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115-872: The Han Chinese or the Han people , or simply the Chinese , are an East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China . With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the world's largest ethnic group , making up about 17.5% of the global population . The Han Chinese represent 92% of the population in China and 97% of the population in Taiwan . Han Chinese form large diaspora populations throughout Southeast Asia, comprising large minorities in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. In Singapore, people of Han Chinese or Chinese descent make up around 75% of

230-608: A population genetic study, Singapore is "the country with the biggest proportion of Han Chinese" in Southeast Asia. Singapore is the only nation in the world where Overseas Chinese constitute a majority of the population and remain the country's cultural, economic and politically dominant arbiters vis-à-vis their non-Han minority counterparts. Up until the past few decades, overseas Han communities originated predominantly from areas in Eastern and Southeastern China (mainly from

345-444: A culturally, economically and politically dominant majority vis-à-vis the non-Han minorities throughout most of China's recorded history. Han Chinese are almost the majority in every Chinese province, municipality and autonomous region except for the autonomous regions of Xinjiang (38% or 40% in 2010) and Tibet Autonomous Region (8% in 2014), where Uighurs and Tibetans are the majority, respectively. Han Chinese also constitute

460-650: A depopulation of the Central Plains, a fission between those that remained and those that headed south, and their subsequent fusion with aboriginal tribes south of the Yangtze, even as the centres of Han Chinese culture and wealth moved from the Yellow River Basin to Jiangnan, and to a lesser extent also, to Fujian and Guangdong. At various points in Chinese history, collapses of central authority in

575-491: A distinctive "Basal-East Asian population" referred to as ' East- and Southeast Asian lineage ' (ESEA); which is ancestral to modern East Asians, Southeast Asians , Polynesians , and Siberians , originated in Mainland Southeast Asia at ~50,000 BC, and expanded through multiple migration waves southwards and northwards respectively. This ESEA lineage gave rise to various sublineages, and is also ancestral to

690-503: A resemblance to the areas they had left behind in China, regardless of whether they arrived in the north or south of Taiwan. Hoklo immigrants from Quanzhou settled in coastal regions and those from Zhangzhou tended to gather on inland plains, while the Hakka inhabited hilly areas. Clashes and tensions between the two groups over land, water, ethno-racial, and cultural differences led to

805-477: A result, the concept of China proper fell out of favour in China. The Eighteen Provinces of the Qing dynasty still largely exist, but their boundaries have changed. Beijing and Tianjin were eventually split from Hebei (renamed from Zhili), Shanghai from Jiangsu, Chongqing from Sichuan, Ningxia autonomous region from Gansu , and Hainan from Guangdong. Guangxi is now an autonomous region . The provinces that

920-429: A rich history that spans thousands of years, with their historical roots dating back to the days of ancient China . Throughout Han history, China has been governed by dynasties , with periods during which it has seen cycles of expansion, contraction, unity, and fragmentation. Due to the overwhelming numerical and cultural dominance of Han culture in China, most of the written history of China can be read as "a history of

1035-411: A single language if the criterion of mutual intelligibility is used to classify its subdivisions. In polls the majority of the people of Taiwan call themselves "Taiwanese" only with the rest identifying as "Taiwanese and Chinese" or "Chinese" only. 98% of the people of Taiwan are descendants of immigrants from mainland China since the 1600s, but the inclusion of Taiwan in the definition of China proper,

1150-412: A surge in Han Chinese migrants during Wang Mang 's reign. The demographic composition and culture of these regions during this period, could however scarcely be said to have been Sinitic outside the confines of these agricultural settlements and military outposts. The genesis of the modern Han people and their subgroups cannot be understood apart from their historical migrations to the south, resulting in

1265-471: Is based on the succession of states principle. According to sinologist Colin Mackerras , foreign governments have generally accepted Chinese claims over its ethnic minority areas, because to redefine a country's territory every time it underwent a change of regime would cause endless instability and warfare. Also, he asks, "if the boundaries of the Qing were considered illegitimate, why should it go back to

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1380-648: Is complicated by the absence of contemporary records, the discovery of archaeological sites has enabled a succession of Neolithic cultures to be identified along the Yellow River. Along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were the Cishan culture ( c.  6500–5000 BCE ), the Yangshao culture ( c.  5000–3000 BCE ), the Longshan culture ( c.  3000–2000 BCE ) and

1495-636: Is no fixed extent for China proper , as many administrative, cultural, and linguistic shifts have occurred in Chinese history . One definition refers to the original area of Chinese civilization, the Central Plain (in the North China Plain ); another to the Eighteen Provinces of the Qing dynasty. There was no direct translation for "China proper " in the Chinese language at the time due to differences in terminology used by

1610-570: Is the Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BCE), established by Yu the Great after Emperor Shun abdicated leadership to reward Yu's work in taming the Great Flood . Yu's son, Qi , managed to not only install himself as the next ruler, but also dictated his sons as heirs by default, making the Xia dynasty the first in recorded history where genealogical succession was the norm. The civilizational prosperity of

1725-415: Is the characteristic physiological facial flushing response to drinking alcohol experienced by 36% of East Asians. Around 80% of East Asians carry an allele of the gene coding for the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase called ADH1B*2 , which results in the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme converting alcohol to toxic acetaldehyde more quickly than other gene variants common outside of East Asia. According to

1840-685: Is traditionally credited to have united with the neighbouring Shennong tribes after defeating their leader, the Yan Emperor , at the Battle of Banquan . The newly merged Yanhuang tribes then combined forces to defeat their common enemy from the east, Chiyou of the Jiuli ( 九黎 ) tribes, at the Battle of Zhuolu and established their cultural dominance in the Central Plain region. To this day, modern Han Chinese refer themselves as " Descendants of Yan and Huang ". Although study of this period of history

