Dongyi

The Dongyi or Eastern Yi (simplified Chinese: 东夷; traditional Chinese: 東夷; pinyin: Dōngyí; Wade–Giles: Tung-yi; literally "Eastern Barbarians") was a collective term, referring to ancient peoples who lived in eastern China during the prehistory of ancient China and in lands located to the east of ancient China. People referred to as Dongyi vary across the ages. They were one of the Siyi (Four Barbarians) in Chinese culture, along with the Northern Di, the Southern Man, and the Western Rong; as such, the name "Yi" was something of a catch-all and was applied to different groups over time.

According to the earliest Chinese record, the Zuo Zhuan, the Shang Dynasty was attacked by King Wu of Zhou while attacking the Dongyi and collapsed afterwards.

Culture

Dongyi culture was one of the oldest neolithic cultures in China. Some Chinese scholars extend the historical use of Dongyi to prehistoric times, according to this belief, the neolithic culture correlates to Houli culture, Beixin culture, Dawenkou culture, Longshan culture and Yueshi culture, five evolutionary phases. Deliang He, thinks that Dongyi culture used to be one of the leading cultures in neolithic China.^[1]

The writing system of Dongyi was one of the oldest writing systems in neolithic China. There are opinions that the 20 pictogram characters discovered in a Dongyi tomb (山东莒县大汶口墓葬) in Shandong indicates that some of the characters found, like “旦、鉞(钺)、斤、皇、封、酒、拍、昃”, are still used in Chinese characters.

There are also opinions that Dongyi people were the inventor of arrows. Some classic Chinese history records like Zuo Zhuan, Shuowen Jiezi, Classic of Rites, all have some similar records about this.^[2][3]

Based on archaeological findings, Dongyi people's ancestral worship totem is bird-shaped.^[4]

Yi

The Chinese word yi in Dongyi has a long history and complex semantics.

Meanings

Chinese dictionaries reveal the semantic complexities of yi (夷). The Far East Chinese-English Dictionary defines eleven meanings:

1. (in ancient China) barbarians in the east
2. foreign tribes or foreigners
3. at ease; peaceful
4. to level; to make level, even or smooth
5. safe
6. to eliminate; to exterminate; to kill; to execute
7. injuries; wounds
8. grades; classes
9. common; usual; ordinary
10. great; big
11. a Chinese family name^[5]

These first two senses of yi reflect the linguistic Sinocentrism of Chinese words that can mean both condescending "barbarian" and semantically neutral "foreigner; outsider". For instance, hu 胡 "barbarian; foreign; non-Han" (e.g., erhu) originally meant hu 鬍 "beard; whiskers", and was chosen to name the Hu 胡 or Donghu 東胡 "eastern barbarians: an ancient Tungusic people northeast of China".

The Oxford English Dictionary mentions this derogatory denotation of Yi. The barbarian definition "3.c Applied by the Chinese contemptuously to foreigners" cites the 1858 Treaty of Tientsin as the earliest recorded usage.^[6] "It is agreed, that henceforward the character "I" 夷 ('barbarian') shall not be applied to the Government or subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, in any Chinese official document."^[7]This prohibition in the Treaty of Tientsin had been the end result of a long dispute between the Qing and British officials regarding the translation, usage and meaning of Yi. Many Qing officials argued that the term did not mean “barbarians,” but their British counterparts disagreed with this opinion.^[8]

Characters

The modern Chinese character 夷 for yi combines da 大 "big" and gong 弓 "bow". However, it graphically descends from an ancient pictograph showing a person with a bent back and legs.

