等原子序较小的超铀元素被发现在铀矿中痕量生成。自然界中的铀以三种同位素的形式存在：铀-238（占天然铀的99.2739至99.2752%）、铀-235（占0.7198至0.7202%）、和微量的铀-234（占0.0050至0.0059%）。天然铀在衰变时会释放出α粒子。[5]由于天然铀同位素的半衰期极长，因此它们被用于估算地球的年龄。铀独特的核子特性有很大的实用价值。铀-235是唯一易分裂的天然铀同位素，可被慢中子撞击而裂变，如果其质量超过临界质量，就都能够维持核连锁反应，在核反应过程中的微小质量损失会转化成巨大的能量。这一特性使它广泛被用于核能发电以及生产核武器。然而，其在大自然存在的浓度很低，必须经过浓缩方可使用。铀金属具有相当的反应性，在空气中表面会形成深灰色氧化层。天然的泥土、岩石和水中含有百万分之一至百万分之十左右的铀。采矿工业从沥青铀矿等矿物中提取出铀元素。”
而铀系测年主要依赖两个放射性衰变链，U-238 → Th-230和U-234 → Th-230。在自然界中，U-238 和 U-234 是可溶的，能被水带入钟乳石或骨骼，但 Th-230 几乎不溶于水，只能通过衰变产生。因此，当你发现某个样本中有 Th-230，它的来源只能是由 U-234 衰变而来。而，由于U-234 的半衰期约 245,000 年，而Th-230 的半衰期：约 75,000 年，因此根据它们的比值（Th-230 / U-234），可以反推出碳酸钙沉积物的形成时间。在铀系测年中，最常用的就是 钍-230。通过铀-234衰变到钍-230，和Th-230 的半衰期为约 75,000 年，通过计算 Th-230 / U-234 的比例，推算材料形成时间。“Thorium” 这个名字来自北欧神话中的雷神 Thor。命名者是瑞典化学家 Berzelius，1828 年首次发现。钍读作“土”，tu3，属于弱放射性元素。在自然界中广泛存在，常见于钍矿、独居石等矿物中。曾被研究作为核反应堆燃料的替代品，因为比铀更丰富、更安全，但技术未大规模应用。钍的硬度一般，具顺磁性，为亮银色的放射性金属元素。纯钍的延展性相当好， 与一般金属一样，可被冷轧、挤锻及拉制。
需要注意的是，这里铀系测年测量的并不是测量的被发现的牙齿的年份，而是牙齿上覆盖的钟乳石推定牙齿“最早”在那个时间之前就已存在。这叫 “下限测年”。“下限测年”（minimum age dating）是指当人类学家无法直接测出一个东西确切有多老，但能确定它至少有多老。也就是说我们不能说这个化石是10万年，但可以说“它不可能比8万年晚”。刘武团队没测牙齿本身，而是测了牙齿上方覆盖的钟乳石，也就是钟乳石是以牙齿为基础，形成的。钟乳石是8万年前形成的，那么下面的牙齿不可能比这更新，否则钟乳石就不会长在它上面。所以我们可以说这颗牙齿至少比8万年老。覆盖物的年代可以告诉我们底下那个在就在那里，但无法确定具体在那里呆了多久。
牙齿本身不容易直接测出准确的年代，尤其是老得离谱的那种。首先，牙齿本身不是一个封闭系统，放射性测年要求样本内部的元素是封闭系统，不能被水或空气交换。牙齿暴露在土壤里几万年，可能进了水、漏了矿物质，测出来的年代就会不准。同时，牙釉质（enamel）硬度极高，基本不溶、难以吸收铀，但测年方法往往需要有一定量的铀元素作为起始点，如果牙齿几万年都没吸够铀，根本没法算出可靠的衰变链，就没法测。铀系测年，靠的是一开始有铀，然后看它衰变成钍的过程。如果一开始铀含量太低，或者根本没有铀，那后面也就没什么可衰变的东西，等于这个时间钟表根本没上发条。牙齿是生物组织，不是矿物，它一开始形成时，不含什么铀元素。所以科学家指望的是牙齿埋进土里之后，地下水里的铀慢慢渗进牙齿，牙齿才算正式启动衰变计时器。如果土壤贫瘠 ，没有足够铀，或者牙齿位置太干、太深，水无法渗入，或者吸铀过程断断续续、时间跨度不一，衰变链乱套，没法建模。或者吸得太晚 ，测出来的年代比真实年代还晚几万年。在福岩洞牙齿的争议中，刘武团队使用的就是这种测定牙齿上方钟乳石的铀系测年法，得出“牙齿至少8万年前”这个结论。但刘武发完article之后，李辉等人重新测量了牙齿的年代，并得出牙齿不过9000年的说法。
2015年，刘武团队在 Nature 上发表论文，主张福岩洞47颗牙齿距今约8–12万年，属早期现代人。随后几年，李辉团队通过正式申请、合作研究或取样授权，取得了部分原始牙齿样本或副本进行独立测年分析。2021年，李辉团队在《PNAS》上发文《Ancient DNA and multimethod dating confirm the late arrival of anatomically modern humans in southern China》，运用多重测年法，重新评估这些牙齿的年代，得出约9000年的结论。李辉的团队使用了电子顺磁共振测年法（Electron Spin Resonance）来测量牙齿，是一种测量物质中电子被困能态的“年轮”方法。牙齿埋进土里后，会不断受到环境中天然辐射铀、钍、钾等的轰击。前面也说了，铀会衰变成钍，用铀的半衰期和牙齿上包裹的钟乳石的铀钍比例可以推算出年份。这里他们用了同样的放射元素为基础进行测量，但是不同的方式。这里是直接使用牙齿里面，被这些辐射打出原位的电子进行测量。这些电子通常被打出原位后，被卡进比如牙釉质中的羟基磷灰石晶格里。电子就这样被困在牙齿内部，年复一年地积累下来。羟基磷是牙齿和骨头的骨架，牙釉质里96% 是羟基磷灰石，而骨骼里65–70% 是羟基磷灰石。牙釉质（enamel）是我们牙齿最外面那一层半透明的“白壳”，硬、无血管、不再生、富矿物。人们补牙就是因为这个外壳无法再生，只能靠补的，身体本身不能再长出来了，除非你研究出什么干细胞之类的我猜。这种羟基磷灰石提供极高硬度，保护牙齿不被磨损，同时也构成骨头的无机部分，负责支撑和钙储存。
而Electron Spin Resonance是1944年被苏联物理学家叶夫根尼·扎沃伊斯基发现，是属于自旋1/2粒子的电子在静磁场下发生的磁共振现象。这个自旋 1/2粒子大一化学课学过，虽然细节不了解，但是知道有这么个东西。由于分子中的电子多数是成对存在，每个电子对中的两个电子必为一个自旋向上，另一个自旋向下，所以磁性互相抵消。因此只有拥有不成对电子存在的粒子，才能表现磁共振。也就是这些被打出原位，卡在羟基磷灰石晶格里的电子。Electron Spin Resonance测年用微波激发这些电子，测出有多少电子被困，形成剂量值。同时测周围土壤每年辐射剂量率，也就是土壤每年释放多少铀？这样电子被困数除以剂量率，就是牙齿可能的年龄。而测量周围土壤的年辐射剂量率，李辉的团队使用了Optically Stimulated Luminescence，中文叫做光释光测年。这个方法我不是很理解，似乎需要保证土壤不见光才有效。这些牙齿被挖掘，保存，转运，又到刘武手上，我很难相信这过程中完全没有见光。因此我对这个测量结果保持怀疑。两边比较来看，可能还是刘武的结果比较靠谱，虽然二者的测量方式都很容易产生偏差的样子。
2） 米粉
来美国之后，我一直想能每天早上吃到新鲜的米粉，当年早上3点有人起来现成做的、然后从工厂送到城里大大小小的米粉铺的那种，吃到嘴里的时候，应该刚出炉不到四五个小时。过了八点半九点，就卖完了。上面还有满满的浇头、不限量的各种酸菜、榨菜、雪里蕻、剁辣椒等等。有的米粉店会把这件事情做到极致，弄出十几种不同，但大部分还是以四到五种为主。米粉店嘛，还是得看浇头和煮米粉的功力，不是看这些配菜。不必要那么花里胡哨的，好吃就行。
