對於中國政治思想和族群思想的研究者來說，「中國」和「天下」乃是中國政治思想與族群思想裡的重要概念。然而，這兩個概念是在何時形成的？它們形成時的意涵是什麼？它們從出現到大致成形，經歷了怎樣的演變過程？這兩個概念之間的關係為何？瞭解這兩個概念的形成過程並釐清其意涵，對於中國政治思想與族群思想研究有何重要性？以上這些問題雖然重要，但學界至今似乎還沒有對之進行比較完整深入的探討。本文的主旨，就在經由對於「中國」與「天下」概念的探源與釐清，彰顯出重新檢視傳統各種「中國」想像之必要，並對西方學界關於中國政治思想和族群思想的一些重要誤解提出檢討與修正。

This article intends to trace the formative history of two concepts-- zhongguo and tianxia-- during the Pre-Qin period. I argue that when the term zhongguo appeared in early Zhou literature, its meaning was of a neutral and descriptive nature. When the term tianxia first appeared in early Zhou literature, it referred to the human world in general under the supervision of tian. During the Spring and Autumn period, tianxia was used to refer to a roughly defined area which was later known as zhongyuan. During the Warring States period, the concepts of zhongguo and tianxia were transformed by the new concepts of jiuzhou and sihai, which made zhongguo an equivalent of jiuzhou and also made tianxia develop two-fold meanings. During the same period zhongguo also changed its connotation from a neutral-descriptive one to one laden with conceit and a sense of superiority. The facts that the concept of tianxia was of geographical nature and had little connotation of cultural community and that tianxia had both a broad and a narrow meaning are essential to a proper understanding of Chinese ethnic thoughts in pre-modern China. Unawareness of these facts might lead to significant misunderstandings and misleading conclusions.

中國;天下;九州;四海

zhongguo;tianxia;jiuzhou;sihai