The (121 CE) Shuowen Jiezi character dictionary, which defines yi 夷 as 平 "level; peaceful" or 東方之人 "people of eastern regions", first records that this Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) regular script 夷 and the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BCE) seal script for shi incorporate the 大 "big" and 弓 "bow" radicals (recurring character elements). The Shuowen also indicates that the radical “big” in the character yi means human. In addition, yi custom is benevolent and given that the benevolent men live long lives, yi countries are where the gentlemen do not die. Accordingly, this is why Confucius said when the Dao is not being practiced in China, he is willing to go to the land of the "Nine Yi."^[9]

Bernhard Karlgren says that in the earlier bronze script for yi inscribed on Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1045 BCE-ca. 256 BCE) Chinese bronze inscriptions, "The graph has 'man' and 'arrow', or 'arrow' with something wound around the shaft."^[10]

The earliest records of yi were inscribed on oracle bones dating from the late Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600–ca. 1046 BCE). This oracle bone script was used interchangeably for yi 夷, for ren 人 "human", and for shi 尸 "corpse; personator of the dead; inactive; lay out". The historical linguist Xu Zhongshu (zh:徐中舒) explains this oracle character depicts either a "corpse"' with two bent legs or a "barbarian" custom of sitting with one's legs stretched out instead of the Chinese norm of squatting on one's heels.^[11] The early China historian Li Feng says the Western Zhou bronze graph for Yi was "differentiated from ren 人 (human) by its kneeling gesture, clearly implying a population that was deemed a potential source of slaves or servants", thus meaning "foreign conquerable".^[12]

Etymology

Historical linguists have tentatively reconstructed yi 夷's ancient pronunciations and etymology. The Modern Standard Chinese pronunciation yi descends from (ca. 6th-9th centuries CE) Middle Chinese and (ca. 6th-3rd centuries BCE) Old Chinese. Middle and Old Chinese reconstructions of yi 夷 "barbarian; spread out" include i < *djər,^[13] yij < *ljɨj,^[14] and ji < *ləi.^[15]

Axel Schuessler hypothesizes an Old Chinese etymological development from *li 夷 "extend; expose; display; set out; spread out" to *lhi 尸 "to spread out; lie down flat (in order to sleep); motionless; to set forth (sacrificial dishes)", to "personator of a dead ancestor", and to "corpse".^[16]

Usages

The sinologist Edwin G. Pulleyblank describes how Yi usages semantically changed. "Their name furnished the primary Chinese term for "barbarian" and is sometimes used in such a generalized sense as early as the Spring and Autumn period. At the same time it continued to have a specific reference, denoting especially the Yi of the Huai river region, who constituted a recognized political entity. Paradoxically the Yi were considered the most civilized of the non-Chinese peoples."^[17]

Pre-Qin usages

It is not easy to determine the times of people that a Classical Chinese document reflects.

Literature describing a pre-Xia Dynasty period does not use the character yi. As for the Xia Dynasty, some groups of people are referred to as the Yi. For example, theYu Gong chapter of the Shu Ji or Book of Documents terms people in Qingzhou and Xuzhou Laiyi (萊夷), Yuyi (嵎夷) and Huaiyi (淮夷). Another yi-related term is Jiu-yi (九夷), literally Nine Yi, which could have also had the connotation The Numerous Yi or The Many Different Kinds of Yi, and which appears in a passage in The Analects that reads, "The Master (i.e., Confucius) desired to live among the Nine Yi." The term "Dongyi" is not used for this period.

Shang Dynasty oracle shell and bone writings record yi but not Dongyi. Shima Kunio's concordance of oracle inscriptions lists twenty occurrences of the script for 夷 or 尸, most frequently (6 times) in the compound zhishi 祉尸 "bless the personator; blessed personator".^[18] Michael Carr notes some contexts are ambiguous, but suggests, "Three compounds refer to 'barbarians' (in modern characters, fayi 伐夷 'attack barbarians,' zhengyi 征夷 'punish barbarians,' and yifang 夷方 'barbarian regions')."^[19] Oracle inscriptions record that Shang King Wu Ding (r. ca. 1250-1192 BCE) made military expeditions on the Yi, and King Di Xin (r. ca. 1075-1046 BCE) waged a massive campaign against the Yifang 夷方 "barbarian regions".