除了米粉，还有糖油坨坨，注意：是坨坨，不是粑粑。也就是是像糖葫芦一样，一串的，外面酥脆，里面软糯，刚出炉，等15秒立刻吃。原料很简单，只是糯米坨坨搓成小团，放到温热的红糖油里慢慢炸，这个过程需要耐心，也看火候，他们都适用炭火，非常适合慢炸。煤气火即便是最低档的，也太热，加热速度太快，糯米坨坨里面还没软、外面就焦了。我说的是长郡中学、文庙坪附近那个，不知道为什么，小时候好吃的东西总是在初中或者高中附近。那附近还有一家炸炸炸，也不错。还有一家猪油拌粉的夜宵店子，据说猪油拌粉是他们家原创，调料也很简单，鸡精、酱油、猪油。正如《功夫熊猫 I》所说的那样，并没有秘密ingredient。
虽然我们不确定福岩洞人的年纪到底多大，但据说，有个叫玉蟾岩人的是用碳测年法提取有机物分析的，比铀这种无机物测的要准确，因为直接测了这个东西的年纪，不是推测这个东西的上方的什么东西的放射元素的可能衰变时间。碳还是比较稳定的，更加靠谱。这个玉蟾岩人的年纪就这么测的，因为发现了碳化稻米。朋友们，稻米。稻米！这是公元前一万多年，就有人种米了？这么厉害？那要是有会种米，肯定还有对节气的了解，种米的工具，防虫的办法，对农业作物的了解等等等等。这会不会对一万年前来说，太先进了？这么早就有米，原来米粉是这样来的。
现在的米粉店也还有这样的，往往都是居民楼下没有名字的那一家，而不是所谓的米粉街、或者是曾经有名的那一些，早被游客挤爆、质量早不如之前。文和友都从一个小小的街边小龙虾大排档做到了有室内游乐场，炸臭豆腐的某娭毑都有了自己的博物馆，还开始有了打碟这种爱好。一切的变化都太快，我不知道米粉街，小时候真的没有这东西。定王台似乎还在，但是里面好像冷冷清清，我有点不记得我到底去年去了这个地方吗，还是在梦里。一切关于长沙的记忆都逐渐模糊，但又逐渐更加清晰。学习关于记忆的章节的时候，说到记忆是主观的，这我当然知道，但记忆往往是于情感相关的才会被保留下来，这件事情，让我感到很震惊。也就是不管时间过了多久，如果没有情感波动，这件事你记不久。以前有人问我什么是narrative film，我得先解释什么是narrative。其实人的记忆和所有事情的发生，在我看来，是毫无规律和随机的，从单个事件的可预测性上来说，大的方向当然有规律，但微观来看，预测准确定极底。每天每时每刻的事情都没什么规律，拉很远看才有规律，往回看才有规律，但同时，这个规律，也只是对过去的总结，在随机里找规律，找出了一些规律。但你要预测未来，还是不行。这就是统计学，也是narrative。
我好像没有narrative，只有情感关联记忆，这中间的规律到底是什么，我想大概我去世的时候，才能强行总结出来。但总而言之，细节我记得越来越清楚，每次回去都觉得这里和之前不一样，那里又不一样。前几天我看到某2010年在解放西那边拍的照片，觉得只是连三年前，但其实都过了15年了。想想真可怕。这15年我到底在做什么呢，我也不确定。好像做了很多，又好像什么都没做。我自己也不确定有什么好做的，有什么好记录的，但不记录会不会就这样消失了，即便记录了被保留下来的可能性也有限，那记录的意义是什么呢。我想，只是为了我自己吧。我想知道，这条路能走到哪里。人生本生就是创作，这只是一个使用手册。
这个碳测年的方式我真的不想仔细查了，上一篇查铀测年看的我头都晕了。我已经不关心这些细节，但chatgpt说这个发现在业界几乎没有争议，基本靠谱。我不确定到底靠谱不靠谱，我只想知道，一万年前就有不是野稻、也是被称为早期驯化性水稻的米，虽然离今天的大米还有一定差距，但已经是农业了。一万年前就会种地，但到了三年饥荒，还是饿死人。看样子，开始得早也没用，耐不住打仗、政治斗争瞎造。除开玉蟾岩，湖南道县的高庙头遗址，也出土了大概距今9000年了稻谷碳屑，说明那一片那时候都有农业了。而除开湖南，一万年前附近的重要遗址还有浙江浦江的上山遗址、有水田（！），江西万年的仙人洞遗址和大草坪遗址，出土了最早的陶器之一。这些都是比较先进的手工业、农业的行为了，对工具的使用和制作都很不错。这样想想，一万年后的我们，似乎也没进化那么多。
3）南蛮
“南蛮”最早见于中国古代文献，是中原王朝对南方非华夏族群的统称。南是地理方位，指长江以南地区；而蛮，是古代对非中原族群的蔑称之一，与“夷、戎、狄”并列，合称“四夷”。战国时期的《左传》，是用来解释孔子修订的、语言极简、让人不知所云的鲁国的《春秋》的书。虽然这本书的credit归到了鲁国的负责该事的使馆左丘明名下，但我想和拍电影一样，往往做了事的人都不一定被记住名字。儒家的正统体系里，孔子编《春秋》，左丘明负责《左传》，二者合为一体，“经传合参”。《春秋》全书仅一万六千字，比我几篇博客还短了快。语言极其简略，常常一句话记载一整年发生的大事，记了鲁国公元前722年到481年之间的政治、外交、战争、灾害等时间。而《左传》则是生怕你不懂一样，引经据典、语言生动、个人情感色彩颇强。《左传》不仅记录了诸侯国间的政治外交、战争联盟，也多次涉及对“四夷”的描写。虽然《左传》的核心在于中原诸侯事务，但它以“礼乐文明”作为评判标准，对“四夷”有着直接、甚至带有文化偏见的描述。
《左传·昭公二十年》里写到“南蛮”，说：“南蛮鴃舌，不与中国之言。“ 这句话的意思是，南方的蛮族语言像鸟叫，因为鴃为伯劳鸟，与中国，即中原的语言不通，是“文明的他者”。这是《左传》中最著名的“四夷”语句之一，体现出典型的文化排斥与语言差异的强调。语言不通被视为不文明的象征。虽然我觉得鲁国自己说话也就那样。《左传·僖公四年》里写到”西戎“，”徐戎夷也，不可与图王。“ 意思是徐国戎夷，不属于真正的华夏诸侯，不值得共商大计，如伐齐等政治行动。”戎“原先应该是指兵器，甲骨文里的”戎“是指持兵的人，象征物理、战争。而”戎“是指鲁国以西，甘肃、青海等等部族，除了”徐戎“之外还有犬戎、羌戎等等。将徐国与“夷”划上等号，表示其不具备参与中原政治的资格，这是一种“内外之别”的身份划界。
《左传·僖公三十三年》里说到”北狄”，“狄人其禽兽也”。意思是，北狄如同禽兽，无法用道理和礼制沟通。鲁国真的很在意所谓的繁文缛节、行为规范、上下管理。狄大概是分布在山西北部、河北北部、内蒙古中南部等地区的北方游牧部落。狄族有白狄、红狄、长狄等等。他们逐水草而居，以畜牧为主，游牧或者半游牧，缺乏固定城邑，尚武好斗。《左传·文公十八年》还说，“用夏变夷，不能用夷变夏”。华夏可以教化夷人，但反过来就不行。因为西戎、北狄经常作为战争对手出现，多被描写为“悍勇、狡诈、非礼”，是中原的威胁来源，但也有“需防亦可用”的权谋语调。《左传》多次强调“礼”、“德”、“言”的统一，凡是“不讲礼、不通语、不尊德”的，都可归入“四夷”范畴。这种划分反映的是一种文化等级制度，而非单纯的民族差异。
“楚人”最初是指楚国的国民，即春秋战国时期楚国境内的人。楚国起源于今天湖北西部，后扩张至包括今湖南、江西、安徽、河南南部、贵州、四川东部在内的大部分南方地区。楚国为芈姓诸侯国，受封于周，但迅速崛起，成为强大地区霸权，与晋、齐、秦并列为战国“四强”之一；因其南方起家、文化独特，中原诸侯往往不视之为“正统”，嘲笑楚人为“蛮夷”。《左传·僖公三年》里，楚使对晋国使节说：“我无尔诈，尔无我虞”。 僖公三年，也就是公元前657年，晋国与郑国结盟，楚国觉得不爽，派使者出使郑国，意图争夺郑国的外交归属。而此时，晋国使节也到了郑国，准备斥责楚国干预中原事务。双方在郑国发生了外交交锋，楚使对晋使说出了这句话。Chatgpt说，这句话完全不像传统中原诸侯讲话的方式，它是口语化，情绪直接，毫不装饰，带着一种“你不惹我，我就不动你”的草莽逻辑。相比之下，中原使者讲话常会引经据典、讲“礼”“义”“祖训”，讲究形式与文饰。而楚使这个表达质朴、简练、直抒胸臆显得极具反叛气质。我承认，这和我对自己的认识很接近。
