Hongwu Research Articles

Pen Talk：East Asian Cultural Exchange under the Same Words

<p>近代所謂漢字文化圈者，意謂在東亞區域之內諸國受中國文化之影響，舉凡儒學、佛教及技術等，皆由中國而向外傳至日、韓、琉及越南等，東亞諸國的文化交流的媒介自然是以漢字為主。</p> <p>東亞交流雖自六朝開始，但當時並無官方語音的觀念，因此交流之時自以當時主流發音為主，而主流發音則隨政治、經濟形勢而變。六朝時以南方吳音為主流，唐時以河洛及西北方音為主流，南宋時則以蘇杭音為主流。</p> <p>書寫文字雖同，但音調則有差異，這對其他諸國而言，也是有所困擾，音調雖有變化，但書寫則不變，筆談即是東亞交流中溝通的媒介。</p> <p>明太祖所建立起朝貢制度，政治及經濟來往熱絡，朝鮮作為明朝與日本的紐帶，明、朝之間的燕行使與朝、日之間的通信使，交往之時大體透過筆談溝通。甚至越南與琉球、日本交往之時亦復透過筆談溝通。</p> <p>筆談之事，少見於唐宋，入明則筆談的記錄頻率轉增，然則筆談出現的頻率則證諸東亞交流的狀況及文化交流的盛景，其事雖簡，其義則甚重大。</p> <p> </p><p>The so-called Chinese cultural circle in modern times means that all countries in the East Asian region are influenced by Chinese culture, and all Confucianism, Buddhism, and technology have been spread from China to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Vietnam, and other countries in East Asia. The medium of cultural exchange is naturally based on Chinese characters.</p> <p>Although the East Asia exchange started from the Six Dynasties, there was no concept of official speech at that time. Therefore, the main stream of pronunciation was mainly from the time when the exchange was made, and the mainstream pronunciation changed with the political and economic situation. At the time of the Six Dynasties, Wu Yin was the mainstream in the South. In the Tang Dynasty, Heluo and Northwestern were the mainstream. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Su Hang sound was the mainstream.</p> <p>Although the written words are the same, but the tones are different, this is also a nuisance to other countries. Although the tone changes, the writing remains the same. The pen talk is the medium of communication in East Asian communication.</p> <p>Ming Taizu established the tributary system, political and economic exchanges, North Korea as the ties between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, the Yan Dynasty between the Ming Dynasty and the DPRK to exercise communication with the DPRK and Japan, when the exchanges are generally communicated through the pen. Even when Vietnam communicates with Ryukyu and Japan, it communicates through pen talks.</p> <p>The things in pen talk are rare in the Tang and Song dynasties. The frequency of writing records in Ming Ming’s writings has increased. However, the frequency of conversations in writing has confirmed the status of exchanges in East Asia and the grand scene of cultural exchanges. Although the matter is simple, its significance is very significant.</p> <p> </p>

Share and Rule: Intellectual Origins of the Early Ming (1368–1644) Princedoms

In the early Ming (1368-1644), the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋, 1328-1398, r. 1368-1398) established more than twenty princedoms across the empire. Scholarship to date has generally emphasized the continuance of the Yuan (1271-1368) institutions into the early Ming. Apart from the endurance of Yuan legacy, this article addresses how Zhu Yuanzhang ideologically framed and justified the establishment of princedoms. By showing the possible influences of Southern Song (1127-1279) statecraft traditions on early Ming legislation, this article argues that Zhu Yuanzhang sought to construct the enduring system of government by drawing on the classic model of “divide and rule,” as suggested in the Confucian Classics. In their turn, the literati who advised Zhu Yuanzhang in the making of the Ming empire sought to secure their own realms of autonomy and influence in local society by upholding the fengjian doctrine and presenting themselves as the later counterparts of the ancient feudal vassals who “shared” in the governance of their country and “ruled” on behalf of their emperors.

