Journal paper

Issue No.	No. 37
Title	The Hsi of the Wei-chin Southern Dynasty and the Ethnic Issue in Tao Yuanming
Author	Leu Chuen-Sheng
Page	1-26
Abstract	In the historical records of the Wei-chin Southern Dynasty, there are fragmentary accounts about the Hsi, yet they have seldom been noticed. Since Zhou Yiliang and Chen Yinque, who further investigated this ethnic group, considered the famous general Tao Kan of the Eastern Chin and the great poet Tao Yuanming to be the descendents of the Hsi, studies regarding the Hsi have multiplied in the academic circle. However, owing to the insufficiency of historical materials, the characteristics of the tribe have still remained vague. 　　Some traits commonly adopted to depict the Hsi in effect could not clearly characterize the so-called Hsi tribe. Yet if we follow the perspective that the Hsi was the so-called Wu Hsi Man, we will find that the concept of the Man itself in the Wei-chin Southern and Northern Dynasties was rather vague, since it was a collective name for the non-Han tribes along the Yangtze River, while Wu Hsi Man a general name for the nonHan tribes in the Wu Hsi area. As a result, the so-called Hsi might not refer to a specific tribe with a clear definition. We could only understand the term, the Hsi, as a part of the non-Han tribe, “Man.” 　　According to historical materials, Tao Kan was teased as “Hsi dog” at his time. There must be certain exotic characters in Tao Kan that could not be identified by the “Chinese people.” Nonetheless, Tao Kan did not isolate himself from the Han society; instead, he attempted to gradually blend himself into the Han. The origin of Tao Kan might be related to the Hsi, yet his achievements mainly came from personal talents rather than from the support of the Hsi. 　　Till Tao Kan’s great grandson, Tao Yuanming, there was little trace of exotic characteristics in the Tao clan. According to kinship, we may say that Tao Yuanming came from the southern Hsi, yet he was not treated as a different race by the Han people. On the other hand, although Tao Yuanmong still had a strong consciousness of his own tribe, he did not admit in the public that he was a Hsi. Thus, we may say that Tao Yuanming, the descendents of the Hsi, had integrated himself with the Han society.
Keyword	the Wei-chin and Southern Dynasty, the Hsi, Tao Kan, Tao Yuanming, ethnic relation
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