Huaxia is a name often used to represent
ChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
or Chinese civilization.
Etymology
According to the historical record,
Zuo ZhuanThe Zuo Zhuan , sometimes translated as the Chronicle of Zuo or the Commentary of Zuo, is among the earliest Chinese works of narrative history and covers the period from 722 BCE to 468 BCE. It is one of the most important sources for understanding the history of the Spring and Autumn Period...
, the ancient
Xia DynastyThe Xia Dynasty is the first dynasty in China to be described in ancient historical chronicles such as Bamboo Annals, Classic of History and Records of the Grand Historian. The Xia Dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors gave his throne to him...
of central China was a state that held propriety and justice in high esteem. Thus the word
xia (夏), which later took on the meaning of "great" or "grand", referred collectively to the peoples of the Zhou fiefs, who were also known as
hua (華), and later took on the meaning of "cultivated" and used to refer to the Chinese, as opposed to the non-cultivated "barbarians."
Historical development
In the narrow, original sense, Huaxia refers to a group (or confederation of tribes) of ancient people living along the
Yellow RiverThe Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
who formed the nucleus of what later became the
HanHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
ethnic group in China. In this sense, the term referred to a specific ethno-cultural group (the Huaxia tribe or confederacy
華夏族) that was distinct from other groups, such as the
MiaoThe Miao or ม้ง ; ) is an ethnic group recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component nations of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, A Hmao, and Kho Xiong...
and the
DongyiDongyi was a collective term for people in eastern China and in lands located to the east of ancient China. People referred to as Dongyi vary across the ages.The early Dongyi culture was one of earliest neolithic cultures in China....
, who have by modern times been to a greater or lesser degree assimilated into Chinese culture. However, since the
Zhou DynastyThe Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
, with the spread of Han culture over most of China, the term gradually lost the original specific ethnic designation and came to be used as a generic term for the
Chinese nationChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
itself, as well as for Chinese culture in general (including that shared by the
overseas ChineseOverseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
). This transformation is explained by
ConfuciusConfucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
in
Spring and Autumn AnnalsThe Spring and Autumn Annals is the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 BCE to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged on annalistic principles. The text is extremely concise and, if all the commentaries are excluded, about 16,000...
("夷狄入華夏，則華夏之")。
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 the Chinese civilization.
The official Chinese names of both the
People's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
and the
Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
refer to
Huaxia in using the term
Zhonghua (中华 / 中華) to refer the Chinese civilization. The PRC's Chinese name is "
中华人民共和国" and the ROC's Chinese name is "
中華民國".
Zhongguo (中国 / 中國) usually refers to the country.
The character
hua is also often used to refer to
people of Chinese ethnicityHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
in the term
Huaren (华人 / 華人) and those
overseas ChineseOverseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
as
Huaqiao (华侨 / 華僑).
The
Chinese calendarThe Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. It is not exclusive to China, but followed by many other Asian cultures as well...
is also known as the "Xia Li" (夏历 / 夏曆).
The Dynasty business class service on
China AirlinesChina Airlines is both the flag carrier and the largest airline of Republic of China . Although not directly state-owned, the airline is owned by China Airlines Group, which is owned by the China Aviation Development Foundation...
is called "Huaxia Class" in Chinese.
See also
- History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
- Hua-Yi distinction
The distinction between Hua and Yi is an ancient Chinese conception that differentiated a culturally defined "China" from cultural or ethnic outsiders...
- Nine Provinces
External links