However, according to the traditional academic point of view, the early meaning of "Rong" is not clear, and it is more a general term for ethnic groups, and its scope of activities is not limited to the West. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were some scattered records about Rong, but it was the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period that was really active on the historical stage.
The Spring and Autumn Annals recorded in detail the existence and distribution of Rong nationality at that time. North Rong, Mountain Rong, Endless Rong, Yang Rong, Yin Rong, Li Rong ... In addition to a large number of people and rich branches, the Rong clan gradually became "close" to the Central Plains countries at this time. According to the textual research of modern historian Mr. Gu Jiegang, the Rong nationality at this time was distributed in Chinese mainland, with Rong nationality in the east, North Rong nationality and Shan Rong nationality, and West Rong nationality and Li Rong nationality. When you are close, you will naturally have more contact. According to historical records, at this time, Zhu Rong did not stay in his own territory to live a small life, but interacted with Zhou royal family, Qin, Jin, Qi, Chu, Zheng and other countries.
Scholars have studied the distribution of Rong in the mid-Spring and Autumn Period. For example, Shanrong, which appeared at the northern foot of Yanshan Mountain, invaded Yan State, but it did not bring any benefits. After Qi Huangong took hegemony, it invaded Shanrong on a large scale under the pretext of invading Shanrong, and the result was that Shanrong left. In addition to fighting and killing, there were also some blends. For example, Wu Dongrong, who was active in Dayuan (now near Taiyuan City), had a war with the State of Jin, and even sent messengers to lobby Duke Xiang of Jin, and finally reached a short-term alliance with the State of Jin. Li Rong, who lives in Xingfeng, Lintong District, Shaanxi Province, went one step further and gave Li Ji to Jin Xiangong as a concubine. Li Ji not only gave birth to Xi for her husband, but also provoked civil strife in the State of Jin.
The influence of the Rong family did not last long. During the Warring States period, with the merger war of other countries, the Rong nationality sandwiched between vassal States either died out in the war or merged into all ethnic groups in the Central Plains. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty clearly recorded the demise of the Rong family:
"Zhao also destroyed, namely BeiRong also. Han and Wei's father * * * slightly combined with Iraq, Luo and Yin Rong, and destroyed them. "
Since then, "China has no tolerance, only Yu Yiqu".
In the TV series "The Legend of Mi Yue", Yi Qurong did not escape the tragic ending, although Zhai Lu took a group of soldiers and horses and shuttled between countries at will, harassing other countries and stirring up the political situation. In 272 BC, Yi Qurong was completely destroyed, and the original territory was also established as the Northern Emperor County by Zhao Xiang, the king of Qin, and became one of the 36 counties in the early Qin Dynasty. By the Han Dynasty, the Rong nationality basically disappeared.
Screenshot of the TV series "Legend of Mi Yue", and a story is also recorded in Zuo Zhuan, the king of Chu. When Xin saw a sacrifice in Yichuan, he lamented that it was an act of Rong people, and the etiquette here had disappeared. This story is called "one spread to ten, ten spread to a hundred" by later generations, which refers to the decline of Chinese etiquette. From this point of view, the "Rong" family is like a "barbarian" relative to the Central Plains countries.
However, are soldiers really so "backward"? According to textual research, the name "Rong" was not an ugly name at first, but was only used to distinguish different ethnic origins without any emotional color. Moreover, Rong's cultural level is not backward. In the process of cohabitation and marriage with Huaxia, they had a lot of exchanges, and even Rong's upper class could get a good education.
The production, etiquette, diet and clothing of the Rong nationality are also unique. For example, compared with the farming economy in the Central Plains, the Rong people are in a compound economic form of farming, animal husbandry and hunting, but they pay more attention to nomadism. Rong people also value meat over food in diet structure, and they also have some different habits from China people in clothing, such as wearing hair and covering.
However, at present, the academic circles have not yet formed a completely unified view on the emergence, development and change of the "Rong" clan, which needs more archaeological discoveries to prove.
In other words, the Rong nationality is still very mysterious.
Honorable people, why did you come to the Central Plains? China people have always been attached to their homeland and like to say "move". But for military personnel, migration is not a rare thing. In history, Rong people have migrated many times, large and small, basically in the direction of the Central Plains. The reasons for their migration, according to the current words, are "natural disasters" and "man-made disasters".
