''Huaxia'' (華夏, ) is a historical concept representing the

Chinese nation ''Zhonghua minzu'' (, ) is a political term in modern Chinese nationalism related to the concepts of nation-building, ethnicity, and race in the Chinese nationality. ''Zhonghua minzu'' was established during the early Beiyang (1912–1 ...

, and came from the self-awareness of a common cultural ancestry by the various

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

s of

pre-Qin The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...

ethnic ancestors of

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

people.

Etymology

The earliest extant authentic attestion of the concept ''Huáxià'' is in the historical narrative and commentary Zuo zhuan (finished around 300 BCE). In Zuo zhuan, Huaxia refers to the central states (中國 '' Zhōngguó'') in the Yellow River valley, dwelt by the Huaxia people, ethnically equivalent to

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

in pre-imperial discourses. According to

Confucianist Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a ...

Kong Yingda Kong Yingda (; 574 – 648), courtesy names Chongyuan () and Zhongda (), was a Chinese philosopher during the Sui and Tang dynasty. An amorous Confucianist, who is considered one of the most influential Confucian scholars in Chinese history. H ...

's "True Meaning of '' Chunqiu Zuo zhuan''", ''xià'' () "grand" signified the "greatness" () in the ceremonial etiquettes of the central states, while ''huá'' () "flower" or "blossom" was used in reference to the "beauty" () in the

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

that those states' denizens wore.

History

Origin

historian

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years b ...

asserts that Xia was the name of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

enfeoffed In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...

to legendary king

Yu the Great Yu the Great (大禹) was a legendary king in ancient China who was famed for his introduction of flood control, his establishment of the Xia dynasty which inaugurated dynastic rule in China, and his upright moral character. He figures prominen ...

, and Yu used its name as his

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

. In modern historiography, Huaxia refers to a confederation of tribes—living along the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

—who were the ancestors of what later became the

ethnic group in China. During the

Warring States The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

(475–221 BCE), the self-awareness of the Huaxia identity developed and took hold in ancient China. Initially, ''Huaxia'' defined mainly a civilized society that was distinct and stood in contrast to what was perceived as the

barbaric A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

peoples around them. The Huaxia identity arose in the Eastern Zhou period as a reaction to the increased conflict with the Rong and Di peoples who migrated into the Zhou lands and extinguished some Zhou states.

Modern usage

Although still used in conjunction, the

Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the Written Chinese, writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are k ...

s for ''hua'' and ''xia'' are also used separately as autonyms. The official Chinese names of both the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(PRC) and the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(ROC) use the term ''Huaxia'' in combination with the term ''Zhongguo'' (, translated as "Middle Kingdom"), that is, as ''Zhonghua'' (). The PRC's official Chinese name is ''Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo'' (), while that of the ROC is ''Zhonghua Minguo'' (). The term ''Zhongguo'' is confined by its association to a state, whereas ''Zhonghua'' mainly concerns culture. The latter is being used as part of the nationalist term ''

Zhōnghuá Mínzú ''Zhonghua minzu'' (, ) is a political term in modern Chinese nationalism related to the concepts of nation-building, ethnic group, ethnicity, and race (human categorization), race in the Chinese nationality. ''Zhonghua minzu'' was est ...

'' which is an all Chinese nationality in the sense of a multi-ethnic

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

. The term ''Huaren'' () for a Chinese person is an abbreviation of ''Huaxia'' with ''ren'' (, person). ''Huaren'' in general is used for people of Chinese ethnicity, in contrast to ''Zhongguoren'' () which usually (but not always) refers to citizens of China. Although some may use ''Zhongguoren'' to refer to the Chinese ethnicity, such usage is not common in Taiwan. In overseas Chinese communities in countries such as

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, ''Huaren'' or ''Huaqiao'' (overseas Chinese) is used as they are also not citizens of China.

Notes

References