Language Policies Under Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di Regimes: A Comparative Perspective

This study attempts to examine the differences of the language policies formulation and implementation during the two significant early periods of Ming dynasty (1368-1644). It uses a historical comparative perspective to understand the processes involved in language change. In order to deal with the relationship between Mongolian and Chinese and to develop a system to regulate language use for Chinese, the early Ming government enacted a series of language policies. There were both similarities as well as differences in the policies made by Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, the two paramount rulers of the Ming dynasty. Whereas the policies during Zhu Yuanzhang time manifested in repression of Mongolian through implementing acculturation measures such as intermarriage between Mongol and Chinese, Zhu Di paid more attention to language harmony characteristic of liberalism toward Mongolian language. Zhu Yuanzhang standardized written language based on the authoritative Nanjing speech. He set up an education system to propagate both a national lingua franca and a vernacular with latter playing important role in promoting the technological advancement. Zhu Di’s regime was also remembered for its efforts in promulgating foreign language education policies, thus on the one hand to establish a rapport with neighboring countries in East Asia, southeast Asia and the inner Western Asia, and on the other hand, to promote the international spread of Chinese language in these regions.

The Significance and Dynamics of the Marriages of Imperial Princes in the Political Plans of the Hongwu Emperor

AbstractThe Hongwu emperor’s marriage arrangements between members of the noblity and his own children, particularly the imperial princes, are widely recognized as efforts to centralize imperial power. On the other hand, a rivalry for power has been assumed between the nobles and imperial princes. Some scholars even suggested that the ruler intended to first affiliate with the nobles and then to eliminate them. This essay first explains that the significance of these marriages lay in the reproduction and sustainability of the system of princedoms, which Hongwu held in high regard. Then through an extensive analysis of the development of the system of princedoms and the marriages involved, a comparison between the marriages of the princes and princesses, and a study of the fates of purged in-laws, this essay demonstrates that Hongwu’s marriage arrangements for the princes were crucial to his institutional and political designs for the empire.

The Emperors' New Gifts: Bestowing Sacrificial Necessities and Burial Essentials in Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) China

The tradition of granting funerary gifts from the emperor to his prominent ministers can be traced back to the Zhou dynasty. Scholars have agreed that the gifts meant more than assistance in preparing death rituals but were regarded as an honor to the deceased. What has been less discussed in recent scholarship is the role the emperor perceived himself as playing in the death rituals of his ministers through the types of funerary gifts he offered. A dramatic change in the types of funerary gifts bestowed was initiated by the Hongwu Emperor (1368–1398), and this new practice was continued by the subsequent emperors. By looking into the purpose of granting the new gifts and the ways of bestowing them, both of which had changed over the course of the Ming dynasty, we will be able to scrutinize the dynamic relationships between monarchs and officials through the conflicts between emotions and rituals and the adaptability of Confucian prescriptions and practices.

Rumours and prophecies: the religious background of the late Yuan rebellions

ABSTRACTThe conventional view of the late Yuan rebellions of Xu Shouhui and Han Shantong is that they were both inspired by Maitreyist beliefs. Han Shantong claimed that a Luminous King would appear. The prominent Chinese historian Wu Han therefore argued that this rebellion was influenced by Manichaean beliefs. The rebellion is also traditionally seen as the moment that the lay Buddhist devotionalist White Lotus movement worshipping Guanyin and Amitāhba changed into the messianic and supposedly rebellious White Lotus Teachings. I will demonstrate that the Xu Shouhui rebellion was not Maitreyist at all, but advocated the reestablishment of a Song dynasty. It included a large number of leaders with a background in the lay Buddhist White Lotus movement, but was never labelled a messianic White Lotus Teachings until modern historians applied this label. The Han Shantong rebellion on the other hand was definitively Maitreyist, but the belief in a Luminous King did not derive from Manichaean beliefs but from an old indigenous tradition, the Sutra of the Five Lords. I argue that even the choice of the name Ming for Zhu Yuanzhang’s new dynasty and his choice of the capital of Nanjing were inspired by this particular religious text.