The so-called natural disasters are also climate change. Sudden climatic conditions such as drought are considered to be the main factors that promote the migration of Rong and Ju people. There is also a view that the first cold period in history occurred in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the dry and cold climate greatly interfered with the life and production of the Rong people, who had to migrate to the southeast. Of course, in this process, the invasion of the Central Plains by the Rong people naturally occurred.
"Man-made disaster" refers to the "love and killing" between the Central Plains countries and the Rong nationality. It is generally believed that the interaction between Rong nationality and vassal state is frequent and rich, and the relationship between them also involves hostility, pilgrimage, alliance, submission, marriage and so on. But among them, "war" is the absolute main line. From time to time, the Rong people harassed countries in the Central Plains and plundered property. Other countries also conquered and expelled the Rong nationality. During the Spring and Autumn Period, China was originally divided into clans, and princes competed for hegemony. As soon as Rong stepped in, he was inevitably involved in the struggles of various countries.
Among them, Lu Hunrong's migration and stage performance are extremely dramatic. Lu Hunrong originally lived in Guazhou (now Dunhuang) and was composed of two branches: Yunrong and Jiangrong. In 638 BC, Lu Hunrong moved to Yichuan. "Zuo Zhuan Xi Gong Twenty-two Years" contains: "In autumn, Qin Jin moved the army to Yichuan." Yichuan is located near Luoyang city today, with a high mountain and a long road. Why did Lu Hunrong travel thousands of miles for his family?
In Zuo Zhuan's Fourteen Years of "xianggong", Liu Murong's accusation of blood and tears was recorded:
"In the past, the Qin people forced Zuwu to leave Guazhou, but Zuwu was the first monarch since I was covered with thorns."
In other words, at that time, in order to develop its strength and expand its territory, Qin expelled Lu Hunrong.
Fortunately, "Gong Hui is proud of virtue and calls me Zhu Rong. I am a descendant of April, and I don't want to be abandoned. Give me a field of contempt, where foxes live and wolves howl ... "Gong Hui is the Gong Hui of the State of Jin, which means that the State of Jin not only accepted Lu Hunrong, but also placed them in Yichuan.
According to textual research, the Jiang tribe of Lu Hunrong lived in the state of Jin, and another tribe named Yun moved to the northeast of Tianhu Town on the banks of the Yi River in Song County today.
Screenshot of the documentary, Lu Hunrong's general position and situation As for the reason why Jin accepted Lu Hunrong, there are different speculations in the academic circles. Some people say that this is the strategic layout of the state of Jin, trying to "block the road of Qin people moving eastward in the south and the division of Chu empire in the north"; It is also said that the state of Qin was the biggest beneficiary of Lu Hunrong's eastward move. As for Jin, it was also because of his defeat and capture that he had to agree to Qin's request and take over this "hot potato" after his release.
Whether forced or voluntary, the state of Jin should be grateful for this decision. Facts have proved that Lu Hunrong became a favorable alliance partner of Jin State after his return to Jin, which was of great help to Jin State's hegemony in the later period.
The battle of Naoto Kan is an example. In this war for hegemony, Lu Hunrong, a Jiang family who once owed money to the State of Jin, joined hands with the State of Jin and finally helped the State of Jin win. According to textual research, the area occupied by Lu Hunrong is a large territory from Shanxian County to Songxian County in Henan Province, south of the Yellow River and north of the Qinling Mountains. This is the main way for Qin to go out. On the one hand, there are blessings and kindness, on the other hand, the monarch of the State of Jin also gave Lu Hunrong property from time to time, which made the early Lu Hunrong "die hard" to be the "little brother" of the State of Jin. It is with the friendly relationship with Liu Hunrong that Jin Wengong can fully dominate without worrying about being caught between Scylla and Charybdis.
However, sandwiched between the three great powers of Qin, Jin and Chu, Lu Hunrong's life was not easy. Someone made an image metaphor-to survive in the cracks. Lu Hunrong gave full play to the smoothness of nomadic people and lived between various ethnic groups and the Zhou royal family. He was once knighted by the Zhou Emperor. However, Chu is not an idle generation, and while Lu Hunrong was conquering, he "watched the soldiers on the Zhoujiang River" and went to the capital of Zhou, which gave him the famous saying that "the king of Chu won the championship". At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, after weighing the situation, Lu Hunrong began to get close to Chu. When Jin saw it, he made an excuse and pointed out that Lu Hunrong was a soldier. In 525 BC, Lu Hun was conquered by the State of Jin.
