“Civilization” and “State”: An Etymological Perspective

Abstract 在西欧文字词源学的角度上,找不到将"文明"与"国家"被一些学者那样区别 来看的理由,更找不到将"文明"区别为"文化"与"社会"两大部分的根据。"文 明"就是"国家",本义就是"国家"。将"文明"区别为"文化"与"社会"两大部 分,正如将"文明"与"国家"解读为两个完全不同的概念,来解决文明起源问题, 同样没有根据。因此,研究文明起源的重点只有一个,那就是社会及其管理结构的变 化,也就是生活在一定地域范围之内的人与人之间的社会关系的变化。 关键词:文明 国家 文化 社会 There is no evidence in the etymology of Western European languages to support the distinction between "civilization" and "state" stressed by some scholars, nor any to support the division of "civilization" into a dichotomy of "culture" and "society." The original meaning of "civilization" is "state." In discussing the origin of civilization, it is groundless to divide "civilization" into "culture" and "society," or to interpret "civilization" and "state" as two different concepts. Given such considerations, there can only be one focus in studies of the origin of civilization, namely, changes in society and its management structure, or in other words, the changing social relations among people who live within a given territory. Keywords: civilizationstateculturesociety Notes 1 A typical example is "civilization as 'museum catalogue'" (Tong Enzheng), an approach that takes metal utensils, writing, cities, and large building complexes as benchmarks for civilization. (See Tong Enzheng, "A Few Questions about the Origin of Civilization: A Discussion with Mr. An Zhimin." Tong's view may be traced to Lamberg-Karlovsky and Sabloff, Ancient Civilization: The Near East and Mesoamerica, p. 24.) This over-simplified view has been questioned by a number of other Chinese researchers. See Wang Zhenzhong, "The Path to Statehood in China's Central Plains"; Tian Changwu, A Study of the Forms of Ancient Society, pp. 181-184; Chen Xingcan, "Origin of the Elements of Civilization and the Era of Civilizations: With a Discussion of Hongshan Culture as a Pre-civilization Form"; Yi Jianping, "Studies of the Origin of Chinese Civilization and States Need the Larger Context of International Academic Developments"; Zhu Fenghan, "On the Materialization of the Social Elements of Early Chinese Civilization." 2 See F. Oppenheimer, Der Staat; M. Weber, Politik als Beruf; J.H. Steward, Theory of Culture Change; M.H. Fried, The Evolution of Political Society: An Essay in Political Anthropology; E.R. Service, Origins of the State and Civilization: The Process of Cultural Evolution; H.J.M. Claessen and P. Skalník, eds., The Early State; and A0.W. Johnson and T.K. Earle, The Evolution of Human Societies: From Foraging Group to Agrarian State. 3 L.H.Morgan, Ancient Society: Researches in the Lines of Human Progress from Savagery, through Barbarism to Civilization, pp. 9-10; F. Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, pp. 19-20. 4 L.H.Morgan, Ancient Society, p. 11; Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, pp. 22-23. 5 Xia Nai was one of the first researchers to adopt this approach, though he focused more on the interrelationship between "civilization" and "state." Cf. Xia Nai, The Origin of Chinese Civilization; Chen Xingcan, "The Origin of Elements of Civilization and the Era of Civilizations: With a Discussion of Hongshan Culture as a Pre-civilization Form"; Li Xiandeng, "Issues concerning the Origin of Ancient Civilization in China"; Li Shaolian, "'Civilization' Arises from 'Barbarism': The Origin of Civilization in China"; Xu Shunzhan, "Issues concerning the Origin of Civilization"; Peng Bangben, "Questioning the 'Three Elements' of the Origin of Civilization"; Li Boqian, "The Origin and Formation of Chinese Civilization"; Cao Bingwu, "Civilization and the State: Reflections upon the Theory of the Origin of Chinese Civilization (III)." 6 Cf. Wang Zhenzhong, "Studies of the Origin of Chinese Civilization and Some Reflections"; Wang Wei, "Some Ideas on Studies of the Origin of Chinese Civilization: An Interpretation" (Wang expressed his views as early as August 2001, when he submitted a paper entitled "Civilization and State: A Discussion of Concepts" at the International Symposium on the Origin and Early Development of Ancient Civilization in China hosted by the Research Center for Ancient Civilization of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Sun Miao expressed a similar view even earlier in his Studies of the Civilization of the Xia and Shang Dynasties, pp. 10-14). 7 For Childe's view, cf. V.G. Childe, "The Urban Revolution," pp. 3-17. 8 Morris rejected the necessary existence of a relationship between city and state in his studies onurbanization and state formation in the Dark Age (1100-750 BC) and the Archaic Period (750-500 BC) of ancient Greece. Cf. I. Morris, "The Early Polis as City and State," pp. 25-58. 