在中原视角中，楚人往往不讲礼、不讲信、动辄用兵、好巫尚鬼，因此长期被视为“非我族类”。中原视角中的礼，是儒家世界的根基，意味着秩序、等级、尊卑、君臣父子之间的规范。繁文缛节，等级森严，无时无刻不在体现人与人之间的阶级差异。而楚国在早期并未完全采纳周礼制度，其朝服、祭祀、仪式都带有地方性与巫术色彩。楚人或南方百越族群的祭祀中，巫者可入神、可通灵，常为女性、民间角色、不受儒家体制规范。南方祭祀通常通过舞蹈、献歌、香草、性象征等比比皆是，对中原礼教来说，这是“无法控制、无法归类的危险文化”。在与中原诸侯盟会时，楚使往往不遵循“先敬周王、再列邦序”的礼节，屡次“失仪”。《左传》中楚使出场时不讲套话、不用经典文引，而是直奔主题，极具口语政治气质。Chatgpt说，中原外交话术三件套是，首先，引用《诗经》《尚书》《周礼》 作为发言依据，显示“文明正统”；然后按贵贱顺序称呼对方与自身，自谦而尊君；最后遵循“合于礼”、“合于道”的话语逻辑，形式讲得比内容多。而楚国的使者在《左传》中的出场，往往语言风格简洁、犀利、口语化、带攻击性和个体主张色彩，完全打破了中原式外交腔。
《左传·僖公三十三年》里，楚庄王在一次重要的外交场合中，对中原诸侯说：“我蛮夷也，而又益之以中国之教，岂不殆哉？“。语言不长，信息量极大，是楚国身份、文化姿态、战略野心和语言反击的集中表达。鲁僖公三十三年，也就是公元前601年左右，楚庄王派人北上会盟中原诸侯，准备“问鼎中原”，即向周天子挑战领导权。中原态度对楚“非我族类”的身份始终不承认，认为其“僭越、野蛮、无礼”，于是楚庄王说出这句话。“我原本就是蛮夷，现在还学了你们中原这一套礼法和权谋，那你们不就危险了？”而不讲信则体现在盟而无信、权谋优先的形象。春秋时期最重要的政治规则之一是“信”，即诸侯间结盟要守约、出兵要有义理。《春秋》《左传》里反复通过“信”与“背信”的评价，建立“谁是文明人”。楚人的“背信”形象则体现在屡次被描写为结盟后突然翻脸、或背后捅刀，如前脚会盟，后脚出兵攻打盟国，或表面称臣，实则独立行事。特别是与晋争霸期间，楚屡次“称王不候命”，不守盟约，被中原诸国痛斥为“不信之国”。
僖公三年，《诗经》里记载到：“春王正月，不雨。夏四月不雨。徐人取舒。六月雨。秋，齐侯、宋公、江人、黄人会于阳谷。冬，公子友如齐位盟。楚人伐郑。” 这一段极其简洁，看起来有点摸不着头脑。春天到夏天都没下雨，六月终于下了。徐国拿下了舒国。到了秋天各位还在在阳谷聚会，冬天怎么楚人就伐郑？是因为粮食吃不上了？齐、宋、江、黄四国的代表在密谋什么？我继续看《左传》里对这一段的解释是，它说的是“三年春，不雨。夏六月，雨。自十月不雨至于五月，不曰旱，不为灾也。 秋，会于阳谷，谋伐楚也。” 这里终于说清楚了，阳谷是在密谋从楚国那抢粮食。 齐、宋等国因旱灾影响，国力吃紧，而楚国地处南方，雨水充沛，农业条件更好，所以成为“被盯上”的对象。阳谷会实际上是在策划一次以“伐楚”为名的资源转移、粮食战争。僖公三年正值春秋初期，南方的楚国正在崛起，中原各国，如齐、晋，对楚的扩张十分警惕。而徐、舒等位于南北交界地带的小国，成了中原与楚博弈的前沿棋子，因此“徐人取舒”。
楚人的“不讲信用”还体现在表面称臣，实则独立。楚国在春秋时期，如楚庄王曾多次自封为王，这在中原礼制中是严重“僭越”行为。周天子是名义上的“天下共主”，诸侯不得擅称王。中原的战争观里，战争要讲“义师”，如“尊王攘夷”“救援宗室”。战争需有礼，有正当理由、有名分支持。楚人称王不请求周王室许可，不来朝贡，不送人质，反而招兵买马、北上争霸。楚国的军事风格是以力量为核心逻辑，不依靠德义说辞，当代的例子也很多，不赘述。楚人还常跨越楚地边界主动北上挑衅，如“鄢陵之战”“邲之战”等。战争风格直接、粗放、效率优先，这在重“文德”的中原诸侯眼中，是典型的“强横”“霸蛮”。而所谓的“好巫尚鬼”其实只是文化习俗的不同。中原的神祇系统重“天命”“祖先”“宗庙”，崇尚儒家礼仪与雅乐。而楚国的信仰系统深受三苗、百越文化影响，崇巫术、敬山川、拜蛇神、舞图腾。《楚辞》几乎整部作品充满与神灵对话、游历鬼界、求问天命等内容。屈原结合个人忠诚与神灵诉求，创造出楚人的文学高峰。
Daiga说，日语里只要带“南蛮”，一般是跟吃的有关，跟鸡、鸭有关。我想想，还真是。每次去吃荞麦面，总是点南蛮鸭，其实是百分之百的手工荞麦面，配上浓郁的bonito鱼汤底，上面加上隔水sous vide的鸭胸肉，再加上一点shichimi 七味。最好来杯啤酒，想想就流口水。“南蛮”这个带歧视性意味的词，到了生活中居然成了美好的食物。“南蛮”这个词传到日本，已经是明代的事情了。据说，到了十六世纪中叶，明朝人将南阳方向，即今天的菲律宾、马六甲、爪哇乘船而来的葡萄牙人、西班牙人称为南蛮，他们的意思是带十字架、穿靴戴帽、说怪话的欧洲人。而日本人则借用了明朝人对这些外来者的称呼，成为这些欧洲人为南蛮人。同期的物品、文化、技术也被统称为南蛮样式，如南蛮漆器、服饰、屏风等。“南蛮”一词后来泛指16–17世纪传入的西方文化，尤其是天主教、火器、航海术等，形成“南蛮文化”专有名词。“南蛮”逐渐从贬义异族标签，变为浪漫化、异域风、奇趣风格的象征，类似西洋复古、异国幻想的意义。在浮世绘、茶道、戏剧中都有“南蛮趣味”的延伸。
1) What is a Hunanese? (何为湖南人)
I originally wanted to write about the history of the concept of "Chinese," but unfortunately, the topic is too vast; I simply didn't know where to start. Setting aside the fact that "China’s" boundaries have constantly changed and the ethnicities and customs of various regimes were completely different, even the various cultures might have migrated into the territory of what is now "China" from completely different routes starting from the African plate. As for whether these Homo sapiens or Homo habilis migrated from the African plate, the academic community has yet to reach a definitive conclusion. I had no choice but to narrow the topic and look at it from the history of the Hunanese. What exactly does the ethnicity of a Hunanese mean, how far back does it need to be traced, and am I even a so-called Hunanese? I am very doubtful.
The earliest fossil evidence in the Hunan region seems to be the Fuyan Cave Hominins in Daoxian, Yongzhou, but the specific age of these fossils is fiercely contested. The excavation team, led by Liu Wu, believes they might be early modern humans dating back 80,000 to 120,000 years. Conversely, another team, Li Hui’s team, believes they may only be 9,000 years old.