It is estimated that Lu Hunrong lived in Yichuan for almost 1 10 years. Since 20 13, the Idy cemetery near Yichuan County in Luoyang City has been full of vitality, making the name "Lu Hunrong" penetrate the thick dust of history and enter people's field of vision. Experts speculate that Yichuan Spring and Autumn Cemetery may be the cemetery of Jiang surname Lu Hunrong. At the beginning of August 2020, another royal tomb of Lu Hunrong was discovered in Xuyang Cemetery. The precious cultural relics unearthed together, such as chimes, not only prove that Lu Hunrong people moved eastward thousands of years ago, but also show the world that Rong people are by no means "newcomers" in the vast Chinese history.
Where did the chime 03 Rong unearthed from Lu Hunrong's tomb go? After the Han dynasty, it is difficult to find records of various Rong ethnic groups in historical books. After Qin unified China, there appeared the phenomenon that Xiongnu and Xiqiang tribes were counted as "Rong" together, but this was regarded as the continuation of the title, that is, Qin annexed Zhurong first, and then invaded Xiongnu eastward, so it was simply used for other tribes by the way. With the emergence and maturity of the concept of "four foreigners" represented by "Dongyi, Xirong, Nanman and Beidi", "Xirong" has basically become synonymous with western foreign countries and nations.
In other words, the serious Rong family is gone. Then where did they go?
Most scholars believe that the Rong nationality was either eliminated by other countries, and more was integrated into the Central Plains nationality.
In fact, although the country perished, many Rong people survived. For example, Lu Hunrong, who was wiped out by the State of Jin, recorded in historical records that his people fled to Gansu (now southeast of Yiyang County, Luoyang City) to settle down. In addition, today Huashan Mountain in the northwest of shifang city, Sichuan Province (called Mount Zhang in ancient times) is known as the "female mountain". From Zhangshan to Jintang County via Guanghan, the duck river that flows into Tuojiang River is actually called "Luoshui", probably the name brought by Lu Hunrong after he moved to Guanghan, Sichuan.
Rong people fled to avoid danger and migrated for survival, leaving a deep and shallow footprint in history.
Take Lu Hunrong as an example. Although annihilated by a lance, the three clans were divided into Jin, and the territory originally occupied by Jin belonged to South Korea. After Qin destroyed Korea, these territories returned to Qin. During the Western Han Dynasty, these territories were established as counties. According to historical records, it is precisely because of the "residence of Ruben Hunrong" that it was named "Luhun County". "Notes on Water Classics" states that "the water of Iraq is the northeast, and it is dripped with water. Water comes out of Lushan Mountain, which is Lushan Mountain. "
Archaeologists have verified that the Yangshun River at the junction of Yichuan and Yiyang County today is what was called Juanshui in ancient times. Now Montenegro in Yiyang County is Luhun Xishan, and it was Luhun Mountain in ancient times. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Luhun County was divided into South and North Luhun Counties. Although the records in the Song Dynasty were rather confusing, according to the historical records of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Beiluhun was located in Gucheng Village (today's Gucheng Village in Lake Town), 40 miles northeast of the county seat, and Nanluhun was located in Luhun Village (today's Luhun Village in Lake Town). On today's map, you can still see the names of Luhun Town, Luhun Village and Luhun Reservoir.
In addition to the location integration of Luhun Town and Luhun Reservoir on today's map, the cultures of the Central Plains ethnic group and the Rong ethnic group are also moving towards * * * integration. On the one hand, in the communication, the feudal system of Huaxia gradually influenced the social development of the Rong nationality, and the Rong nationality began to learn the production methods of the Central Plains people and even the culture of the Central Plains. After moving to the Central Plains, Rongzi wrote a poem "Qing Fei". On the other hand, the knowledge of livestock, animal husbandry and riding and shooting technology brought by Rong people have also become material and cultural gifts to the Central Plains, and the cave tombs in the region reflect the influence of Rong people's funeral customs on the Central Plains culture.
Interestingly, the academic circles have been arguing endlessly about the difference between Rong nationality and Huaxia nationality. There is a view that, from the origin, Yin Shang and Zhou are also Rong clan, and Rong clan can also be counted as China. Some scholars even directly concluded that the aliens in the Spring and Autumn Period came down in one continuous line with the Yellow Emperor. One result of the debate is that the origin of the Rong nationality is indeed related to China, but more evidence is needed to help analyze their affiliation.