1955-464: The Central Plain and did not administer as part of a regular province of China proper. On the other hand, Taiwan was a new acquisition of the Qing dynasty, and it was placed under the administration of Fujian , one of the provinces of China proper. Eastern Kham in Greater Tibet was added to Sichuan , while much of what now constitutes northern Burma was added to Yunnan . Near the end of

2070-713: The Erlitou culture ( c.  1900–1500 BCE ). These cultures are believed to be related to the origins of the Sino-Tibetan languages and later the Sinitic languages . They were the foundation for the formation of Old Chinese and the founding of the Shang dynasty , China's first confirmed dynasty. Early ancient Chinese history is largely legendary, consisting of mythical tales intertwined with sporadic annals written centuries to millennia later. Sima Qian's Records of

2185-552: The First French Empire , which Napoleon managed to expand all the way to Moscow . According to Harry Harding , the concept can date back to 1827. But as early as in 1795, William Winterbotham adopted this concept in his book. When describing the Chinese Empire under the Qing dynasty, Winterbotham divided it into three parts: China proper, Chinese Tartary , and the states tributary to China . He adopted

2300-976: The Hainanese , the Hoklo peoples, the Gan , the Xiang , the Wu-speaking peoples, all claim Han Chinese ancestry pointing to official histories and their own genealogical records to support such claims. Linguists hypothesize that the Wu and Min varieties of Chinese originate from the way Chinese was spoken during the Jin, while the Yue and Hakka from the way Chinese was spoken in the Tang and Song, about half-a-millenia later. The presence of Tai-Kradai substrates in these dialects may have been due to

2415-522: The Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers of Southeast Asia and the ~40,000 year old Tianyuan lineage found in Northern China , but already differentiated and distinct from European-related and Australasian-related lineages, found in other regions of prehistoric Eurasia. The ESEA lineage trifurcated from an earlier "eastern non-African" (ENA) or "East-Eurasian" meta-population, which also contributed to

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2530-624: The Huaxia that lived along the Guanzhong and Yellow River basins in Northern China. In addition, numerous ethnic groups were assimilated and absorbed by the Han Chinese at various points in China's history. Like many modern ethnic groups, the ethnogenesis of Han Chinese was a lengthy process that involved the expansion of the successive Chinese dynasties and their assimilation of various non-Han ethnic groups that became sinicised over

2645-614: The Hundred Schools of Thought ) and Confucianism , Taoism and Legalism are among the most important surviving philosophies from this era. The chaotic Warring States period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty came to an end with the unification of China by the western state of Qin after its conquest of all other rival states under King Ying Zheng . King Zheng then gave himself a new title " First Emperor of Qin " ( Chinese : 秦始皇帝 ; pinyin : Qín Shǐ Huángdì ), setting

2760-514: The Northern and Southern period and was inspired by the Han dynasty , which is considered to be one of the first golden ages in Chinese history . As a unified and cohesive empire that succeeded the short-lived Qin dynasty, Han China established itself as the center of the East Asian geopolitical order at the time, projecting its power and influence unto Asian neighbors. It was comparable with

2875-583: The Pearl River Delta . These mass migrations over the centuries inevitably led to the demographic expansion, economic prosperity, agricultural advancements, and cultural flourishing of Southern China, which remained relatively peaceful unlike its northern counterpart. The vast majority of Han Chinese – over 1.2 billion – live in the People's Republic of China (PRC), where they constitute about 90% of its overall population. Han Chinese in China have been

2990-528: The Sinitic , Japonic , and Koreanic families. Other language families include the Tibeto-Burman , Ainu languages , Mongolic , Tungusic , Turkic , Hmong-Mien , Tai–Kadai , Austronesian , and Austroasiatic . Throughout the ages, the greatest influence on East Asia historically has been from China , where the span of its cultural influence is generally known as the Sinosphere laid

3105-653: The Uprising of the Five Barbarians during the Jin dynasty (304–316 AD) in which China was completely overrun by minority groups previously serving as vassals and servants to Sima (the royal house of Jin), the An Lu Shan rebellion during the Tang dynasty (755–763 AD), and the Jingkang incident (1127 AD) and Jin-Song wars . These events caused widespread devastation, and even depopulated the north, resulting in

3220-607: The "people of the Central Kingdom" (dulimba-i gurun; 中國 , Zhongguo) were like the Torghut Mongols, and the "people of the Central Kingdom" referred to the Manchus. While the Qing dynasty used "China" (Zhongguo) to describe non-Han areas, some Han scholar-officials opposed the Qing emperor's use of Zhongguo to refer to non-Han areas, using instead Zhongguo to mark a distinction between the culturally Han areas and

3335-603: The 4th century AD by families descended from Chinese nobility. Special " commanderies of immigrants" and "white registers" were created for the massive number of Han Chinese immigrating during this period which included notable families such as the Wang and the Xie. A religious group known as the Celestial Masters contributed to the movement. Jiangnan became the most populous and prosperous region of China. The Uprising of

3450-597: The Dugu and Yuwen families. The Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties saw continuing emigration from the Central Plains to the south-eastern coast of what is now China proper, including the provinces of Fujian , Guangdong , and Hainan . This was especially true in the latter part of the Tang era and the Five Dynasties period that followed; the relative stability of the south coast made it an attractive destination for refugees fleeing continual warfare and turmoil in