It appears that the Yifang were the same people as Huaiyi (Huai River Yi), Nanhuaiyi (Southern Huai Yi), Nanyi (Southern Yi) and Dongyi according to bronzeware inscriptions of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty attempted to keep the Yi under its control. The most notable example of which is the successful campaign against the Huaiyi and the Dongyi led by the Duke of Zhou.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin, Zheng, Qi and Song tried to seize control of the Huai River basin, which was occupied by the Huaiyi, but the region ultimately fell under the influence of Chu to the south. At the same time, people in the east and south ceased to be called Dongyi as they founded their own states. These Yifang states included the states of Xu, Lai, Zhongli, Ju and Jiang. The state of Xu occupied large areas of modern Jiangsu and Anhui provinces between the Huai and Yangtze Rivers. Eventually, after warring with Chu and Wu, it was conquered by the State of Wu in 512 BC. Chu annexed the State of Jiang, destroyed the State of Ju whose territory was annexed by the State of Qi. Recent archaeological excavations reveal that the State of Xu's presence extended to western Jiangxi in modern Jing'an County. This includes bronzeware inscriptions about the State of Xu and also a tomb with many nanmu coffins containing sacrificial female victims. Dongyi customs include burials with many sacrificial victims and veneration of the sun.

References to Dongyi became ideological during the Warring States period, owing to cultural changes in Chinese concepts of Self and Other. When the (c. 4th BCE) Classic of Rites recorded stereotypes about the Siyi "Four Barbarians" (Dongyi, Xirong, Nanman, and Beidi) in the four directions, Dongyi had acquired a clearly pejorative nuance.

The people of those five regions – the Middle states, and the [Rong], [Yi], (and other wild tribes round them) – had all their several natures, which they could not be made to alter. The tribes on the east were called [Yi]. They had their hair unbound, and tattooed their bodies. Some of them ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the south were called Man. They tattooed their foreheads, and had their feet turned in towards each other. Some of them (also) ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the west were called [Rong]. They had their hair unbound, and wore skins. Some of them did not eat grain-food. Those on the north were called [Di]. They wore skins of animals and birds, and dwelt in caves. Some of them also did not eat grain-food. The people of the Middle states, and of those [Yi], Man, [Rong], and [Di], all had their dwellings, where they lived at ease; their flavours which they preferred; the clothes suitable for them; their proper implements for use; and their vessels which they prepared in abundance. In those five regions, the languages of the people were not mutually intelligible, and their likings and desires were different. To make what was in their minds apprehended, and to communicate their likings and desires, (there were officers) – in the east, called transmitters; in the south, representationists; in the west, [Di-dis]; and in the north, interpreters.^[20]

Post-Qin usages

The more "China" expanded, the further east the term "Dongyi" was applied to. The Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian uses the term "Manyi" (蠻夷), but not "Dongyi". It puts the section of "Xinanyi (southwestern Yi) liezhuan (biographies)", but not "Dongyi liezhuan". The Book of Han does not put this section either but calls a Dongye (濊) chief in the Korean Peninsula as Dongyi. The Book of Later Han puts the section of "Dongyi liezhuan (東夷列傳)" and covers Buyeo, Yilou, Goguryeo, Eastern Okjeo, Hui, Samhan and Wa, in other words, eastern Manchuria, Korea, Japan and some other islands. The Book of Jin positioned Dongyi inside the section of "Siyi" (barbarians in four directions) along with "Xirong", "Nanman" and "Beidi". The Book of Sui, the Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang adopt the section of "Dongyi" and covers eastern Manchuria, Korea, Japan and optionally Sakhalin and Taiwan. During the Song Dynasty, the official history books replaced Dongyi with Waiguo (外國) and Waiyi (外夷).

Other usage of Dongyi in Chinese history books

• Records of the Grand Historian and Book of Han

These two history books do not assign many chapters to describe the history of Dongyi. However, it includes the simple description Manchuria, Wiman Joseon and Wa. Wiman fled from the state of Yan to Gojoseon, and he disguised as if he was Gojoseon people. Book of Han uses the same term as Records of the Grand Historian.