The Mongol Cultural Legacy in East and Central Asia: The Early Ming and Timurid Courts

Following the fall of the Mongol Empire (c. 1206–1368) in both East and West Asia, Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu Emperor, r. 1368–1398), the founder of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) in China, Timur (r. 1370–1405), founder of the Timurid Empire (1370–1507) in Central Asia, and their successors used the legacy of the Chinggisid Mongols in different ways to lend an aura of power and legitimacy to their newly established courts. In this paper, I explore the cultural legacy of the Mongol Empire as manifested in the early Ming and Timurid courts, with a special interest in how continuing cultural exchange between the two courts impacted the arts produced in both places. In particular, I highlight how the ongoing incorporation of “foreign” motifs and techniques set the tone for the arts of both courts in the late fourteenth century.

Jeong Sun-chik’s 􋺷Yukyu Yeoneui􋺸 and Grassroots Education

􋺷육유연의􋺸는 명나라 태조 홍무제가 1388년 민중을 교화하기 위하여 제작ㆍ공포한 칙찬서 『敎民榜文』의 「六諭」에 청나라 학자 范鋐이 각 항목마다 해설을 붙여 간행한 책이다. 이후 이 책은 琉球의 학자이자 정치가인 정순칙에 의해 1708년 유구로 전래되었다. 그는 이 책이 당시 중국에 조공하던 유구인들의 중국어 학습에 유용할 뿐만 아니라, 유구의 풍속을 淳化할 서민교육에도 적합하다고 판단했다. 그러나 『육유연의』는 중국어 학습서 보다는 도덕서로 더 많은 역할을 하게 되었다. 따라서 유구서민들을 교육하고자 했던 정순칙의 애민사상과 노력은 유구인들에게 ‘나고성인’으로 불리며 그 공적을 인정받았다. 한편 『육유연의』는 유구가 사츠마에 헌상하고, 다시 사츠마에서 일본 에도막부 8대장군 도쿠가와 요시무네에게도 헌상되었다. 『육유연의』를 받은 요시무네는 당대의 저명한 학자들에게 간편한 해설판을 만들도록 했다. 그런 과정을 거쳐 『육유연의』는 당시 교육기관인 藩校와 테라꼬야(寺子屋)를 통해 교육서이자 도덕서로 일본 전역에 퍼져 에도막부의 서민교육에도 지대한 영향을 미쳤다.In 1388, the founder and emperor Hongwu of the Ming dynasty published and proclaimed 『Gyomin Bangmun』, a book of rescript style that aimed to enlighten the public. One of the sections of that book is 「Yukyu」. And 『Yukyu Yeoneui』, published by Fan-hung as a scholar of the Ching nation, is a book that provides explanations of all the items of「Yukyu」. In 1708, the explanatory book was introduced to Yugu by Jeong Sun-chik who was the then scholar and politician of the kingdom. He thought 『Yukyu Yeoneui』 would be not only good to teach Chinese to people of Yugu that was a tributary state of China, but also suitable as a means of grassroots education to purify the customs of the kingdom. In Yugu, however, 『Yukyu Yeoneui』 played a role as moral guides more than Chinese language instructions. For his efforts to educate the general public with the guides based on profound affection for people, Jeong Sun-chik was fully recognized by people of Yugu to be called as ‘saint of Nago’. In the meantime, 『Yukyu Yeoneui』 was presented from Yugu to Satsuma and then to Tokugawa Yoshimune, the 8th shogun of the Edo shogunate regime. Youshimune made the then distinguished scholars to create a more brief explanatory version of that book. Following the move, 『Yukyu Yeoneui』 was distributed as a text for education and morals across Japan through its educational establishments like Beongyo and Terakoya, greatly influencing grassroots education by the Edo shogunate regime.