The fossils were excavated between 2010 and 2011 in Fuyan Cave, Tangbei Village, Lefutang Township, Daoxian, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, with the excavation led by Liu Wu and Wu Xiujie from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The finds included 47 human tooth fossils, as well as abundant mammalian bones and stone tools. In their article published in Nature in 2015, titled "The earliest unequivocally modern humans in southern China," they argued: the 47 human teeth they discovered showed dating as early as 120,000 years ago, and morphologically possessed the anatomical features of fully modern humans. That is to say, Southern China might have possessed "true humans" a full 30,000 to 70,000 years earlier than the Middle East and Europe. This discovery not only challenges the "single African origin" late-dispersal theory—which seems to be the narrative accepted by mainstream pop culture and is also stated in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind—but if Liu Wu’s "discovery" is reliable, it would completely overturn this mainstream view. This means that the land of Hunan might be one of the locations of the world’s earliest "modern human settlements."
The fossil record of ancient humans in early Pleistocene Southern Asia is very scarce, especially materials that can be clearly attributed to modern humans (Homo sapiens) with clear dating. The 47 human teeth found in Fuyan Cave, Daoxian, Hunan, China, showed through their U-series dating that these fossils are at least 80,000 years old, and as many as 120,000 years old. The morphological characteristics of the teeth are highly modern, clearly belonging to anatomically modern humans. The U-series dating they used measured the stalactites above the teeth rather than the teeth themselves. Uranium elements radioactively decay into thorium. This decay process is stable and predictable, with a half-life of approximately 75,000 years. By analyzing the ratio of Th-230 / U-234, the formation age of the material can be calculated. Although we aren't familiar with the characteristics of every element, everyone has memorized the periodic table of elements. With the foundation of this periodic table, a lot of information can be looked up on one's own. For example, the Uranium used here is pronounced you2. It shares the pronunciation of the character for "origin" (you2); in English, it is Uranium, which is also one of the main raw materials for making atoms in Oppenheimer. Here is Wikipedia:
"None of uranium's isotopes are stable; the most long-lived are uranium-238 (half-life of 4.47 billion years) and uranium-235 (half-life of 704 million years). Uranium is the primordial element with the highest atomic number found in significant quantities on Earth... Natural uranium exists in the form of three isotopes: uranium-238 (accounting for 99.2739 to 99.2752%), uranium-235 (accounting for 0.7198 to 0.7202%), and trace amounts of uranium-234 (accounting for 0.0050 to 0.0059%)... Due to the extremely long half-lives of natural uranium isotopes, they are used to estimate the age of the Earth. Uranium's unique nuclear properties have great practical value. Uranium-235 is the only fissile natural uranium isotope... This characteristic makes it widely used in nuclear power generation and the production of nuclear weapons."