• Book of the Later Han

This book was written by Fan Ye (historian). This book contains the chapter of 'Dongyi', which describes the history of Manchuria and Korea including Buyeo, Goguryeo, Okjeo, Dongye, and Samhan, and Japan including Wa. Like the Shuowen, the Book of the Later Han also describes Dongyi countries as places where benevolence rules and the gentlemen do not die.^[21]

• Records of Three Kingdoms

This book was written by Chen Shou, and also contains the chapter about 'Dongyi'. The chapter of "Wuwan Xianbei Dongyi" describes the Wuwan tribes, Xianbei tribes, and Dongyi tribes respectively. In the section of Dongyi, this book explains the Manchurian, Korean and Japanese ancient kingdoms. Korean and Manchurian kingdoms include Buyeo, Goguryeo, Okjeo, Dongye, and Samhan. Japanese kingdom includes Wa (Japan).^[22]

• Book of Jin

This book was written by Fang Xuanling at Tang dynasty. It has the chapter of 'Four Yi', and describes the Manchurian, Korean, and Japanese history. Machurian, Korean and Japanese include Buyeo, Mahan confederacy, Jinhan confederacy, Sushen, and Wa (Japan).^[23]

• Book of Song

This history book describes the history of Liu Song Dynasty, but also contains the simple explanation the neighbor states. The Chapter of Dongyi of this book describes the ancient history of Manchuria, Korea and Japan such as Goguryeo, Baekje and Wa (Japan).^[24]

• Book of Qi

The Book of Qi is the history book of Southern Qi. In the 58th volume, the history of Dongyi's history is described, which includes the ancient Manchurian, Korean and Japanese history such as Goguryeo, Baekje, Gaya and Wa (Japan).^[25]

• History of Southern Dynasties

This book is about the history of Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang Dynasty, and Chen Dynasty, but also includes the history of Dongyi. In the chapter of Dongyi, this book describes the Manchurian, Korean and Japanese history such as Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Wa (Japan), and so on.^[26] Interestingly, this book says that Dongyi's state was Gojoseon while Sima Qian says that Gojoseon people is Manyi.^[27]

• Book of Sui

The Book of Sui describes the history about the Sui Dynasty, and was compiled at Tang dynasty. The chapter of Dongyi's history describes the history of Korean, Manchurian and Japanese such as Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, Mohe, Liuqiu, and Wa (Japan).^[28]

Modern usages

Some Chinese scholars extend the historical use of Dongyi to prehistoric times. They consider Dongyi as one of the origins of Chinese people, based on the hypothesis of the pluralistic origins of Chinese culture that became popular in 1980s.

People called Dongyi in this sense lived in Haidai (海岱) region, the lower reaches of the Yellow and Huai Rivers, from the Neolithic period.

The cultural evolution in the Haidai region is considered as follows (the dates differ among scholars):

• Houli culture (6400 BC - 5700 BC)
• Beixin culture (5300 BC - 4100 BC)
• Dawenkou culture (4100 BC - 2600 BC)
• Longshan culture (3200 BC - 1900 BC)
• Yueshi culture (2000 BC - 1600 BC)

The Shandong Longshan culture was characterized by large-scale hierarchical groups of walled settlements. The Yueshi culture which replaced the Longshan culture around 2000 B.C. saw a decline of civilization. Groups of settlements were dissolved and the highly-developed pottery technology of the Shandong Longshan culture was lost.

It should be noted that the Longshan Culture was not just Dongyi and did not just exist in Shandong and other eastern coastal areas of China. Areas further west, including much of the middle and lower Yellow River Valley region, was also a part of the Longshan Culture area. Historians such as Jacques Gernet believe that the Longshan Culture was also culturally ancestral to the Erlitou Culture and the later Shang dynasty in the middle Yellow River Valley region. There are some good evidence for this claim, for both the Longshan and Shang cultures shared the following basic elements:

• A similar technique of divination based on heating animal bones and shells until they crack.
• Similar construction techniques for city-walls, fortifications and building platforms using rammed earth.
• Similar artistic styles.

The Shang Dynasty technology of bronze metallurgy seems to be the descendant of high temperature ceramic-making techniques used by the late Neolithic Longshan Culture.

The Longshan Culture might have been replaced by the Yueshi Culture in Shandong but further to the west it continued and developed into the Erlitou Culture around 1900 - 1800 BC).