3565-515: The Five Barbarians , also led to the resettlement of Fujian. The province of Fujian - whose aboriginal inhabitants had been deported to the Central Plains by Han Wu Di, was now repopulated by Han Chinese settlers and colonists from the Chinese heartland. The "Eight Great Surnames" were eight noble families who migrated from the Central Plains to Fujian - these were the Hu, He, Qiu, Dan, Zheng, Huang, Chen and Lin clans, who remain there until this very day. In

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3680-671: The Grand Historian recorded a period following the Battle of Zhuolu, during the reign of successive generations of confederate overlords ( Chinese : 共主 ) known as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors (c. 2852–2070 BCE), who, allegedly, were elected to power among the tribes. This is a period for which scant reliable archaeological evidence exists – these sovereigns are largely regarded as cultural heroes . The first dynasty to be described in Chinese historical records

3795-657: The Great invented the hangul alphabet, which has since been used as the fundamental linguistic basis for formulating the Korean language . In Japan, much of the Japanese language is written in hiragana , katakana in addition to Chinese characters . In Mongolia, the script used there is the Cyrillic script along with the Mongolian script system. A review paper by Melinda A. Yang (in 2022) summarized and concluded that

3910-469: The Han Chinese from Northern China to Southern China, leading to a further increase in the Han Chinese population across southern Chinese provinces. The formation of the Hainanese and Hakka people can be attributed to the chaos of this period. The Mongol conquest of China during the thirteenth century once again caused a surging influx of Northern Han Chinese refugees to move south to settle and develop

4025-416: The Han Chinese," hinted and tinged with only passing references to its ethnic non-Han minority counterparts . The prehistory of the Han Chinese is closely intertwined with both archaeology, biology, historical textual records, and mythology. The ethnic stock to which the Han Chinese originally trace their ancestry from were confederations of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age agricultural tribes known as

4140-631: The Han dynasty, ancient Chinese scholars used the term Huaxia ( 華夏 ; 华夏 ; Huáxià ) in texts to describe China proper , while the Chinese populace were referred to as either the 'various Hua' ( 諸華 ; 诸华 ; Zhūhuá ) or 'various Xia' ( 诸夏 ; 諸夏 ; Zhūxià ). This gave rise to two term commonly used nowadays by Overseas Chinese as an ethnic identity for the Chinese diaspora – Huaren ( 華人 ; 华人 ; Huárén ; 'ethnic Chinese people') and Huaqiao ( 华侨 ; 華僑 ; Huáqiáo ; 'the Chinese immigrant'), meaning Overseas Chinese . It has also given rise to

4255-423: The Han people, the majority ethnic group of China and with the extent of the Chinese languages, an important unifying element of the Han ethnicity. However, Han regions in the present day do not correspond well to the Eighteen Provinces of the Qing dynasty. Much of southwestern China, such as areas in the provinces of Yunnan , Guangxi , and Guizhou , was part of successive dynasties of ethnic Han origin, including

4370-546: The Han people. Chinese civilization developed from a core region in the North China Plain, and expanded outwards over several millennia, conquering and assimilating surrounding peoples, or being conquered and influenced in turn. Some dynasties, such as the Han and Tang dynasties, were particularly expansionist, extending far into Inner Asia , while others, such as the Jin and Song dynasties, were forced to relinquish

4485-542: The Japanese invasion of Mongolia, Manchuria , and other parts of China. Gu's article sparked a heated debate on the definition and origin of " Zhonghua minzu " (Chinese nation), which contributed to unifying the Chinese people in the Second Sino-Japanese War , and to an extent shaped the later established concept of Zhonghua minzu. Today, China proper is a controversial concept in China itself, since

4600-494: The Manchu language. The Qing emperors equated the lands of the Qing state (including both "China proper" and present day Manchuria, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Tibet and other areas) as "China" in both the Chinese and Manchu languages, defining China as a multiethnic state, rejecting the idea that China only meant Han-populated areas in "China proper", proclaiming that both Han and non-Han peoples were part of "China", using "China" to refer to

4715-684: The Ming dynasty and the Eighteen Provinces of the Qing dynasty. However, these areas were and continue to be populated by various non-Han minority groups, such as the Zhuang , the Miao people , and the Bouyei . Conversely, Han people form the majority in most of Manchuria, much of Inner Mongolia, many areas in Xinjiang and scattered parts of Tibet today, not least due to the expansion of Han settlement encouraged by

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4830-447: The Ming dynasty in China proper, the Qing court decided to continue to use the Ming administrative system to rule over former Ming lands, without applying it to other domains under Qing rule, namely Manchuria , Mongolia , Xinjiang , Taiwan and Tibet . The 15 administrative units of the Ming dynasty underwent minor reforms to become the "Eighteen Provinces" ( 一十八行省 ; Yīshíbā Xíngshěng , or 十八省 ; Shíbā Shěng ) of China proper under

4945-488: The North China Plain itself to rivaling regimes founded by peoples from the north. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox Chinese dynasty of ethnic Han origin and the second-last imperial dynasty of China. It governed fifteen administrative entities, which included thirteen provinces ( Chinese : 布政使司 ; pinyin : Bùzhèngshǐ Sī ) and two "directly-governed" areas. After the Manchu-led Qing dynasty succeeded

5060-564: The People's Republic of China and once publicised by the Republic of China, was historicially used specifically to refer to the Han Chinese. In Article Observations on the Chinese ethnic groups in History , Liang Qichao , who coined the term Zhonghua minzu , wrote "the present-day Zhonghua minzu generally refers to what is commonly known as the Han Chinese." It was only after the founding of

