Encyclopedia
The
Han is an ethnic group originating from
China. As the ethnic group forming the majority of the Chinese population, it is the largest single
human ethnic group in the
world, numbering over 1.3 billion
people. The Han people constitute about 92 percent of the population of
mainland China and about 19 percent of the entire
global human population. In contrast to the common Western media portrayal of the Han Chinese as being homogeneous, there are substantial genetic, linguistic, cultural and social differences between its various subgroups. Thousands of years of regionalized assimilation of various ethnic groups and tribes in China is the primary reason for this diversity within the Han. In English, the term "
Chinese" is often used to refer to the Han, even though strictly speaking the Chinese encompasses many ethnic groups other than the Han.
Han Chinese is a subset of the Chinese nation . A poetic name used by some
Chinese people to refer to themselves is the "
Descendants of the Dragon".
Terms
"Han" or "Han Chinese" is the ethnic group forming the majority of the
Chinese peoples. The name comes from the
Han Dynasty which succeeded the short-lived
Qin Dynasty that united
China. The
Zhou Dynasty, which preceded the
Qin, was a period of consolidation when the various tribes coalesced into
Warring States, which then annexed each other. It was during the
Qin Dynasty and the
Han Dynasty that the various tribes of
China began to feel that they belonged to the same ethnic group, compared with other ethnic groups around them.. In addition, the Han Dynasty is considered a high point in Chinese
civilization, able to expand its power and influences to
Central and
Northeast Asia.
In the English language, the term "
Chinese" is sometimes confused with "Han", without regard to the
other Chinese ethnic groups. The specific words used in
Chinese language such as
Zhongguó rén and
Zhonghua minzu actually refer to Chinese citizens.
Amongst some Southern Han Chinese, a different term exists within various languages like Cantonese,
Hakka and Minnan –
Tángrén . This term derives from another Chinese dynasty, the
Tang Dynasty, which is regarded as another zenith of Chinese civilization. It was during the Tang Dynasty that southern coastal China and the Yue peoples there were fully sinicized. In fact, the term survives in most Chinese references to
Chinatown , known as ??? .
Another term used commonly to refer to overseas Chinese is
Huaren , derived from
Zhonghua , a
literary name for China. The usual translation is "ethnic Chinese". The term refers to "Chinese" as a cultural and ethnic affiliation and is inclusive of both Chinese in China and persons of Chinese descent residing abroad.
History
Prehistory and the Huaxia
The history of the Han Chinese ethnic group is closely tied to that of China. Han Chinese trace their ancestry back to the Huaxia peoples who lived along the
Yellow River in northern China. The famous Chinese historian
Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian dates the reign of the
Yellow Emperor, the legendary ancestor of Han Chinese, to 2698 BCE to 2599 BCE. Although study of this period of history is complicated by lack of historical records, discovery of
archaeological sites have identified a succession of
Neolithic cultures along the Yellow River. Along the central reaches of the Yellow River were the Yangshao culture and
Longshan culture . Along the lower reaches of the river were the Qingliangang culture , the
Dawenkou culture , the
Longshan culture , and the Yueshi culture.
Early history
Main articles: Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty
The first dynasty to be described in Chinese historical records is the
Xia Dynasty, a legendary period for which scant archaeological evidence exists. They were overthrown by peoples from the east, who formed the
Shang Dynasty . Some of the earliest examples of Chinese writing date back to this period, from characters inscribed on
oracle bone divination. The Shang were eventually overthrown by the people of Zhou, which had emerged as a state along the Yellow River sometime during the 2nd millennium BC.
The
Zhou Dynasty was the successor to Shang. Sharing the language and culture of the Shang people, they 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 the proto-Han Chinese culture extended south.
Culture
Part of one of the world's oldest and most complex civilizations, Chinese culture dates back thousands of years. Han Chinese believe they share common ancestors, mythically ascribed to the patriarchs
Yellow Emperor and
Yan Emperor, some thousands of years ago. Hence some Han Chinese refer to themselves as "descendants of the Yan and/or Yellow Emperor" , a phrase which has reverberative connotations in a divisive political climate, as in that between
Mainland China and
Taiwan.
Throughout the
history of China, Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by
Confucianism. Credited with shaping much of Chinese thought, Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China's history, and mastery of Confucian texts provided the primary criterion for
entry into the imperial bureaucracy.
Language
Han Chinese all speak some form of
Chinese languages; one of the names of the language group is
Hanyu , literally the "Han language". Similarly,
Chinese characters, used to write the language, are called
Hanzi , or "Han characters."
Names
Chinese names are typically two or three syllables in length, with the surname followed by the given name. Surnames are typically one character in length, though a few uncommon surnames are two or more syllables long, while given names are one or two syllables long.
There are 4000 to 6000 surnames in China, but only around 1000 surnames are popularly used. According to a study by Li Dongming , a Chinese historian, as published in the article "Surname" in
Dongfong Magazine , the common Han surnames are:
Top 10 common surnames, which together account for about 40% of Chinese people in the world, :
Zhang ?/?, Wang ?, Li ?, Zhao ?/?, Chen ?/?, Yang ?/?, Wu ?/?, Liu ?/?, Huang ?/?, Zhou ?
The 11th to 20th common surnames, which together account for more than 10% of Chinese people in the world:
Xu ?, Zhu ?, Lin ?,
Sun ?/?, Ma ?/?,
Gao ?, Hu ?, Zheng ?/?, Guo ?, Xiao ?/?
