“There is no nation without history, there is no family without a family tree”

Sárközi, Ildikó Gyöngyvér (2016) “There is no nation without history, there is no family without a family tree”. Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 61 (1). pp. 173-195. ISSN 1216-9803

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Abstract

The 1949 rise to power of the Chinese Communist Party (Zhongguo Gongchandang 中国共产党)¹ was the beginning of a new era in China: the declaration of the People’s Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo 中华人民共和国) was the first step on the “socialist road” leading to the creation of the long-coveted Chinese national unity. However, progress on the “socialist road” has posed many challenges for the ethnic minorities living within China’s borders. Mostly because melting into the Chinese national unity – paradoxically – became a symbol of the autonomy of ethnic minorities. In the spirit of this process, the ethnic nationalist aspirations of the Sibe (Chin. xibo zu 锡伯族; Sib. sibe uksura ᠰᡞᠪᡝ ᡠᡣᠰᡠᠷᠠ), the ethnic minority I studied, unfolded alongside the writing of Chinese national history. In my work, I follow these endeavors from the 1950s until recent times. At the center is a story that is seemingly about the knowledge base of Sibe ancestors, the family trees, and beyond that, about the “reunification” of a clan that was torn apart in 1764 by thousands of miles. But, in fact, it formulates much more than that: the idea of political martyrdom by the Sibe in the interest of creating the Chinese national unity. It is through this story that I wish to provide an insight into how Chinese national unity was created.

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