5175-575: The Qing dynasty, there was an effort to extend the province system of China proper to the rest of the empire. Taiwan was converted into a separate province in 1885, but was ceded to Japan in 1895. Xinjiang was reorganized into a province in 1884. Manchuria was split into the three provinces of Fengtian , Jilin and Heilongjiang in 1907. There was discussion to do the same in Tibet, Qinghai (Kokonor), Inner Mongolia, and Outer Mongolia, but these proposals were not put to practice, and these areas were outside

5290-496: The Qing dynasty. It was these eighteen provinces that early Western sources referred to as China proper. There are some minor differences between the extent of Ming China and the extent of the eighteen provinces of Qing China: for example, some parts of Manchuria were Ming possessions belonging to the province of Liaodong (now Liaoning ), which is inside the Ming Great Wall ; however, the Qing conquered it before entering

5405-410: The Qing in official documents, international treaties, and foreign affairs, and the "Chinese language" (Dulimbai gurun i bithe) referred to Chinese, Manchu, and Mongol languages, and the term "Chinese people" ( 中國人 , Zhongguo ren; Manchu: Dulimbai gurun i niyalma) referred to all Han, Manchu, and Mongol subjects of the Qing. When the Qing conquered Dzungaria in 1759 , they proclaimed that the new land

5520-402: The Qing to refer to the regions. Even to today, the expression is controversial among scholars, particularly in mainland China , due to issues pertaining to contemporary territorial claim and ethnic politics. Outer China usually includes the geographical regions of Dzungaria , Tarim Basin , Gobi Desert , Tibetan Plateau , Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau , and Manchuria . It is not clear when

5635-523: The Ryukyus and Japan , who paid tribute to Qing China or were vassal states of China but were not part of China. In the early 20th century, a series of Sino-Japanese conflicts had raised Chinese people's concern for national unity, and the concept of a unified, undivided Chinese nation became more popular among Chinese scholars. On Jan 1, 1939, Gu Jiegang published his article "The term 'China proper' should be abolished immediately", which argued that

5750-551: The Society for the Great Unity of Zhonghua minzu of the Republic of China in 1912 that the term began to officially include ethnic minorities from all regions in China. Han Chinese can be divided into various subgroups based on the variety of Chinese that they speak. Waves of migration have occurred throughout China's long history and vast geographical expanse, engendering the emergence of Han Chinese subgroups found throughout

5865-521: The Sui and Tang dynasties, led by the Han Chinese families of the Yang (杨) and Li (李) surnames respectively. Both the Sui and Tang dynasties are seen as high points of Han Chinese civilization. These dynasties both emphasized their aristocratic Han Chinese pedigree and enforced the restoration of Central Plains culture, even the founders of both dynasties had already intermarried with non-Han or partly-Han women from

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5980-465: The West in reference to the traditional "core" regions of China centered in the southeast. The term was first used by Westerners during the Manchu -led Qing dynasty to describe the distinction between the historical "Han lands" ( 漢地 )—i.e. regions long dominated by the majority Han population—and the "frontier" regions of China where more non-Han ethnic groups and new foreign immigrants (e.g. Russians ) reside, sometimes known as "Outer China". There

6095-441: The Xia dynasty at this time is thought to have given rise to the name "Huaxia" ( simplified Chinese : 华夏 ; traditional Chinese : 華夏 ; pinyin : Huá Xià , "the magnificent Xia"), a term that was used ubiquitously throughout history to define the Chinese nation. Conclusive archaeological evidence predating the 16th century BCE is, however, rarely available. Recent efforts of the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project drew

6210-488: The adoption of Confucian ethical philosophy, Chinese calendar systems, political and legal systems, architectural style, diet, terminology, institutions, religious beliefs, imperial examinations that emphasized a knowledge of Chinese classics, political philosophy and culture, as well as historically sharing a common writing system reflected in the histories of Japan and Korea . The relationship between China and its cultural influence on East Asia has been compared to

6325-534: The analysis by HapMap project, another allele responsible for the flush reaction, the rs671 (ALDH2*2) of the ALDH2 is rare among Europeans and Sub-Saharan Black Africans, while 30% to 50% of people of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean ancestry have at least one ALDH2*2 allele. The reaction has been associated with lower than average rates of alcoholism, possibly due to its association with adverse effects after drinking alcohol. China proper China proper , also called Inner China , are terms used primarily in

6440-420: The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius 's contemporaries during the Warring States period to elucidate the shared ethnicity of all Chinese; Chinese people called themselves Hua ren . The Warring States period led to the emergence of the Zhou-era Chinese referring to themselves as being Huaxia (literally 'the beautiful grandeur'): under the Hua–Yi distinction , a "Hua" culture (often translated as 'civilized')

6555-422: The assimilation of the remaining groups of Bai Yue, integrating these lands into the Sinosphere proper. The chaos of the Uprising of the Five Barbarians triggered the first massive movement of Han Chinese dominated by civilians rather than soldiers to the south, being led principally by the aristocracy and the Jin elite. Thus, Jiangnan, comprising Hangzhou's coastal regions and the Yangtze valley were settled in

6670-475: The borders of Ming China, in effect refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Qing dynasty. Han Chinese intellectuals gradually embraced the new meaning of "China" and began to recognize it as their homeland. The Qing dynasty referred to the Han-inhabited 18 provinces as "nèidì shíbā shěng" ( 內地十八省 ), which meant the "interior region eighteen provinces", or abbreviated it as "nèidì" ( 內地 ), "interior region" and also as "jùnxiàn" ( 郡县 ), while they referred to