9 For Sparta, cf. G.L. Huxley, Early Sparta; P. Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300-362 BC. 10 For the Inca, cf. J.A. Mason, The Ancient Civilization of Peru; T.C. Patterson, The Inca Empire: The Formation and Disintegration of a Pre-Capitalist State; M.E. Moseley, The Incas and Their Ancestors: The Archaeology of Peru. 11 E.R. Service, Primitive Social Organization: An Evolutionary Perspective, pp. 140-141, 162; E.R. Service, Origins of the State and Civilization: The Process of Cultural Evolution, p. 178. 12 Ibid., p. 196. 13 dimensions of the Teotihuacán Pyramid of the Sun are 689×689×210 feet. 14 E.R. Service, Origins of the State and Civilization: The Process of Cultural Evolution, p.180. 15 For the cultural development and sociopolitical institutions of the Yi people in Mt. Liang, cf. Liu Yaohan, Selected Writings on Investigations and Research on the Social History of the Yi People; Project Team of the Slavery of the Yi People in Mt. Liang, The Slave Society of the Yi People in Mt. Liang; Zhou Ziqiang, A Study of the Slave Society of the Yi People in Mt. Liang; Hu Qingjun, The Social Form of Slavery among the Yi People in Mt. Liang; Sichuan Project Team, Selected Data from Surveys of the Yi People in Mt. Liang in Sichuan Province; He Yaohua, "The Patriarchal Clan System of the Yi People in Mt. Liang," pp. 119-142; Yuan Yayu, ed., Contemporary Society and Clan among the Yi People in Mt. Liang; Ma Xueliang, Yu Jinxiu, and Fan Huijuan, Primitive Religion among the Yi People: An Investigation; Yang Huaiying, ed., The Legal System in the Slave Society of the Yi People in Mt. Liang. 16 E.R. Service, Origins of the State and Civilization: The Process of Cultural Evolution, p. xi. 17 Huang Xingtao, "Formation of the Concepts of 'Civilization' and 'Culture' and Historical Practice in the Late Qing and Early Republican Era." 18 Li Yu, Casual Notes of a Leisurely Life, p. 405. 19 Huang Xingtao, "Formation of the Concepts of 'Civilization' and 'Culture' and Historical Practice in the Late Qing and Early Republican Era." 20 "Civil," "Civilize," "Civilization," see Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, version 3.0, 2003; "cīvis," "cīvīlis," see Ch.T. Lewis and Ch. Short, A Latin Dictionary, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=civis, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=civilis1, retrieved 24 August 2010; "Civil," "civilize," "civilization," see Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=civil&searchmode=none, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Civilize&searchmode=none, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=civilization&searchmode=none, retrieved 24 August 2010. 21 R. Williams, Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, p. 46. 22 "Polis (πόλις)," M. Cary et al., eds., The Oxford Classical Dictionary, p. 709. 23 Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 7.77.7. My quotation is a paraphrase based on The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Cf. M. Cary et al., eds., The Oxford Classical Dictionary, p. 709. Many researchers translate the line more directly. Cf. Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, pp. 158-159. 24 M. Cary et al., eds., The Oxford Classical Dictionary, p. 709; V. Ehrenberg, The Greek State; R. Sealey, A History of the Greek City States: Ca 700-338 B.C.; M.I. Finley, Early Greece: The Bronze and Archaic Ages; I. Morris, Burial and Ancient Society: The Rise of the Greek City-state; J.K. Davies, Democracy and Classical Greece; R. Osborne, Greece in the Making: 1200-479 BC; L.G. Mitchell and P.J. Rhodes, eds., The Development of the Polis in Archaic Greece, pp.39-48; B.M. Greece, "The Stateless Polis (11-4 centuries B.C.)," pp. 364-387; E.Ch.L. van der Vliet, "Polis. The Problem of Statehood," pp.120-150; Kostas Vlassopoulos, Unthinking the Greek Polis: Ancient Greek History beyond Eurocentrism. 25 Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War; G.L. Huxley, Early Sparta; P. Cartledge, Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300-362 BC. 26 H.G. Liddell and R. Scott, A Greek- English Lexicon, p. 263. 27 "Mūnĭcĭpĭum," Ch.T. Lewis and Ch. Short, A Latin Dictionary, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=municipium&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059, retrieved 24 August 2010. 