A Study on the Perception toward Mencius by the Central Bureaucrats of the Early Days of the Joseon Dynasty: Focused on the Annals and the Royal Lecture of the Joseon Dynasty

이 논문의 목적은 조선전기 중앙관료들의『맹자』에 대한 인식이 민본과 왕도에 있음을 밝히는 데 있다. 민본과 왕도는 통상『맹자』의 핵심개념으로 꼽힌다. 동시대 명 태조의 『맹자』에 대한 인식이 전제 군주제에 초점을 맞추고 있는 것과 비교해보면, 조선전기 중앙관료의 『맹자』에 대한 인식이 특별하면서도 고유한 특징을 갖고 있음을 알 수 있다. 이는 명과 조선의 『맹자』에 대한 인식을 문화다원론적 측면에서 고찰해볼 수 있는 단서가 된다. 조선전기 중앙관료는 조선이 백성, 신하, 군주라는 세 주체로 이루어져 있다고 생각한다. 무엇보다도 백성이 국가의 근본이다. 군주는 텅 비어있는 저울과 같다. 신하는 군주의 마음을 텅 비어있는 상태로 만들어야만 백성들의 윤택한 삶을 확보할 수 있다. 이 때문에 조선전기 중앙관료들은 주자학 가운데 미발의 본성 함양을 우선하는 중화신설보다 이발의 자기의식점검을 우선하는 중화구설을 받아들인다. 그리고 그들은 경연을 통해서 군주의 마음을 어지럽히는 여러 가지 요소를 제거하는 권한을 가짐으로써 왕권을 견제하고 민생을 확보하는 데 주력한다. 따라서 필자는 조선전기 중앙관료의 『맹자』인식은 민본과 왕도에 있다고 주장한다.The purpose of this study is to identify that the perception toward Mencius by the central bureaucrats of the early days of the Joseon dynasty laid in Political Ideology rooting people and the Rule of Right. Normally, Political Ideology rooting people and the Rule of Right are the key concepts of Mencius. However, when examining the perception toward Mencius by Zhu Yuanzhang from the same period, the perception toward Mencius by the central bureaucrats of the early days of the Joseon dynasty was very unique and had inherent characteristics. The bureaucrats thought that the Joseon dynasty was comprised of three principal agents: the people, vassals, and the ruler. Most of all, the people are the foundation of a state. The ruler is like an empty scale. Vassals can secure prosperous lives of the people only when they can empty the mind of the ruler. In that sense, among the theories of Zhu Xi, the bureaucrats accepted the early theory, which prioritized the self-awareness inspection by Yi-fa, rather than the late theory, which put emphasis on the cultivation of human nature by Wei-fa. Moreover, the bureaucrats focused on keeping royal authority in check and securing the livelihood of the people by possessing the power to eliminate a number of elements which distracted the mind of the ruler through the lectures on classics. Therefore, this study insists that the perception toward Mencius by the central bureaucrats of the early days of the Joseon dynasty lies in Political Ideology rooting people and the Rule of Right.

The Kongs of Qufu: The Descendants of Confucius in Late Imperial China by Christopher S. Agnew

