Zhonghua minzu
- For other uses, see Chinese nationality.
| Zhonghua minzu | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese: | 中華民族 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese: | 中华民族 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Zhonghua minzu (Chinese: 中华民族; Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínzú), is a Chinese term that refers to the modern notion of a Chinese nationality transcending ethnic divisions, with a central identity to China as a whole. It includes peoples who have historically interacted, contributed and assimilated to various extents with Chinese civilization. It is sometimes translated into English as the "Chinese nation." The boundaries of Zhonghua minzu are fuzzy but most Chinese today use the term to include all peoples within the territorial boundaries of China along with overseas Chinese integrated as one national, political, cultural and perhaps even ideological-moral group.
The roots of the Zhonghua minzu lie in the multi-ethnic Qing Empire, created in the seventeenth century by the Manchus. The Manchus sought to portray themselves as the legitimate rulers of each of the ethnic or religious identities within the empire. By the early twentieth century, the Manchu had succeeded in getting the Han intellectual elite to embrace the idea that China was a multi-ethnic state. After the foundation of the Republic of China in 1911, Han intellectuals struggled to develop a historical narrative that would portray China as a single, united people and nation. Zhonghua minzu has continued to be invoked and remains a powerful concept in China into the twenty-first century. It continues to be used by the leaders of China in an effort to unify a highly diverse set of ethnic and social groups into one political entity, as well as to mobilize the support of overseas Chinese in developing China.
Zhonghua minzu
Zhonghua minzu is a Chinese term that refers to the modern notion of a Chinese nationality transcending ethnic divisions, with a central identity to China as a whole. It includes peoples who have historically interacted, contributed and assimilated to various extents with Chinese civilization. It is sometimes translated into English as the Chinese nation.
The boundaries of Zhonghua minzu are fuzzy but most Chinese today use the term to include all peoples within the territorial boundaries of China along with overseas Chinese integrated as one national, political, cultural and perhaps even ideological-moral group.
Zhonghua refers to the concept of "China" and is the term used in the formal names for both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China. Minzu can be translated as "nation," "people," or "ethnic group."
Confusion can arise because the term "Chinese" in Western languages is often used to refer both to Zhonghua minzu and to the Han ethnicity, two concepts which are usually distinct among modern Chinese speakers.
History
The immediate roots of the Zhonghua minzu lie in the Qing Empire, a multi-ethnic empire created in the seventeenth century by the Manchus. In order to legitimize their rule, the Manchus sought to portray themselves as ideal Confucian rulers for the Chinese, Grand khans for the Mongols, and Chakravartin kings for Tibetan Buddhists. This involved developing clear ethnic or religious identities within the empire. Administratively, the empire was divided into the provinces of China (China proper) and the territories of Mongols, Tibetans, and Muslims, which were not subject to the control of the Chinese bureaucracy. In this fashion, the Qing court intended, and to a large part succeeded, in gaining the loyalty of the large Han Chinese gentry, whose cooperation was essential to govern China, as well as other groups such as the Mongols, who acknowledged the Qing as successors to Chinggis Khan.
By the early twentieth century, partly through the influence of educational institutions, the Manchu had succeeded in getting the Han intellectual elite to embrace the idea that China was a multi-ethnic state. After Manchu rule ended in 1911, the Chinese people never returned to the position that "China" was the property of the Han people.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag Some of these theories became institutionalized doctrines, at the expense of objective scientific research and exploration.
Controversy
The theory behind the ideology of Zhonghua minzu is that it includes not only the Han but also other minority ethnic groups within China, such as the Mongols, Manchus, Hmong, Tibetans and others that have historically and to various degrees interacted with, contributed to and assimilated with the Han, including the Taiwanese. This theoretical concept is not universally accepted. Supporters of Tibetan independence or Uighur independence, for example, tend to reject the notion that their respective ethnic groups are part of a single people with Han Chinese, or that the concept of Zhonghua minzu should be the grounds for a unified nation-state. They would argue that their peoples have a culture, a history of political independence, and a sense of nationhood which is quite distinct from that of the Han Chinese, and that under the right of self-determination, they have a right to political independence from the Chinese state.
The concept of Zhonghua Minzu is also attacked by supporters of independence for [Taiwan, who, while not denying that most people on Taiwan are ethnically Han Chinese, argue that Taiwan has a right to independence because it forms a separate and distinct political community from the Mainland.
The boundaries that determine who is, or is not, a member of the Chinese nation have always been rather inconsistent. For example, whether overseas Chinese are considered part of this Chinese nationality depends on the speaker and the context. The logic often stems from geographic location and political status—a Mongol living in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia would be considered by most to be part of Zhonghua minzu, while a Mongol living in the independent state of Mongolia is almost universally considered not to be. Alternatively, a person of Russian, Korean, or Vietnamese ethnicity with Chinese citizenship would be considered by most Chinese to be a full member of the Zhonghua Minzu, notwithstanding their cultural differences with the majority Han.
The situation of overseas Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore is also interesting, in that they make a clear distinction between being Chinese in a political sense and being Chinese in an ethnic sense, making it unclear whether or not they belong to a group that contains both political and ethnic connotations.
The conceptual boundaries of the Zhonghua minzu are complicated by independent countries such as Mongolia and Korea, with their differing interpretations of historical peoples and states. For instance, the claim of Genghis Khan as a "Chinese" by China is contested by the Mongolians, who regard him as the father of the Mongolian state.
A dispute of a similar nature has arisen over the status of the state of Koguryo in ancient history, with the Chinese claiming it as Chinese on the grounds that much of it existed within the historical borders of China and the Koreans claiming that it was Korean on ethnic grounds.
Notes
incorporating the heterogeneous peoples of the Qing empire into the new Chinese nation-state
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Brown, Melissa J. 2004. Is Taiwan Chinese? the impact of culture, power, and migration on changing identities. Berkeley series in interdisciplinary studies of China, 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN:0520231813 9780520231818 0520231821 9780520231825
- Guo, Dalie, and Jianzhong Dong. 2000. Zhonghua min zu zhi shi tong lan. Zhonghua ge min zu zhi shi cong shu. Kunming Shi: Yunnan jiao yu chu ban she. ISBN:7541516759 9787541516757
- Hsu, L. K. Francis, and Hendrick Serrie. 1998. The overseas Chinese ethnicity in national context. Lanham, Md: University Press of America. ISBN:076181163X 9780761811633
- Hu, Naian. 1969. Zhonghua minzu. Taibei: Taiwan Shangwu Yinshuguan.
- Leibold, James. 2007. Reconfiguring Chinese nationalism how the Qing frontier and its indigenes became Chinese. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN:1403974799 9781403974792
- Tung, William L. 1930. Imperialism and China (Diguo Zhuyi you Zhonghua Minzu). Shanghai: Kwaimin Press.
External links
- The War of Words Between South Korea and China Over An Ancient Kingdom: Why Both Sides Are Misguided Zhonghua minzu and the Sino-Korean controversy over the 'ownership' of ancient Koguryo.
See also
- Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China
- China proper
- Chinese nationalism
- Chinese people
- Han chauvinism
- List of Chinese ethnic groups
- Nationalities of China
- Northeast Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Science
- Sinocentrism
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