6785-406: The centuries at various points in Chinese history. By the time of the Tang and Song dynasties, Han Chinese were the main inhabitants of the fertile lowland areas and cities of southern China, with minority tribes occupying the highlands. The term "Han" not only refers to a specific ethnic collective, but also points to a shared ancestry, history, and cultural identity . The term "Huaxia" was used by

6900-419: The centuries. During the Western Zhou and Han dynasties, Han Chinese writers established genealogical lineages by drawing from legendary materials originating from the Shang dynasty , while the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian places the reign of the Yellow Emperor , the legendary leader of Youxiong tribes ( 有熊氏 ), at the beginning of Chinese history. The Yellow Emperor

7015-399: The complete social and political breakdown and collapse of central authority in the Central Plains, triggering massive, sustained waves of Han Chinese migration into South China, leading to the formation of distinct Han lineages, who also likely assimilated the by-now partially sinicized Bai Yue in their midst. Modern Han Chinese subgroups, such as the Cantonese , the Hakka , the Henghua ,

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7130-455: The concept of "China proper" in the Western world appeared. However, it is plausible that historians during the age of empires and the fast-changing borders in the eighteenth century, applied it to distinguish the 18 provinces in China's interior from its frontier territories. This would also apply to Great Britain proper versus the British Empire , which would encompass vast lands overseas. The same would apply to France proper in contrast to

7245-417: The concept of China proper probably had appeared between 1645 and 1662 and this concept may reflect the idea that identifies China as the territory of the former Ming dynasty after the Ming–Qing transition . The concept of "China proper" also appeared before this 1795 book. It can be found in The Gentleman's Magazine , published in 1790, and The Monthly Review , published in 1749. In the nineteenth century,

7360-467: The connection between the Erlitou culture and the Xia dynasty, but scholars could not reach a consensus regarding the reliability of such history. The Xia dynasty was overthrown after the Battle of Mingtiao , around 1600 BCE, by Cheng Tang , who established the Shang dynasty ( c.  1600 –1046 BCE). The earliest archaeological examples of Chinese writing date back to this period – from characters inscribed on oracle bones used for divination – but

7475-405: The contemporary Roman Empire in population size, geographical extent, and cultural reach. The Han dynasty's prestige and prominence led many of the ancient Huaxia to identify themselves as 'Han people'. Similarly, the Chinese language also came to be named and alluded to as the "Han language" ( 漢語 ; 汉语 ; Hànyǔ ) ever since and the Chinese script is referred to as " Han characters ." Prior to

7590-408: The country's population. The Han Chinese have exerted the primary formative influence in shaping the development and growth of Chinese civilization. Originating from the Central Plains , the Han Chinese trace their ancestry to the Huaxia people, a confederation of agricultural tribes that lived along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in north central plains of China. The Huaxia are

7705-415: The current official paradigm does not contrast the core and the periphery of China. There is no single widely used term corresponding to it in the Chinese language . The separation of China into a "China proper" dominated by Han people and other states for ethnic minorities such as East Turkestan ( Chinese Turkestan ) for the Uyghurs impugns on the legitimacy of China's current territorial borders, which

7820-405: The different peoples. A Manchu language version of a treaty with the Russian Empire concerning criminal jurisdiction over bandits called people from the Qing as "people of the Central Kingdom (Dulimbai Gurun)". In the Manchu official Tulisen 's Manchu language account of his meeting with the Torghut Mongol leader Ayuki Khan , it was mentioned that while the Torghuts were unlike the Russians,

7935-425: The ensuing civil wars and succeeded in establishing a much longer-lasting dynasty. It continued many of the institutions created by the Qin dynasty, but adopted a more moderate rule. Under the Han dynasty, art and culture flourished, while the Han Empire expanded militarily in all directions . Many Chinese scholars such as Ho Ping-ti believe that the concept ( ethnogenesis ) of Han ethnicity, although being ancient,

8050-453: The etymological origin of the modern English word "China". The reign of the first imperial dynasty was short-lived. Due to the First Emperor's autocratic rule and his massive labor projects, which fomented rebellion among his population, the Qin dynasty fell into chaos soon after his death. Under the corrupt rule of his son and successor Huhai , the Qin dynasty collapsed a mere three years later. The Han dynasty (206 BC–220 CE) then emerged from

8165-465: The face of barbarian uprisings or invasions and the loss of control of the Chinese heartland triggered mass migratory waves which transformed the demographic composition and cultural identity of the south. This process of sustained mass migration has been known as "garments and headdresses moving south" 衣冠南渡 (yì guān nán dù), on account of it first being led by the aristocratic classes. Such migratory waves were numerous and triggered by such events such as

8280-474: The far south. At the same time, most of the nomads in northern China came to be sinicized as they ruled over large Chinese populations and adopted elements of their culture and administration. Of note, the Xianbei rulers of Northern Wei ordered a policy of systematic sinicization, adopting Han surnames , institutions, and culture, so the Xianbei became Han Chinese. Sui and Tang Han Chinese rule resumed during

8395-458: The formation of Ancient Ancestral South Indians (AASI) as well as to Australasians. The majority of East Asians have the ABCC11 gene (80-95%), which greatly reduces body odor and codes for dry-type earwax. It is believed that this reduction in body odor may be an adaptation to colder climates by ancient Northeast Asian ancestors, although this is not definitively proven. Alcohol flush reaction

8510-461: The foundation for East Asian civilization. Chinese culture not only served as the foundation for its own society and civilization, but for also that of its East Asian neighbors, Japan and Korea. The knowledge and ingenuity of Chinese civilization and the classics of Chinese literature and culture were seen as the foundations for a civilized life in East Asia. China served as a vehicle through which

