From Xia People to Han People and to Chinese Nation--A Study of the Trajectory of the Cohesion and Integration of Chinese Ethnic Groups

摘要

Building multiethnic China was primarily driven by the cohesion and integration of main ethnic groups within Chinese territory, but the process was recorded according to traditional ethnic group discourse system of ancient China, so there is some doubt whether “nation state” theory can interpret it precisely. This paper manages to figure out the trajectory of cohesion and integration of main ethnic groups propelled by ancient Chinese people from the Xia Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty by focusing on traditional views on ethnic groups of ancient China. This paper contend that although there were the phenomena of naming the products of the integrations after the regimes they belonged to,“Han people,”“Hua people” and even “Zhonghua(Chinese) people,” became the designations of main cohesive ethnic groups in China over time, and the concept of “Chen Min(subjects)” and the appearance of “nationals” that developed during the Qing Dynasty successfully transformed their identity, which Liang Qichao referred to as “Chinese nation”. Efforts by the rulers of the Qing Dynasty to bridge the gaps between different ethnic groups by developing a community of “subjects”(Chenmin), produced the concept of “Chinese nation” which included the various ethnic groups with the “Han people” as the main group. This new community merely represents the present-day cohesion of the Chinese Nation and the internal integration continues.