U-series dating mainly relies on two radioactive decay chains: U-238 $\rightarrow$ Th-230 and U-234 $\rightarrow$ Th-230. In nature, U-238 and U-234 are soluble and can be carried by water into stalactites or bones, but Th-230 is almost insoluble in water and can only be produced through decay. Therefore, when you find Th-230 in a sample, its source can only be from the decay of U-234. Furthermore, because the half-life of U-234 is about 245,000 years and the half-life of Thorium-230 is about 75,000 years, the formation time of calcium carbonate deposits can be deduced from their ratio (Th-230 / U-234). In U-series dating, Thorium-230 is most commonly used. "Thorium" is named after the god of thunder, Thor, from Norse mythology. It was named by the Swedish chemist Berzelius, who first discovered it in 1828. Thorium is pronounced "tu3" (earth/soil); it is a weakly radioactive element. It exists widely in nature and is commonly found in minerals like thorite and monazite. It was once researched as an alternative fuel for nuclear reactors because it is more abundant and safer than uranium, but the technology has not been applied on a large scale. Thorium has moderate hardness, is paramagnetic, and is a bright silver radioactive metallic element. Pure thorium is quite ductile and, like general metals, can be cold-rolled, extruded, and drawn.
It should be noted that the U-series dating here did not measure the age of the discovered teeth, but rather the stalactites covering the teeth to estimate that the teeth existed "at the earliest" before that time. This is called "Minimum Age Dating." Minimum age dating refers to when anthropologists cannot directly measure exactly how old something is, but can determine it is at least that old. That is to say, we cannot say this fossil is 100,000 years old, but we can say "it cannot be later than 80,000 years." Liu Wu’s team didn't measure the teeth themselves, but measured the stalactites covering the top of the teeth—meaning the stalactites were formed based on the teeth. If the stalactites were formed 80,000 years ago, then the teeth beneath them cannot be newer than that; otherwise, the stalactites wouldn't have grown on top of them. So we can say this tooth is at least older than 80,000 years. The age of the covering material can tell us that what is underneath was already there, but it cannot determine exactly how long it had been staying there.
Teeth themselves are not easy to date accurately, especially those that are ridiculously old. First, a tooth itself is not a closed system; radioactive dating requires the elements within the sample to be in a closed system, unable to be exchanged with water or air. If a tooth is exposed in the soil for tens of thousands of years, water might have entered or minerals might have leaked, making the measured age inaccurate. Meanwhile, tooth enamel has extremely high hardness and is basically insoluble and difficult to absorb uranium, but dating methods often require a certain amount of uranium as a starting point; if a tooth hasn't absorbed enough uranium over tens of thousands of years, a reliable decay chain simply cannot be calculated, making it impossible to date. U-series dating relies on having uranium at the beginning and then observing the process of it decaying into thorium. If the initial uranium content is too low, or if there is no uranium at all, then there is nothing to decay later, which means this "time clock" was never wound up in the first place.
Teeth are biological tissues, not minerals; when they first form, they contain almost no uranium. So scientists count on uranium in groundwater slowly seeping into the teeth after they are buried in the soil, only then does the tooth officially start its decay timer. If the soil is poor and lacks enough uranium, or if the tooth's location is too dry or too deep for water to seep in, or if the uranium absorption process is intermittent or spans different time periods, the decay chain gets messed up and cannot be modeled. Or, if the absorption happens too late, the measured age will be tens of thousands of years later than the true age. In the controversy over the Fuyan Cave teeth, Liu Wu’s team used this U-series method of dating the stalactites above the teeth to reach the conclusion that "the teeth are at least 80,000 years old." But after Liu Wu published the article, Li Hui and others re-measured the age of the teeth and reached the claim that the teeth are merely 9,000 years old.
In 2015, Liu Wu's team published a paper in Nature, claiming that the 47 teeth from Fuyan Cave were approximately 80,000 to 120,000 years old, belonging to early modern humans. In the following years, Li Hui’s team obtained some of the original tooth samples or replicas for independent dating analysis through formal applications, collaborative research, or sampling authorization. In 2021, Li Hui’s team published an article in PNAS titled "Ancient DNA and multimethod dating confirm the late arrival of anatomically modern humans in southern China," using multiple dating methods to re-evaluate the age of these teeth and reaching a conclusion of approximately 9,000 years. Li Hui’s team used Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) dating to measure the teeth, which is a "tree ring" method for measuring the energy states of trapped electrons in a substance. After a tooth is buried in the soil, it is constantly bombarded by natural radiation from uranium, thorium, potassium, etc., in the environment. As mentioned before, uranium decays into thorium; the age can be calculated using the half-life of uranium and the uranium-thorium ratio of the stalactites encasing the tooth. Here they used the same radioactive elements as a basis for measurement, but in a different way.
Here, they directly used the electrons within the tooth that were knocked out of their original positions by this radiation for measurement. These electrons, after being knocked out of place, usually get stuck in the lattice of hydroxyapatite within the tooth enamel. The electrons are trapped inside the tooth in this way, accumulating year after year. Hydroxyapatite is the framework of teeth and bones; 96% of tooth enamel is hydroxyapatite, while 65–70% of bone is hydroxyapatite. Tooth enamel is the translucent "white shell" on the outside of our teeth—hard, bloodless, non-regenerative, and rich in minerals. People get fillings because this shell cannot regenerate; it can only be repaired by filling, as the body itself cannot grow it back unless you research stem cells or something, I guess. This hydroxyapatite provides extremely high hardness, protecting teeth from wear and tear, while also constituting the inorganic part of the bone, responsible for support and calcium storage.
Electron Spin Resonance was discovered by the Soviet physicist Yevgeny Zavoisky in 1944; it is a magnetic resonance phenomenon that occurs in electrons (which are spin-1/2 particles) under a static magnetic field. I learned about these spin-1/2 particles in freshman chemistry; although I don't know the details, I know such things exist. Since most electrons in a molecule exist in pairs, and the two electrons in each pair must have one spin up and the other spin down, the magnetism cancels each other out. Therefore, only particles with unpaired electrons can exhibit magnetic resonance—which are these electrons knocked out of place and stuck in the hydroxyapatite lattice. ESR dating uses microwaves to excite these electrons and measures how many electrons are trapped, forming a dose value. Simultaneously, the annual radiation dose rate of the surrounding soil is measured—that is, how much uranium the soil releases each year? In this way, the number of trapped electrons divided by the dose rate equals the possible age of the tooth. To measure the annual radiation dose rate of the surrounding soil, Li Hui’s team used Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL). I don't quite understand this method; it seems to require ensuring the soil is not exposed to light to be effective. These teeth were excavated, preserved, transported, and then ended up in Liu Wu’s hands; I find it hard to believe that during this process there was absolutely no exposure to light. Therefore, I remain skeptical of this measurement result. Comparing the two sides, Liu Wu’s result might be more reliable, although both measurement methods seem prone to generating bias.
