China Chinese ethnics

Zhonghua minzu Wikipedia

zh:中华民族

Zhōnghu?? M??nz?? (中華民族) is a national grouping introduced by Chinese nationalists to justify the political integration of various ethnic groups.

Most Chinese use it to include not only the Han Chinese but also other minority ethnic groups within China, such as the Mongols and Tibetans. However, the minority ethnic groups do not necessarily view themselves as part of Zhonghua minzu. The boundaries of who is or is not a member of Zhonghua minzu has always been somewhat fuzzy and rather inconsistent and has changed from period to period. For example, whether overseas Chinese are considered part of Zhonghua minzu depends on the speaker and the context. A Mongol living in Inner Mongolia would be considered by most to be part of Zhonghua minzu, while a Mongol living in Outer Mongolia would not.

The roots of Zhonghua Minzu dates from the fact that China was the dominant political power in East Asia for several hundred years, and that during much of the period, the notion of "Chineseness" was defined more in civilizational terms than in racial ones. In the 19th century, it was necessary for China to map its views on identity to fit with Western concepts.

The concept has been advocated by Chinese nationalists such as Sun Yat-sen and Liang Qichao since 1895. They planned to overthrow the Manchu Dynasty and establish the Chinese nation state modelled after Germany and Japan. At the same time, they intended that Outer China remain part of the Chinese nation, where languages, religions, cultures and administration systems were completely different from the Han Chinese's.

The fear was that an overly restrictive view of the nation state would have dissolved the Empire into several different nations and allow Western powers to dominate China. While Japan and Germany were considered examples of what China should do, the Ottoman Empire was an example of what Chinese nationalists feared. To resolve the contradiction, the concept of Zhonghua minzu was introduced.

The concept of Zhonghua minzu has continued to be invoked and remains a powerful concept among Chinese nationalists into the twenty-first century.

See also:

• Han chauvinism

• List of Chinese ethnic groups

Last Modified:   2005-02-27