The 21st to 30th common surnames, which together account about 10% of Chinese people in the world:
Xie ?/?, He ?, Xu ?/?, Song ?, Shen ?, Luo ?/?, Han ?/?, Deng ?/?, Liang ?, Ye ?/?
The remaining 15 common surnames, which together account for about 10% of Chinese people in the world:
Fang ?, Cui ?, Cheng ??Pan ?, Cao ?, Feng ?/?, Wang ?, Cai ?, Yuan ?, Lu ?/?, Tang ?, Qian ?/?, Du ?,
Peng ?, Lu ?/?
Dress
Han Chinese nowadays usually wear
Western-style clothing. Traditional
Han Chinese clothing is now largely extinct. It is, however, preserved in religious and ceremonial costumes. For example,
Taoist priests dress in fashion typical of scholars of the
Han Dynasty. The ceremonial dress in
Japan, such as those of
Shinto priests, are largely in line with ceremonial dress in
China during the
Tang dynasty. The traditional Chinese clothing worn by many Chinese females in important occasions such as wedding banquets and Chinese New Year is called the
qipao. Ironically, this attire comes not from the Han Chinese but from a modified dress-code of the
Manchus, the ethnic group that ruled China between the 17th and the early 20th Century.
Contribution to humanity
Han Chinese have played a major role in the development of the
arts,
sciences,
philosophy, and
mathematics throughout history. In ancient times, the scientific accomplishments of China included seismological detectors, matches, paper, dry docks, sliding calipers, the double-action piston pump, cast iron, the iron plough, the multi-tube seed drill, the wheelbarrow, the suspension bridge, the parachute, natural gas as fuel, the magnetic compass, the relief map, the propeller, the crossbow, gunpowder and printing. Paper, printing, the compass, and gunpowder are celebrated in Chinese culture as the
Four Great Inventions of ancient China. Chinese astronomers were also among the first to record observations of a supernova.
Chinese art,
Chinese philosophy, and Chinese literature all have thousands of years of development, while numerous Chinese sites, such as the
Great Wall of China and the
Terracotta Army, are
World Heritage Sites. Since the start of the program in 2001, aspects of Chinese culture have been listed by
UNESCO as
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Throughout much of history, successive Chinese states have exerted influence on their neighbors in the areas of art, music, religion, food, dress, philosophy, language, government, and culture. In modern times, Han Chinese form the largest ethnic group in China, while an overseas Chinese diaspora numbering in the tens of millions has settled in and contributed to countries throughout the world.
Language as a uniting factor
Despite the existence of many dialects of
Chinese spoken languages, one factor in Han ethnic unity is the
Chinese written language. This unity is credited to the
Qin dynasty which unified the various forms of writing that existed in China at that time. For thousands of years,
Literary Chinese was used as the standard written format, which used vocabulary and grammar significantly different from the various forms of spoken Chinese. Since the 20th century
written Chinese has been usually vernacular Chinese, which is largely based upon dialects of Mandarin, and not the local dialect of the writer . Thus, although the residents of different regions would not necessarily understand each other's speech, they would be able to understand each other's writing.
"Han" as a fluid concept
The definition of the Han identity has varied throughout history. Prior to the 20th century, some Chinese-speaking ethnic groups like the
Hakka and the Tanka were not universally accepted as Han Chinese, while some non-Chinese speaking peoples, like the Zhuang, were considered Han . Today,
Hui Chinese are considered a separate nationality, but aside from their practice of Islam, little distinguishes them from the Han; two Han from different regions might differ more in language, customs, and culture than a neighboring Han and Hui. During the
Qing Dynasty, Han Chinese who had entered the
Eight Banners military system were considered
Manchu, while
Chinese nationalists seeking to overthrow the monarchy stressed Han Chinese identity in contrast to the Manchu rulers. Upon its founding, the
Republic of China recognized five major nationalities: the Han, Hui,
Mongols,
Manchus, and
Tibetans, while the
People's Republic of China now recognizes fifty-six nationalities.
Han diversity
In addition to a diversity of spoken language, there are also regional differences in culture among Han Chinese. For example, China's cuisine varies from
Sichuan's famously spicy food to Guangdong's
Dim Sum and fresh seafood. However, ethnic unity still exists between these two groups because of common cultural, behavioural, linguistic, and religious practices.
According to recent scientific studiesrical documentation indicates that the Han were descended from the ancient Huaxia tribes of northern China. During the past two millennia, the Han culture extended into southern China, a region originally inhabited by the southern natives, including those speaking Dai,
Austro-Asiatic and Hmong-Mien languages. As Huaxia culture spread from its heartland in the
Yellow River basin, it absorbed many distinct ethnic groups which then came to be identified as Han Chinese, as these groups adopted Han language and customs.
For example, during the
Shang Dynasty people of the Wu area, in the
Yangtze River Delta, was considered a "barbarian" tribe. They spoke a distinct language that was almost certainly non-Chinese, and were described as being scantily dressed and tattooed. By the
Tang Dynasty, however, this area had become part of the Han Chinese heartland, and is today the most densely populated and strongest performing economic region in China, the site of China's largest city
Shanghai. The people in the Wu area today speak the Wu dialects, which are part of the
Chinese language family but are mutually unintelligible with other Chinese languages/dialects, and do not see themselves as a separate ethnic group. The Wu area is one example of many involving the absorption of different cultural groups in contributing toward the diversity of culture and language throughout the Han Chinese ethnic group.
References
See also
- Subgroups of the Han ethnicity
- Han chauvinism
External links