8625-415: The frontiers. In effect, he established a centralized bureaucratic state to replace the old feudal confederation system of preceding dynasties, making Qin the first imperial dynasty in Chinese history. This dynasty, sometimes phonetically spelt as the "Ch'in dynasty", has been proposed in the 17th century by Martino Martini and supported by later scholars such as Paul Pelliot and Berthold Laufer to be

8740-514: The historical influence of Greco-Roman civilization on Europe and the Western World . Major characteristics exported by China towards Japan and Korea include shared vocabulary based on Chinese script, as well as similar social and moral philosophies derived from Confucianist thought. Han characters and Written Chinese became the fundamental linguistic basis as well as the unifying linguistic feature in East Asian writing system as

8855-458: The influence of the new Han migrants. The term is used in everyday colloquial discourse and is also an element in one of the words for Chinatown : 'streets of Tang people' ( 唐人街 ; Tángrénjiē ; Tong4 jan4 gaai1 ). The phrase Huábù ( 華埠 ; 华埠 ) is also used to refer to Chinatowns. The term Zhonghua minzu (中華民族; 中华民族; Zhōnghuámínzú), literally meaning the Chinese nation, currently used as an supra-ethnic concept publicised by

8970-681: The late Qing dynasty set up have also been kept: Xinjiang became an autonomous region under the People's Republic of China, while the three provinces of Manchuria now have somewhat different borders, with Fengtian renamed as Liaoning. When the Qing dynasty fell, Republican Chinese control of Qing territories, including of those generally considered to be in "China proper", was tenuous, and non-existent in Tibet and Mongolian People's Republic (former Outer Mongolia ) since 1922, which were controlled by governments that declared independence from China. The Republic of China subdivided Inner Mongolia in its time on

9085-466: The late Qing dynasty, the Republic of China, and the People's Republic of China. Ethnic Han is not synonymous with speakers of the Chinese language. Many non-Han ethnicities, such as the Hui and Manchu, are essentially monolingual in the Chinese language, but do not identify as ethnic Han. The Chinese language itself is also a complex entity, and should be described as a family of related languages rather than

9200-683: The leadership of a general named Zhao Tuo. The famous Han emperor, Han Wu Di, ordered another two hundred thousand men to build ships to attack and colonialize the Lingnan region, thus adding to the population in Guangdong and Guangxi. The first urban conurbations in the region, for example, Panyu, were created by Han settlers rather than the Bai Yue, who preferred to maintain small settlements subsisting on swidden agriculture and rice farming. Later on, Guangdong, Northern Vietnam, and Yunnan all experienced

9315-457: The literary name for China – Zhonghua ( 中華 ; 中华 ; Zhōnghuá ; 'Central China'). While the general term Zhongguo ren ( 中國人 ; 中国人 ) refers to any Chinese citizen or Chinese national regardless of their ethnic origins and does not necessary imply Han ancestry, the term huaren in its narrow, classical usages implies Central Plains or Han ancestry. Among some southern Han Chinese varieties such as Cantonese , Hakka and Minnan ,

9430-594: The mainland, although the People's Republic of China later joined Mongol-inhabited territories into a single autonomous region. The PRC joined the Qamdo area into the Tibet area (later the Tibet Autonomous Region ). The Republic of China officially recognized the independence of Mongolia in 1946, which was also acknowledged by the PRC government since its founding in 1949. China proper is often associated with

9545-551: The majority in both of the special administrative regions of the PRC – about 92.2% and 88.4% of the population of Hong Kong and Macau , respectively. The Han Chinese in Hong Kong and Macau have been culturally, economically and politically dominant majority vis-à-vis the non-Han minorities. There are over 22 million people of Han Chinese ancestry in living in Taiwan. At first, these migrants chose to settle in locations that bore

9660-618: The most successful of which was the Northern Wei established by the Xianbei . From this period, the native population of China proper was referred to as Hanren, or the "People of Han" to distinguish them from the nomads from the steppe. Warfare and invasion led to one of the first great migrations of Han populations in history, as they fled south to the Yangzi and beyond, shifting the Chinese demographic center and speeding up sinicization of

9775-438: The much smaller Ming in preference to the quite extensive Tang dynasty boundaries?" There is no fixed geographical extent for China proper, as it is used to express the contrast between the core and frontier regions of China from multiple perspectives: historical, administrative, cultural, and linguistic. One way of thinking about China proper is to refer to the long-standing territories held by dynasties of China founded by

9890-427: The name of Kiang-nan ( 江南 , Jiāngnán) province, which had been called South Zhili ( 南直隶 , Nán-Zhílì) during the Ming dynasty and was renamed to Kiang-nan (i.e., Jiangnan ) in 1645, the second year after the Qing dynasty replaces the Ming dynasty. This 15-province system was gradually replaced by the 18-province system between 1662 and 1667. Using the 15-province system and the name of Kiang-nan Province indicates that

10005-461: The non-Han areas of China such as the Northeast , Outer Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet as "wàifān" ( 外藩 ) which means "outer feudatories" or "outer vassals", or as "fānbù" ( 藩部 , "feudatory region"). These wàifān were fully subject to and governed by the Qing government and were considered part of China (Zhongguo), unlike wàiguó ( 外國 , "outer/foreign countries") like Korea, Vietnam,

10120-510: The north by the Han Chinese and their mass migration to the south. By now, the Han Chinese population in the south far outstripped that of the Bai Yue. Guangdong and Fujian both experienced a significant influx of Northern Han Chinese settlers, leading many Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew individuals to identify themselves as Tangren , which has served as a means to assert and acknowledge their ethnic and cultural origin and identity. The Jin–Song Wars caused yet another wave of mass migration of