Reviewed by: The Kongs of Qufu: The Descendants of Confucius in Late Imperial China by Christopher S. Agnew Don J. Wyatt (bio) Christopher S. Agnew. The Kongs of Qufu: The Descendants of Confucius in Late Imperial China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2019. xi, 241 pp. Paperback $30.00, isbn 978-0-295-74593-0. Christopher S. Agnew's ambitious The Kongs of Qufu: The Descendants of Confucius in Late Imperial China constitutes a longitudinal examination of exceptionalism on multiple levels. On the most fundamental level, to be sure, we must regard this exceptionalism foremost as genealogical. After all, from the Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) forward, only those Kongs of China based at Qufu (in the southwestern part of the present-day province of Shandong) succeeded in becoming the direct progeny of the fabled "first teacher," Kong Qiu or Confucius (551–479 B.C.E.). On this basis, they thereafter secured the perquisite of perennial enfeoffment by every successive regime of the imperial order. However, this pertinent fact of ancestry notwithstanding, what Agnew's study demonstrates even more deftly is the depth as well as the durability of the exceptionalism with which we are presented by the Qufu Kongs. Through it, he painstakingly illuminates the intricacies of how this lineage was able to withstand not merely dynastic change but also bureaucratic–administrative imperatives across the ages in ways that made its members truly anomalous, distinct from all others in the empire. In doing so, Agnew provides us with a portrait in patriliny that was profoundly adept at exploiting its distinctiveness to its own advantage across time and successful in doing it far more so in novel political and economic terms that we could hardly suspect than in the customary cultural and ritualistic ones that we might normally expect. Apart from its "Introduction," which most advantageously offers a succinct survey of the existing Chinese- and Western-language secondary literature on the Kongs of Qufu as a lineage and its "Conclusion," which functionally serves more in the vein of an early twentieth-century epilogue than a restatement of prior arguments, Agnew's study consists of seven chronologically progressive chapters. The first chapter, "Inventing the Dukedom," explicates the watershed ritualistic debate of the mid-eleventh century resulting in the creation of the title of Duke for Fulfilling the Sage (Yansheng Gong 衍聖公), which was retained exclusively by the Qufu Kongs and not abolished until 1935.1 However, Agnew simultaneously contextualizes it as the product of factional politics arising during the early or Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), with one clear [End Page 243] ramification being the unprecedented creation of a county magistracy that was administratively separate from the ritualistic jurisdiction of the dukedom and yet still controlled by Kongs, at least at first. This bifurcation of what formerly was a unitary set of privileges vested in one man by imperial fiat was clearly intended to reduce the political influence of Kong lineage. The unintended effect it actually had, however, was to facilitate among the Qufu Kongs a level of self-rule that was replicated nowhere else in the empire, neither then nor later. Yet, as Agnew makes known via chapters 2 and 3, this early fourteenthcentury designation of Qufu as the county capital and Queli as the ritualistic site of the ducal residence—comprised of the Kong Manor (Kong Fu 孔府), the Kong Temple (Kong Miao 孔廟), and the Kong Cemetery (Kong Lin 孔林)—resulted in a firm jurisdictional distinction between the two (i.e., a bureaucratic wall that had not previously existed). Although separated by a distance of merely nine li 里, or three miles, once the distinction was formalized by Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–1398) as founding emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the administrative seat of Qufu and the cultural seat of Queli entered into a fraught and oftentimes antagonistic relationship that would continue into the twentieth century. Or, as Agnew states the matter, "Local politics thus took on the character of a struggle between these contending sites and ideas, between those who supported the centralized aristocratic administration of hereditary ducal power, and those who sought to press for the regularization of local administration to bring it more in line...

명태조 『도덕경』 어주의 ‘무위’관념 연구

명태조 『도덕경』 어주의 ‘무위’관념 연구

Changing Identities: Chinese Muslims’ Marriage Strategies in Late Ming Quanzhou

Recent scholarship on early Ming sinification policies has revealed that the founding emperor of the Ming, Zhu Yuanzhang, carried out a series of reforms to revive Chinese features in his people which targeted the influence of Mongols and other foreigners on the empire, including enforcement of intermarriage between Chinese and non-Chinese to prohibit endogamy within non-Chinese groups. Endogamy had long been used as an effective means to consolidate the purity and ensure the continuity of Muslim communities in China. This study examines how the imperial state’s policy of mandatory intermarriage affected Muslim marriage choices by analyzing marital values, marriage strategies, and the adjustments of family practice in intermarried households. In this way, gender, through marriage strategies, played a critical role in Chinese Muslims’ changing identities.

