|
|
|
|
Huaxia
|
| |
|
| |
Huaxia is a name often used to represent China or Chinese civilization.
rding to the historical record, Zuo Zhuan, the ancient Xia Dynasty of central China was a state that held propriety and justice in high esteem, thus the word xia, which has the meaning of "great" or "grand", was used by subsequent dynasties to refer to the entire country as a mark of refined culture.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Huaxia' Start a new discussion about 'Huaxia' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Huaxia is a name often used to represent China or Chinese civilization.
Etymology
According to the historical record, Zuo Zhuan, the ancient Xia Dynasty of central China was a state that held propriety and justice in high esteem, thus the word xia, which has the meaning of "great" or "grand", was used by subsequent dynasties to refer to the entire country as a mark of refined culture. The word hua was also used in reference to the beautiful clothing that people in ancient China wore, as the word means "illustrious" and "splendid" (???????,???;?????,????). The two words hence describes a great civilisation.
It is also possible that xia referred to Xiashui, another name for the Han River, and hua referred to Mount Hua. Both the river and the mountain were historically and culturally significant to ancient China.
Historical development
In the narrow, original sense, Huaxia refers to a group (or confederation of tribes) of ancient people living along the Yellow River who formed the nucleus of what later became the Han ethnic group in China. In this sense, the term did not originally represent China or Chinese civilisation as a whole, but referred instead to a specific ethno-cultural group (the Huaxia tribe or confederacy ???) that was distinct from other Chinese peoples at the time, such as the Miao and the Dongyi. Subsequently, with the spread of Han culture over most of China, the term came to be used as a generic term for the Chinese nation itself, as well as for Chinese culture in general (including that shared by the overseas Chinese).
Modern references
Although still used in conjunction, Hua (?) and Xia (?) are more often used separately to represent things Chinese. Hua, in particular, has become almost synonymous with Chinese civilization.
The official Chinese names of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China refer to Huaxia in using the term Zhonghua to refer to China as a country. The PRC's Chinese name is "???????" and the ROC's Chinese name is "????".
The character hua is also often used, in the terms Huaqiao and Huaren, by the Overseas Chinese to refer to themselves. The term does not denote citizenship, but makes a reference to their ancestral origins.
The Chinese calendar is also known as the "Xia Li" (??).
The Dynasty business class service on China Airlines is called "Huaxia Class" in Chinese.
See also
External links
|
| |
|
|