2) Rice Noodles (米粉)
Since coming to the United States, I have always wanted to be able to eat fresh Rice Noodles every morning—the kind where someone gets up at 3 AM to make them fresh, and then they are sent from the factory to rice noodle shops large and small all over the city; when they reach your mouth, they should have been out of the oven for less than four or five hours. Past 8:30 or 9:00 AM, they are sold out. On top of them are plenty of toppings (Jiaotou), and unlimited amounts of various pickled vegetables, Zhacai, Xuelihong, chopped chili, and so on. Some rice noodle shops take this to the extreme, offering over a dozen different kinds, but most still focus on four or five main types. A rice noodle shop, after all, depends on the toppings and the skill in boiling the noodles, not on these side dishes. There's no need for it to be so flashy; it just needs to be delicious.
Besides rice noodles, there are also Tangyou Tuotuo (Sugar-oil Lumps)—note: it’s Tuotuo, not Baba. That is, they are like Tanghulu, on a skewer, crispy on the outside and soft and glutinous on the inside; eat them immediately after waiting 15 seconds once they are fresh out of the pan. The ingredients are very simple, just glutinous rice lumps rubbed into small balls and slowly fried in warm brown sugar oil; this process requires patience and an eye for the heat—they all use charcoal fires, which are very suitable for slow frying. Even on the lowest setting, a gas fire is too hot; the heating speed is too fast, and the outside of the glutinous rice lump chars before the inside gets soft. I'm talking about the one near Changjun High School and Wenmiaoping; for some reason, the delicious things from childhood were always near middle school or high school. There was also a "Zha Zha Zha" (Deep-fry) place nearby that was pretty good. There was also a late-night shop for Lard-mixed Noodles (Zhuyou Banfen); it's said they were the originators of lard-mixed noodles, and the seasoning was also very simple: chicken essence, soy sauce, and lard. As Kung Fu Panda I said, there is no secret ingredient.
Although we aren't certain exactly how old the Fuyan Cave people are, it's said that a place called Yuchanyan used carbon dating to extract and analyze organic matter, which is more accurate than measuring inorganic matter like uranium, because it directly measured the age of the thing itself, rather than deducing the possible decay time of radioactive elements in something above the thing. Carbon is relatively stable and more reliable. This is how the age of the Yuchanyan people was measured, because carbonized rice was discovered. Friends, rice. RICE! This was over 10,000 BC—people were already growing rice? That impressive? Well, if they knew how to grow rice, they must have had an understanding of the solar terms, tools for growing rice, methods for pest control, knowledge of agricultural crops, and so on. Could this be too advanced for 10,000 years ago? With rice appearing so early, it turns out this is how rice noodles came to be.
There are still rice noodle shops like this now; they are often the nameless ones under residential buildings, rather than the so-called "Rice Noodle Streets" or those that used to be famous, which have long been crowded with tourists and their quality has long since declined. Wenheyou went from a small roadside crawfish stall to having an indoor amusement park; a certain old lady (Aixie) who fries stinky tofu now has her own museum and has even started a hobby like DJing. Everything changes too fast; I don't know "Rice Noodle Street"—there was truly no such thing in my childhood. Dingwangtai seems to still be there, but inside it seems desolate; I can't quite remember if I actually went there last year or if it was in a dream. All memories of Changsha are gradually blurring, yet gradually becoming clearer. When studying the chapter on memory, it says that memory is subjective—I know this, of course—but that memories are often only retained when they are associated with emotion; this fact shocked me. That is, no matter how much time passes, if there was no emotional fluctuation, you won't remember the event for long. Someone once asked me what a narrative film is; I had to first explain what a narrative is. In fact, human memory and the occurrence of all things, in my view, are completely irregular and random; from the predictability of a single event, the general direction of course has a pattern, but from a microscopic view, the accuracy of prediction is extremely low. Things every day and at every moment have no pattern; they only have a pattern when viewed from a distance or when looking back, but at the same time, this pattern is only a summary of the past—finding patterns in randomness, finding some patterns. But if you want to predict the future, it still doesn't work. This is statistics, and it is also narrative.
I don't seem to have a narrative, only emotion-associated memories; what the pattern in this actually is, I suppose I will only be able to forcibly summarize it when I pass away. But all in all, I remember details more and more clearly; every time I go back, I feel that this place is different from before, and that place is different too. A few days ago, I saw a photo taken at Jiefang West in 2010 and felt it was only three years ago, but actually 15 years have passed. It's truly terrifying when you think about it. What have I actually been doing during these 15 years? I'm not sure. It feels like I've done a lot, and also like I've done nothing. I'm not sure myself what there is worth doing or recording, but if I don't record it, will it just disappear like this? Even if recorded, the possibility of it being preserved is limited, so what is the meaning of recording? I think it is just for myself. I want to know where this road can lead. Life itself is a creation; this is just a manual.
I really don't want to look into this carbon dating method in detail; looking at the uranium dating in the last section made my head spin. I no longer care about these details, but ChatGPT says this discovery has almost no controversy in the industry and is basically reliable. I'm not sure if it's reliable or not; I just want to know that 10,000 years ago, there was rice that wasn't wild rice, but was called early domesticated rice, although there is still a certain gap compared to today's rice, it was already agriculture. They knew how to farm 10,000 years ago, yet by the Three Years of Famine, people still starved to death. It seems starting early is useless if you can't withstand the senseless destruction of war and political struggle. Besides Yuchanyan, the Gaomiaotou site in Daoxian, Hunan, also yielded carbonized rice husks from about 9,000 years ago, showing that agriculture was already present in that area at that time. And besides Hunan, other important sites from around 10,000 years ago include the Shangshan site in Pujiang, Zhejiang, which had wet rice fields(!), and the Xianrendong site and Dacaoping site in Wannian, Jiangxi, which yielded some of the earliest pottery. These were relatively advanced handicraft and agricultural behaviors; the use and production of tools were both quite good. Thinking about it this way, we, 10,000 years later, don't seem to have evolved that much.
3) Nanman (南蛮)
"Nanman" (Southern Barbarians) first appeared in ancient Chinese literature as a collective term used by the Central Plains dynasties for non-Huaxia ethnic groups in the south. "Nan" (South) is a geographical direction, referring to the region south of the Yangtze River; while "Man" (Barbarian) was one of the ancient derogatory terms for non-Central Plains groups, categorized alongside "Yi, Rong, and Di," collectively known as the "Four Yi."