洪武帝의 명령이 고려에 전달되는 경로 : 聖旨의 문서화 과정을 중심으로

This study examined the process how the Hongwu Emperor’s orders were delivered to Koryŏ. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there were no regulations stipulating how to document and convey the orders of the emperor. In this situation, the will of the emperor was sometimes conveyed in the form of documents, sometimes in the form of oral messages, to the neighboring country, Koryŏ court.BR The emperor’s orders were most commonly proclaimed in the form of an imperial edict, in the name of the Emperor. Most of the imperial edicts were drafted by the secretaries based on the orders of the emperor, but there was also a statement by Hongwu Emperor himself, called hand edict. In contrast to the former, the latter shows a much more direct expression of the emperor’s intentions. The words of the emperor were immediately transcribed by the imperial clerks. When the envoys of the Koryŏ heard the Emperor’s words, the transcript were conveyed by the envoys hands. When the Ming’s bureaucrats heard them, they were communicated to the Koryŏ government by sending an official document citing the emperor’s orders. The latter was one step further embellished than the former, so the emperor’s will was transmitted vividly. There was also a way of oral delivery of the emperor’s orders. It is a way for the envoys of Koryŏ or Ming to convey the Emperor’s words to Koryŏ court without being transferred by letter.BR The route through which the emperor’s command is delivered can be summarized in five ways: 1) Oral message, 2) Transcript, 3) Official document, 4) Hand edict, 5) Imperial edict. Among them, the emperor’s will can be expressed most directly by 1) oral message. As the latter goes, the emperor’s remarks became more and more refined through more procedures, sometimes decorated with diplomatic rhetorics, and the emperor’s intention was gradually hiding behind the writings. On the other hand, 1) oral message had the possibility that the memory of the messenger was inaccurate, and that the envoy would arbitrarily distort it. The emperor’s words could be expressed more clearly and logically as it went by going through the various procedures.

The Governing Liaodong(遼東經略) of Ming and the relations between Joseon and Ming in the Hong-wu, the Founder of Ming, period

The Governing Liaodong(遼東經略) of Ming and the relations between Joseon and Ming in the Hong-wu, the Founder of Ming, period

洪武年間 明의 封典 整備와 朝·明關係

洪武年間 明의 封典 整備와 朝·明關係

Study on the Characteristics of School Physical Education in Ming and Qing Dynasties

During the Ming Dynasty, based on talent demand, Zhu Yuanzhang require schools to cultivate both civil and military personnel, at all levels of the school building fire garden, archery, and establish the evaluation standard. But due to ride and shoot sports content eventually did not enter the scope of the imperial examination, has not been able to officer students' attention, unsettled finally. In the Qing Dynasty, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty based on the social and political needs, riding and shooting education is one of the basic contents of the Eight Banners, riding and shooting will be closely integrated examinations, powerful promote the development of riding and shooting for the Eight Banners school.

Lord and Minister Like Fish and Water: Xu Wei's Poems on Emperors Past and Present

The artist and poet Xu Wei (1521–93) is well known for his eccentric and bohemian behavior as well as his powerful artistic expressiveness. With this in mind, mainland Chinese scholars have interpreted his work and poetry as representing indignation “against the entire feudal regime,” whilst Western scholars have held him up as an example or symbol of late Ming “individualism” and its implications of non-conformity, iconoclasm, and heterodoxy. However, by examining his poetry specifically on emperors and the relationships between emperor and subject, we can see a very different and more nuanced Xu Wei. Far from being “anti-feudal” or iconoclastic, Xu wrote of how he admired the martial prowess of the Wanli Emperor reviewing the troops and applauded strong and powerful emperors of the past such as the Hongwu Emperor, founder of the Ming dynasty. This not only challenges our conceptions of late Ming “individualism,” but also our conceptions of sixteenth-century literati views of the Ming emperor and his martial spectacles.

