| Abstract |
This article surveys the various ethnic identities that were assumed by the Lee family of the Dang-Qu regions. The Lee family in question were Zong people who migrated from the Ba region (in modern-day Chongqing) to northern China during the last years of the Eastern Han dynasty. After registering in Lueyang County (略陽郡), they underwent a gradual process of sinicization. During last years of Western Jin dynasty, the Lee family, together with the Di people, moved south again to the Chengdu Plain. Since they lived alongside the Di, to outsiders they were identified collectively as the Ba-Di peoples. But as the Lee family assumed a leading position among the refugee groups, they began to trace their past lineage and to identify themselves as members of the Zong people. This process of self-identification with the Zong intensified after they formed marriage alliances with other members of the Zong. The help they received from Fan Changsheng (范長生), a Taoist leader and a prominent member of the Zong people, further hastened their sense of self-identification with the Zong. By looking at the Lee family in detail, this article shows the complex nature of sinicization during this period: the predominant Han Chinese were able to rule over minority groups by dealing directly with their chiefs or leaders; at the same time, minority groups were able to keep their self-identity by maintaining their own religion and through marriage alliances with other members of the same minority group. |