28 Βάρβαρoς (bárbaros) was first used by Greeks to refer to non-Greek speakers. The syllables βάρ-, βαρ-, meaningless in Greek, were just a mocking imitation of unknown languages, just as some people in Beijing mock provincial accents when they cannot understand them. The word is derogatory in origin although it acquired the meaning of "primitive and savage" later in its evolution. Cf. D. Booth, An Analytical Dictionary of the English Language, p. 113. I should thank Professor Liao Xuesheng for an interesting piece of knowledge: after the Romans conquered the Greeks, they sometimes called the Greeks barbarus, a word they borrowed from Greek βάρβαρoς. 29 "Civil," Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. 30 The word at that time only meant "a law that converts a criminal process into a civil one." For "civilization," see Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=civilization, retrieved 24 August 2010. 31 The word was first used in this sense in 1772, probably from French civilisation. See Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=civilization. 32 Cf. Émile Benveniste, "Civilization. Contribution à l'histoire du mot," in Émile Benveniste, Problèmes de linguistique générale, pp. 305-321. 33 Ibid., p. 314. 34 Morgan, Ancient Society. 35 Niccolò Machiavelli, Il Principe, a cura di Giorgio Inglese, con un saggio di Federico Chabod, Einaudi, 2006 [1532] and its English translation by W.K. Marriott [Release Date: 11 February 2006 (EBook #1232), http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h.htm#2H_4_0007]. The work was finished in 1513, but was not published until 1532 after Machiavelli's death. 36 "State," Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary; "State (n.1)," http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=state&searchmode=none, retrieved 24 August, 2010. 37 "State," Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=state&searchmode=none, retrieved 24 August 2010. 38 "Status 1-2," "State 3-4," Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. 39 "Heute dagegen werden wir sagen müssen: Staat ist diejenige menschliche Gemeinschaft, welche innerhalb eines bestimmten Gebietes - dies: das »Gebiet« gehört zum Merkmal - das Monopol legitimer physischer Gewaltsamkeit für sich (mit Erfolg) beansprucht." M. Weber, Politik als Beruf, p. 4. 40 It is generally believed that this word refers to a territory in a given scope and its government. Earlier writers such as Hobbes used this word in this sense. See Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/pdf/hobbes2.pdf, retrieved 27 August, 2010. 41 "Polity," "Police," Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonli,ne.com/index.php?search=polity&searchmode=none, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=police&searchmode=none, retrieved 26 August 2010; "Polity," "Police," Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. 42 "Politia," Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Politia&searchmode=none, retrieved 26 August 2010. 43 Aristotle, Politics. 44 "Republic" in English was first recorded around 1600. It comes from French république, which in turn comes from Latin res publica via Medieval French republique. Cf. "Republic", Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=republic&searchmode=none, retrieved 26 August 2010; "Republic," Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, p. 1928. 45 It is, for example, translated in this way in the Loeb Library. Cf. Plato, The Republic. 46 "Res, II.K," Ch.T. Lewis and Ch. Short, A Latin Dictionary, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dres, retrieved 22 August 2010. 47 Plato, The Republic. 48 "City," Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=city&searchmode=none, retrieved 26 August, 2010. 49 Lin Yun, "Some Issues concerning the Formation of Early States in China." 50 The meaning of the character yi is controversial. Some researchers believe it is closely related to war. 51 "Happiriya-" comes from happir- (trade). Cf. J. Puhvel, Hittite Etymological Dictionary, vol. 3, Words Beginning with H, pp. 125-128, "Happir-, Happar-," "Happir(iy)a-." 52 Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, p. 176. 53 R. Labat, Manuel d'epigraphie Akkadienne, pp. 56-57. 54 Ibid. 55 Ye Yusen quoted in Yu Xingwu, ed., Interpretations of Oracle-bone Inscriptions, p. 343. I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Liao Xuesheng for his great help, particularly with ancient Greek and Latin. Thanks should also go to Silvin Koshak of the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur (Mainz) with whom I had many discussions in the course of writing this paper, and to Ms. Hu Yujuan, an expert in Roman history, and Mr. Guo Honggeng, an expert in Assyriology, who provided me with a lot of useful materials.