Chinese Emperors in Foreign Perspective - A Study on The Image of Ming Taizu in Korean Classic Literature -

Chinese Emperors in Foreign Perspective - A Study on The Image of Ming Taizu in Korean Classic Literature -

명초 홍무제의 종교정책과 통치구상 : 불교와 도교를 중심으로

명초 홍무제의 종교정책과 통치구상 : 불교와 도교를 중심으로

The Alternative Chinatown: Lewchew (Ryukyu) Kume Village and “36 Min Families” (另類唐人街 -「閩人三十六姓」與琉球久米村)

Kumemura Village, or Kuninda, has been known as the community of Chinese immigrants with a more than five-hundred year background of scholar-bureaucrat aristocracy in Lewchew, or Ryukyu. They supposedly originated from a group of 36 families from the Southern Chinese Min (閩) ethnic group since 1392. Although much research has been conducted on the subject matter throughout the years, there is almost no scholar who would tackle it on the concept of a “Chinatown.” There are basically two reasons to account for such tendency in academics. Firstly, unlike most Chinese immigrant groups in other parts of the world, the 36 Min Families who had moved to Lewchew did not leave the country of their own accord, for neither private nor economic reasons, but in fact, were ordered by Emperor Hongwu to emigrate for political reasons. Furthermore, Kuninda-chu, the descendants of 36 Min Families, have almost, in the same way as other Okinawa people regard them over the years, never seen themselves as “overseas Chinese.”However, this paper argues that there are still plenty of similarities between Kuninda-chu and other overseas Chinese in the world. The two main points for this paper are: firstly, Kuninda-chu relied excessively on the Chinese World Order and tributary system for its maintenance, so its survival rested primarily on the existence of this political structure, and was eventually disintegrated upon the collapse of the system. Secondly, Chinese culture was largely brought by Kuninda-chu to Ryukyu during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but it is still kept alive and observed in Okinawa society to this day and in stark contrast with the Yamaonchu, the Japanese in the mainland of Japan, it directly helped shaping and forming the Okinawa people’s self-identity as Uchinan-chu.Truly, Kuninda no longer exists in the Okinawa society today, but Kuninda-chu’s descendants have been upholding their unique ethic image through various traditional activities organized by different groups, Kume-Sosekai notwithstanding. Moreover, Kuninda-chu is also one of the earliest overseas Chinese groups who had assimilated successfully into the local Okinawa community. It is clear that Kuninda is one of the most paramount alternative cases for the studies of overseas Chinese.過去有關琉球「久米村」的歷史研究，鮮有學者以「唐人街」的概念來探討它的歷史與社會形態。其原因係「久米村人」或稱「閩人三十六姓」擁有有別於一般認知的華僑特徵。其一、儘管「久米村人」來自於中國著名僑鄉福建，然而這些移民最初並非個人的意志，亦非家庭因素而來到琉球，因爲他們是「官派」移民。其二、早期第一代閩僑「出外」的目的，乃以經濟為主要誘因，然「閩人三十六姓」則是受明太祖洪武帝派遣，前來琉球以輔助王國之營運及維繫與中國的關係，其政治目的十分清晰。其三、「閩人三十六姓」的子孫之間幾乎不存在「華僑」意識，更多的視自己為琉球人的一部分，而其他琉球人亦如此視之。然而本文認爲「久米村人」與一般認知上的華僑、華人還是有許多共通之處。本文聚焦兩個主要面向，來探討「久米村」及「久米村人」在僑居地琉球的變遷與影響。兩大論點包括一、儘管「久米村」對琉球王國的發展功不可沒，然而過於仰賴「中華世界體系」的存在，故因該體制的興起而生，亦因該體制的衰亡而瓦解；二、「久米村人」是將中國文化大量帶進琉球的重要推手，中國文化至今仍在沖繩社會傳承，並在沖繩人形塑自我認同上發揮不可或缺的重要影響。儘管「久米村」已不復存在，然而擁有500年歷史的「久米村」留下了龐大有跡可尋的歷史紀錄，而「久米村人」的後裔至今仍透過許多聯誼組織，低調地繼續維繫著在琉球社會中獨特族群的形象，而「久米村人」也是歷史上華僑最早「落地生根」的族群之一，提供了華僑、華人研究不可多得的重要個案。 (This article is in Chinese.)