10235-533: The north. East Asian people The major ethnic groups that form the core of traditional East Asia are the Han Chinese , Koreans , and Yamato . Other ethnic groups of East Asia include the Ainu , Bai , Hui , Manchus , Mongols (and other Mongolic peoples ), Qiang , Ryukyuans , and Tibetans . The major East Asian language families that form the traditional linguistic core of East Asia are

10350-541: The opinions of Du Halde and Grosier and suspected that the name of "China" came from Qin dynasty . He then said: "China, properly so called,... comprehends from north to south eighteen degrees; its extent from east to west being somewhat less..." However, to introduce China proper, Winterbotham still used the outdated 15-province system of the Ming dynasty , which the Qing dynasty maintained until 1662. Although Ming dynasty also had 15 basic local divisions, Winterbotham uses

10465-721: The power of the Zhou kings fragmented not long afterwards, and many autonomous vassal states emerged. This dynasty is traditionally divided into two eras – the Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) and the Eastern Zhou (770–256 BCE) – with the latter further divided into the Spring and Autumn (770–476 BCE) and the Warring States (476–221 BCE) periods. It was a period of significant cultural and philosophical diversification (known as

10580-656: The precedent for the next two millennia. To consolidate administrative control over the newly conquered parts of the country, the First Emperor decreed a nationwide standardization of currency, writing scripts and measurement units, to unify the country economically and culturally. He also ordered large-scale infrastructure projects such as the Great Wall , the Lingqu Canal and the Qin road system to militarily fortify

10695-435: The progenitors of Chinese civilization and the ancestors of modern Han Chinese. Han Chinese people and culture spread south from the northern heartland in the Yellow River valley, driven by large and sustained waves of migration during successive periods of Chinese history (e.g. the Qin and Han dynasties), leading to a demographic and economic tilt towards the south, and to the absorption of various non-Han ethnic groups over

10810-942: The provinces of Fujian , Guangdong and Hainan , and to a lesser extent, Guangxi , Yunnan and Zhejiang ). There are 60 million Overseas Chinese people worldwide. Overseas Han Chinese have settled in numerous countries across the globe, particularly within the Western World where nearly 4 million people of Han Chinese descent live in the United States (about 1.5% of the population), over 1 million in Australia (5.6%) and about 1.5 million in Canada (5.1%), nearly 231,000 in New Zealand (4.9%), and as many as 750,000 in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Han Chinese have

10925-552: The provincial system of China proper when the Qing dynasty fell in 1912. The Provinces of the Qing Dynasty were: Some of the revolutionaries who sought to overthrow Qing rule desired to establish a state independent of the Qing dynasty within the bounds of the Eighteen Provinces, as evinced by their Eighteen-Star Flag . Others favoured the replacement of the entire Qing dynasty by a new republic, as evinced by their Five-Striped Flag. Some revolutionaries, such as Zou Rong , used

11040-528: The relocation of some communities and over time, varying degrees of intermarriage and assimilation took place. In Taiwan, Han Chinese (including both the earlier Han Taiwanese settlers and the recent Chinese that arrived in Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek in 1949) constitute over 95% of the population. They have also been a politically, culturally and economically dominant majority vis-à-vis the non-Han indigenous Taiwanese peoples . Nearly 30 to 40 million people of Han Chinese descent live in Southeast Asia. According to

11155-671: The sparsely populated regions of south China were inhabited by tribes known only as the Bai Yue or Hundred Yue. Many of these tribes developed into kingdoms under rulers and nobility of Han Chinese ethnicity but retained a Bai Yue majority for several centuries. Yet others were forcibly brought into the Sinosphere by the imperial ambitions of emperors such as Qin Shi Huangdi and Han Wu Di, both of whom settled hundreds of thousands of Chinese in these lands to form agricultural colonies and military garrisons. Even then, control over these lands

11270-400: The term Tangren ( 唐人 ; Tángrén ; 'people of Tang'), derived from the name of the later Tang dynasty (618–907) that oversaw what is regarded as another golden age of China . The self-identification as Tangren is popular in south China, because it was at this time that massive waves of migration and settlement led to a shift in the center of gravity of the Chinese nation away from

11385-543: The term Zhongguo Benbu ( 中国本部 ) which roughly identifies the Eighteen Provinces. When the Qing dynasty fell, the abdication decree of the Xuantong Emperor bequeathed all the territories of the Qing dynasty to the new Republic of China , and the latter idea was therefore adopted by the new republic as the principle of Five Races Under One Union , with Five Races referring to the Han, Manchus, Mongols, Muslims (Uyghurs, Hui etc.) and Tibetans. The Five-Striped Flag

11500-508: The term "China proper" was sometimes used by Chinese officials when they were communicating in foreign languages. For instance, the Qing ambassador to Britain Zeng Jize used it in an English language article, which he published in 1887. "Dulimbai Gurun" is the Manchu name for China ( 中國 , Zhongguo; "Middle Kingdom"). After conquering the Ming, the Qing identified their state as "China" (Zhongguo), and referred to it as "Dulimbai Gurun" in

11615-539: The territories newly acquired by the Qing empire. In the early 19th century, Wei Yuan 's Shengwuji (Military History of the Qing Dynasty) calls the Inner Asian polities guo , while the seventeen provinces of the traditional heartland, that is, "China proper", and three eastern provinces of Manchuria are called " Zhongguo ". Some Ming loyalists of Han ethnicity refused to use Zhongguo to refer to areas outside