The Zuo Zhuan (The Commentary of Zuo) from the Warring States period was a book used to explain the Spring and Autumn Annals of the State of Lu—a book revised by Confucius that was so minimalist in language it left people bewildered. Although the credit for this book was given to Zuo Qiuming, an official from the embassy of Lu responsible for such matters, I think that just like in filmmaking, the people who actually do the work are not necessarily the ones whose names are remembered. In the orthodox Confucian system, Confucius compiled the Annals and Zuo Qiuming was responsible for the Zuo Zhuan; the two are integrated as "the Classics and the Commentary studied together." The entire Spring and Autumn Annals consists of only 16,000 characters—shorter than a few of my blog posts. Its language is extremely brief, often recording major events of an entire year in a single sentence, documenting the politics, diplomacy, wars, and disasters of the State of Lu between 722 BC and 481 BC. The Zuo Zhuan, on the other hand, acts as if it's afraid you won't understand, citing classics, using vivid language, and possessing strong personal emotional color. The Zuo Zhuan not only records the politics, diplomacy, and war alliances among the feudal lords but also frequently involves descriptions of the "Four Yi." Although the core of The Zuo Zhuan lies in the affairs of the Central Plains lords, it uses "Rites and Music Civilization" as a criterion for judgment, offering direct and even culturally biased descriptions of the "Four Yi."
In Zuo Zhuan: The 20th Year of Duke Zhao, it writes of the "Nanman," saying: "The Southern Barbarians have shrike-tongues and do not speak the language of the Middle Kingdom." This sentence means that the language of the southern barbarians sounds like birds chirping—since the jue (鴃) is a shrike—and is unintelligible compared to the language of the Middle Kingdom (the Central Plains); they are the "Civilized Other." This is one of the most famous "Four Yi" statements in The Zuo Zhuan, reflecting typical cultural exclusion and an emphasis on linguistic difference. Inability to communicate is seen as a symbol of being uncivilized. Though, I think the way the people of Lu spoke was probably nothing special either. In Zuo Zhuan: The 4th Year of Duke Xi, it writes of the "Xi Rong" (Western Rong): "The Xu are Rong and Yi; they cannot be consulted for the grand plan of kingship." This means the State of Xu consists of Rong and Yi and does not belong to the true Huaxia lords; they are not worth discussing grand strategies with, such as political actions like attacking the State of Qi. "Rong" (戎) originally likely referred to weapons; in oracle bone script, "Rong" refers to a person holding a weapon, symbolizing physical force and war. "Rong" referred to tribes west of the State of Lu, in Gansu, Qinghai, etc. Besides the "Xu Rong," there were the Quan Rong, Qiang Rong, and so on. Equating the State of Xu with the "Yi" signified that it lacked the qualifications to participate in Central Plains politics—a form of identity boundary-marking between "Inside and Outside."
In Zuo Zhuan: The 33rd Year of Duke Xi, it speaks of the "Bei Di" (Northern Di): "The Di people are like birds and beasts." This means the Northern Di are like animals and cannot be communicated with through reason or the ritual system (Li). The State of Lu was truly obsessed with so-called red tape, behavioral norms, and top-down management. The Di were likely northern nomadic tribes distributed in northern Shanxi, northern Hebei, and south-central Inner Mongolia. The Di ethnic groups included the White Di, Red Di, Long Di, and so on. They lived where there was water and grass, focusing on animal husbandry, and were nomadic or semi-nomadic, lacking fixed cities and being martial and combative. Zuo Zhuan: The 18th Year of Duke Wen also says: "Use the Xia to transform the Yi; one cannot use the Yi to transform the Xia." The Huaxia can enlighten the barbarians, but it doesn't work the other way around. Because the Western Rong and Northern Di often appeared as wartime opponents, they were mostly described as "brave, cunning, and lacking rites"—sources of threat to the Central Plains—though there was also a tactical tone of "guard against them, yet they can be used." The Zuo Zhuan repeatedly emphasizes the unity of "Rites," "Virtue," and "Speech." Anyone who "does not speak of rites, does not communicate the language, and does not respect virtue" can be categorized into the "Four Yi." This division reflects a cultural hierarchy rather than simple ethnic differences.
"Chu People" originally referred to the citizens of the State of Chu, the people within its borders during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Chu originated in what is now western Hubei and later expanded to include most of the southern regions, including present-day Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, southern Henan, Guizhou, and eastern Sichuan. Chu was a feudal state of the Mi (芈) surname, enfeoffed by the Zhou, but it rose rapidly to become a powerful regional hegemon, standing alongside Jin, Qi, and Qin as one of the "Four Powers" of the Warring States. Because it started in the south and had a unique culture, the Central Plains lords often did not view it as "Orthodox," mocking the Chu people as "Man-Yi" (Barbarians). In Zuo Zhuan: The 3rd Year of Duke Xi, a Chu envoy says to a Jin envoy: "I do not deceive you, and you do not fear me" (我无尔诈，尔无我虞). The 3rd Year of Duke Xi, which is 657 BC—the State of Jin had formed an alliance with the State of Zheng, and Chu felt unhappy about it, sending an envoy to Zheng with the intention of competing for Zheng’s diplomatic allegiance. Meanwhile, a Jin envoy also arrived in Zheng, prepared to rebuke Chu for interfering in Central Plains affairs. The two sides had a diplomatic confrontation in Zheng, where the Chu envoy spoke this sentence to the Jin envoy. ChatGPT says this sentence is completely unlike the traditional way Central Plains lords spoke; it is colloquial, direct in emotion, unadorned, carrying a "grassroots" logic of "if you don't mess with me, I won't move against you." In contrast, Central Plains envoys often cited classics, spoke of "Rites," "Righteousness," and "Ancestral Teachings," and emphasized form and ornamentation. The Chu envoy’s expression was plain, concise, and heart-on-sleeve, appearing extremely rebellious. I admit, this is very close to my own self-perception.
In the view of the Central Plains, the Chu people often did not follow rites or keep their word; they resorted to force at the slightest provocation and favored shamanism and ghosts; thus, they were long viewed as "not of our kind." The "Rites" in the Central Plains view were the foundation of the Confucian world, signifying order, hierarchy, status, and the norms between monarch and subject, father and son. Red tape and rigid hierarchy manifested class differences between people at every moment. In its early stages, the State of Chu did not fully adopt the Zhou Ritual system; its court attire, sacrifices, and ceremonies all carried local and shamanic colors. In the sacrifices of the Chu people or the southern Baiyue ethnic groups, shamans could enter a trance and communicate with spirits; they were often women or folk characters, not regulated by the Confucian system. Southern sacrifices typically involved dancing, singing, herbs, and sexual symbolism—to the Central Plains ritual education, this was a "dangerous culture that could not be controlled or categorized." When meeting with Central Plains lords, Chu envoys often did not follow the etiquette of "honoring the Zhou King first, then following the order of states," repeatedly "committing breach of etiquette." In The Zuo Zhuan, when Chu envoys appeared, they didn't use clichés or classical citations but went straight to the point, possessing an extremely colloquial political temperament. ChatGPT says the "Three-Piece Suit" of Central Plains diplomatic rhetoric is: first, citing the Classic of Poetry, Book of Documents, or Rites of Zhou as the basis for the speech to show "Civilized Orthodoxy"; then addressing the other party and oneself according to the order of noble and base, being self-deprecating while honoring the monarch; and finally, following a discourse logic of "conforming to rites" and "conforming to the Way," speaking more about form than content. The appearance of Chu envoys in The Zuo Zhuan, however, often features a language style that is concise, sharp, colloquial, aggressive, and carries individual advocacy, completely breaking the Central Plains diplomatic tone.