During the Yueshi culture in Shandong, the Erlitou culture and the subsequent Erligang culture gradually stretched from the Yellow River valley in the west. Since sites of the Yueshi culture are coterminous with those of the Erligang culture, the traditional theory that the Shang Dynasty originated in the east was shattered. Shang civilization extended to central Shandong at the end of the Shang Dynasty and it was during the middle Western Zhou Dynasty that the central civilization covered the entire Haidai region.

It is notable that Longshan people seemingly had their own writing system. A pottery inscription of the Longshan culture discovered in Dinggong Village, Zouping County, Shandong Province contains eleven characters and they do not look like the direct ancestor of Chinese characters. Chinese scholar Feng Shi (馮時) argued in 1994 that this inscription can be interpreted as written by the Longshan people.^[29] Other scholars, like Ming Ru, are doubtful about attributing a Neolithic date to the inscription. Some other scholars also claim a connection between ancient Dongyi and the modern Yi people in southwestern China.^[30]

See also

• Huawaizhidi
• Hua-Yi Distinction
• Shùn
• Sinocentrism

Footnotes

References

• Baxter, William H. 1992. A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology. Mouton de Gruyter.
• Cai Fengshu 蔡鳳書, Kodai Santō bunka to kōryū 古代山東文化と交流, Higashi Ajia to hantō kūkan 東アジアと『半島空間』, pp. 45–58, 2003.
• Carr, Michael. 2007. "The Shi 'Corpse/Personator' Ceremony in Early China," in Marcel Kuijsten, ed., Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness: Julian Jaynes's Bicameral Mind Theory Revisited, Julian Jaynes Society, 343-416.
• Karlgren, Bernhard. 1957. Grammata Serica Recensa. Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
• Li, Feng. 2006. Landscape And Power In Early China. Cambridge University Press.
• Li Xiaoding 李孝定. 1965. Jiagu wenzi zhishi 甲骨文字集釋 [Collected Explanations of Shell and Bone Characters]. 8 Vols. The Institute of History and Philology.
• Luan Fengshi 栾丰实, 论“夷”和“东夷” (On "Yi" and "Dong Yi"), Zhongyuan Wenwu 中原文物 (Cultural Relics of Central China), 2002.1, pp. 16–20.
• Matsumaru Michio 松丸道雄, Kanji kigen mondai no shintenkai 漢字起源問題の新展開, Chūgoku kodai no moji to bunka 中国古代の文字と文化, 1999.
• Matsumaru Michio 松丸道雄 and Takashima Ken'ichi 高嶋謙一 ed., Kōkotsumoji Jishaku Sōran 甲骨文字字釋綜覽, 1994.
• Schuessler, Axel. 2007. An Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese. University of Hawaii Press.
• Schuessler, Axel. 2009. Minimal Old Chinese and Later Han Chinese. University of Hawaii Press.
• Shima Kunio 島邦男. 1971. Inkyo bokuji sōorui 殷墟卜辞綜類 [Concordance of Oracle Writings from the Ruins of Yin], 2nd rev. ed. Hoyu.
• Shirakawa Shizuka 白川静, Jitō 字統, 2004.
• Tang Jiahong 唐嘉弘, 东夷及其历史地位, Shixue yuekan 史学月刊, 1989.4, pp. 37–46.
• Xu Guanghui 徐光輝, Kodai no bōgyo shūraku to seidōki bunka no kōryū 古代の防御集落と青銅器文化の交流, Higashi Ajia to hantō kūkan 東アジアと『半島空間』, pp. 21–44, 2003.
• Xu Zhongshu 徐中舒, ed. 1988. Jiaguwen zidian甲骨文字典 [Shell and Bone (i.e., Oracle) Character Dictionary]. Sichuan Cishu.
• Yoshimoto Michimasa 吉本道雅. "Chūgoku Sengoku jidai ni okeru "Shii" kannen no seiritsu 中国戦国時代における「四夷」観念の成立". Retrieved 2006-03-04. 

Further reading

• Cohen, David Joel. 2001. The Yueshi culture, the Dong Yi, and the archaeology of ethnicity in early Bronze Age China. Ph.D. dissertation. Dept. of Anthropology, Harvard University.

External links

Look up 夷 in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• 东夷文化网
• 东夷文化及对中华文化的贡献