11730-451: The throne – fled to Wu and settled there. Three generations later, King Wu of the Zhou dynasty defeated King Zhou (the last Shang king), and enfeoffed the descendants of Taibo in Wu – mirroring the later history of Nanyue , where a Chinese king and his soldiers ruled a non-Han population and mixed with locals, who were sinicized over time. After the Battle of Muye , the Shang dynasty

11845-445: The tumult of the Central Plains to the peaceful lands south of the Yangtze and on the southeastern coast, leading to the earnest settlement by Chinese of lands hitherto regarded as part of the empire's sparsely populated frontier or periphery. Guangdong and Fujian, hitherto regarded as backwater regions populated by the descendants of garrison soldiers, exiles and refugees, became new centers and representatives of Han Chinese culture under

11960-408: The various regions of modern China today with distinct regional features. The expansion of the Han people outside their linguistic homeland in the Yellow River is an important part of their historical consciousness and ethnogenesis, and accounts for their present-day diversity. There were several periods of mass migration of Han people to Southeastern and Southern China throughout history. Initially,

12075-408: The vehicle for exporting Chinese culture to its East Asian neighbors. Chinese characters became the unifying language of bureaucratic politics and religious expression in East Asia. The Chinese script was passed on first to Korea and then to Japan , where Han characters acted as the major underlying fundamental linguistic basis constituent of the Japanese writing system . In Korea, however, Sejong

12190-541: The wake of the An Lushan rebellion , a further wave of Han migrants from northern China headed the south. At the start of the rebellion in 755 there were 52.9 million registered inhabitants of the Tang Empire, and after its end in 764, only 16.9 million were recorded. It is likely that the difference in census figures was due to the complete breakdown in administrative capabilities, as well as the widespread escape from

12305-520: The well-developed characters hint at a much earlier origin of writing in China. During the Shang dynasty, people of the Wu area in the Yangtze River Delta were considered a different tribe, and described as being scantily dressed, tattooed and speaking a distinct language. Later, Taibo , elder uncle of Ji Chang – on realising that his younger brother, Jili, was wiser and deserved to inherit

12420-424: The widely accepted area covered by "China proper" is not the actual territory of any of the Chinese dynasties . Gu further theorized that " 中国本部 ", the Chinese and Japanese term equal to "China proper" at the time, actually originated from Japan and was translated into "China proper", hence the concept of "China proper" was developed by Japanese people, and it had become a tool to divide Chinese people, making way for

12535-488: Was a brief period of prosperity under the native Han Chinese dynasty known as the Jin (266–420 BC), although protracted struggles within the ruling house of Sima (司馬) sparked off a protracted period of fragmentation, rebellion by immigrant tribes that served as slaves and indentured servants, and extended non-native rule. Non-native rule During this time, areas of northern China were overrun by various non-Han nomadic peoples , which came to establish kingdoms of their own,

12650-546: Was absorbed into "China" (Dulimbai Gurun) in a Manchu language memorial. The Qing expounded on their ideology that they were bringing together the "outer" non-Han peoples like the Manchus, Mongols, Uighurs and Tibetans together with the "inner" Han people, into "one family" united under the Qing state, showing that the diverse subjects of the Qing were all part of one family, the Qing used the phrase "Zhong Wai Yi Jia" ( 中外一家 ) or "Nei Wai Yi Jia" ( 內外一家 , "interior and exterior as one family"), to convey this idea of "unification" of

12765-418: Was adopted as the national flag, and the Republic of China viewed itself as a single unified state encompassing all five regions handed down by the Qing dynasty. The People's Republic of China, which was founded in 1949 and replaced the Republic of China on the Chinese mainland, has continued to claim essentially the same borders, with the only major exception being the recognition of an independent Mongolia . As

12880-665: Was contrasted to that of peoples perceived as "Yi" (often translated as ' barbarian ') living on the peripheries of the Zhou kingdoms. Overseas Chinese who possess non-Chinese citizenship are commonly referred as "Hua people" ( 华人 ; 華人 ; Huárén ) or Huazu ( 华族 ; 華族 ; Huázú ). The two respective aforementioned terms are applied solely to those with a Han background that is semantically distinct from Zhongguo ren ( 中国人 ; 中國人 ) which has connotations and implications limited to being citizens and nationals of China, especially with regard to ethnic minorities in China . The name "Han people" ( 漢人 ; 汉人 ; Hànrén ) first appeared during

12995-405: Was formally entrenched in the Han dynasty. The Han dynasty is considered one of the golden ages of Chinese history, with the modern Han Chinese people taking their ethnic name from this dynasty and the Chinese script being referred to as " Han characters ". The fall of the Han dynasty was followed by an age of fragmentation and several centuries of disunity amid warfare among rival kingdoms. There

13110-539: Was overthrown by Zhou (led by Ji Fa ), which had emerged as a western state along the Wei River in the 2nd millennium BCE. The Zhou dynasty shared the language and culture of the Shang people, and extended their reach to encompass much of the area north of the Yangtze River . Through conquest and colonization, much of this area came under the influence of sinicization and this culture extended south. However,

13225-637: Was tenuous, and Bai Yue cultural identity remained strong until sustained waves of Han Chinese emigration in the Jin, Tang and Song dynasties altered the demographic balance completely. Chinese language (or Chinese languages) can be divided to 10 primary dialects (or languages). Each Han Chinese subgroup (民系) can be identified through their dialects: The first emperor Qin Shih Huang Di is said to have sent several hundred thousand men and fifteen thousand women to form agricultural and military settlements in Lingnan (present day Guangxi and Guangdong), under

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