In Zuo Zhuan: The 33rd Year of Duke Xi, King Zhuang of Chu, in an important diplomatic setting, said to the Central Plains lords: "I am a barbarian, yet I am also augmented by the teachings of the Middle Kingdom; is this not dangerous?" (我蛮夷也，而又益之以中国之教，岂不殆哉？). The sentence is not long, but the information load is huge; it is a concentrated expression of Chu’s identity, cultural posture, strategic ambition, and linguistic counter-attack. The 33rd Year of Duke Xi—around 601 BC—King Zhuang of Chu sent people north to meet with the Central Plains lords, preparing to "ask about the weight of the ding in the Central Plains" (问鼎中原), i.e., challenging the Zhou Emperor for leadership. The Central Plains attitude always refused to recognize Chu’s identity, considering it "usurping, savage, and rude," so King Zhuang said this. "I was originally a barbarian, and now I've even learned your Central Plains system of rites and statecraft—so aren't you in danger?"
The "lack of keeping word" was reflected in an image of being untrustworthy in alliances and prioritizing statecraft. One of the most important political rules of the Spring and Autumn period was "Xin" (Faith/Trust)—alliances between lords must be kept, and the deployment of troops must have a moral justification. The Spring and Autumn Annals and The Zuo Zhuan repeatedly establish "who is a civilized person" through the evaluation of "Faith" and "Breach of Faith." The Chu people’s image of "breaching faith" was reflected in being repeatedly described as suddenly turning hostile after an alliance, or stabbing someone in the back—such as forming an alliance one moment and deploying troops to attack the ally the next, or nominally submitting while actually acting independently. Especially during the struggle for hegemony with the State of Jin, Chu repeatedly "declared kingship without waiting for orders" and did not keep alliance vows, being bitterly denounced by the Central Plains states as a "state without faith."
In the 3rd Year of Duke Xi, the Classic of Poetry records: "In the first month of the King’s spring, it did not rain. In the fourth month of summer, it did not rain. The people of Xu took the state of Shu. In the sixth month, it rained. In autumn, the Marquis of Qi, the Duke of Song, the people of Jiang, and the people of Huang met at Yanggu. In winter, Gongzi You went to Qi for an alliance. The people of Chu attacked Zheng." This passage is extremely concise and seems a bit baffling. It didn't rain from spring to summer, and finally rained in the sixth month. The State of Xu took the State of Shu. By autumn, everyone was still meeting at Yanggu, so why did the Chu people attack Zheng in winter? Was it because they couldn't get food? What were the representatives of the four states of Qi, Song, Jiang, and Huang plotting? I continued reading the explanation of this passage in The Zuo Zhuan, which says: "In the spring of the third year, it did not rain. In the sixth month of summer, it rained. From the tenth month it did not rain until the fifth month; it is not called a drought, it is not considered a disaster. In autumn, they met at Yanggu to plot attacking Chu." Here it finally makes it clear—Yanggu was where they were plotting to steal grain from Chu. Due to the impact of the drought, the national strength of Qi, Song, and other states was strained, while Chu was located in the south with plentiful rain and better agricultural conditions, so it became the "target." The Yanggu meeting was actually planning a resource transfer and "grain war" in the name of "attacking Chu." The 3rd Year of Duke Xi was exactly at the beginning of the Spring and Autumn period, when the southern State of Chu was rising, and Central Plains states like Qi and Jin were very wary of Chu’s expansion. Smaller states like Xu and Shu, located in the buffer zone between the north and south, became the frontline pawns in the game between the Central Plains and Chu; thus, "the people of Xu took Shu."
The "lack of credit" of the Chu people was also reflected in nominally submitting while being independent. During the Spring and Autumn period, Chu rulers like King Zhuang of Chu repeatedly declared themselves kings, which was a serious "usurpation" in the Central Plains ritual system. The Zhou Emperor was the nominal "Common Lord of All Under Heaven," and lords were not allowed to claim kingship without permission. In the Central Plains view of war, war must be a "Righteous Army," such as "Honoring the King and Expelling the Barbarians" or "Rescuing the Imperial House." War required rites, a legitimate reason, and the support of a title. The Chu people claimed kingship without requesting permission from the Zhou royal family, did not come to pay tribute, and did not send hostages; instead, they recruited soldiers and went north to struggle for hegemony. Chu’s military style took strength as the core logic and did not rely on rhetoric of virtue and righteousness; there are many modern examples, but I won't elaborate. Chu people also often crossed the borders of Chu territory to take the initiative in moving north to provoke, such as the "Battle of Yanling" and the "Battle of Bi." The style of war was direct, rough, and efficiency-first, which in the eyes of the Central Plains lords who valued "literary virtue," was typical "arrogance" and "Ba-Man" (stubbornness/forcefulness). The so-called "favoring shamanism and ghosts" was actually just a difference in cultural customs. The deity system of the Central Plains valued "Heaven’s Mandate," "Ancestors," and "Ancestral Temples," advocating Confucian rituals and elegant music. But the belief system of Chu was deeply influenced by the Sanmiao and Baiyue cultures, worshiping shamanism, mountains and rivers, snake gods, and dancing to totems. Almost the entire work of The Songs of Chu (Chu Ci) is full of dialogues with spirits, traveling through the realm of ghosts, and inquiring about the mandate of heaven. Qu Yuan combined personal loyalty with spiritual appeals to create the literary peak of the Chu people.
Daiga says that in Japanese, as long as a word carries "Nanman," it is generally related to food, specifically chicken or duck. Thinking about it, that’s true. Every time I go for soba, I always order "Duck Nanman"—it’s actually 100% handmade soba paired with a rich bonito fish soup base, topped with sous-vide duck breast and a bit of shichimi (seven-flavor chili). It’s best with a glass of beer; just thinking about it makes my mouth water. "Nanman," this term with a discriminatory connotation, actually became a beautiful food in daily life. The term "Nanman" spread to Japan as late as the Ming Dynasty. It is said that in the mid-16th century, people of the Ming Dynasty referred to the Portuguese and Spaniards arriving by boat from the direction of Nanyang—present-day Philippines, Malacca, and Java—as "Nanman"; they meant Europeans who carried crosses, wore boots and hats, and spoke strange languages. The Japanese borrowed the Ming people’s term for these outsiders, calling these Europeans "Nanman-jin." Items, culture, and technology from the same period were also collectively known as "Nanman style," such as Nanman lacquerware, clothing, and folding screens. The term "Nanman" later broadly referred to Western culture introduced in the 16th-17th centuries, especially Catholicism, firearms, and navigation, forming the specific term "Nanman Culture." "Nanman" gradually shifted from a derogatory ethnic label to a symbol of romanticism, exoticism, and a curious style, similar to the meaning of "Western vintage" or "exotic fantasy." There is an extension of "Nanman interest" in Ukiyo-e, tea ceremonies, and theater.