Editing Han Chinese (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of China}}

The Han Chinese have a rich history that spans thousands of years, with their historical roots dating back to the days of [[ancient China]]. Throughout Han history, China has been governed by [[Dynasties of China|dynasties]], with periods during which it has seen cycles of expansion, contraction, unity, and fragmentation. Due to the overwhelming numerical and cultural dominance of Han culture in China, most of the written [[history of China]] can be read as "a history of the Han Chinese," hinted and tinged with only passing references to its [[ethnic minorities in China|ethnic non-Han minority counterparts]].<ref>{{cite book|first=John A.G|last=Roberts|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2001|title=A History of China|page=5}}</ref><ref name="CA" />

=== Prehistory ===
{{Main|Huaxia|Peopling of China|Yanhuang}}
{{multiple image
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| footer            = Han Chinese refer to themselves as "[[Yan Huang Zisun|Descendants of Yan and Huang]]"
| image2            = Xu Jetian - Shennong.jpg
| alt2              = Yan Emperor
| image1            = Portraits of Famous Men - Yellow Emperor (Huangdi).jpg
| alt1              = Yellow Emperor
}}
The prehistory of the Han Chinese is closely intertwined with both archaeology, biology, historical textual records, and mythology. The ethnic stock to which the Han Chinese originally trace their ancestry from were confederations of late [[Neolithic]] and early [[Bronze Age]] agricultural tribes known as the [[Huaxia]] that lived along the [[Guanzhong]] and [[Yellow River]] basins in northern China.<ref name="PV">{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20083309 |title=A Point Of View: How China sees a multicultural world |last=Jacques |first=Martin |date=26 October 2012 |website=BBC News |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=23 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723222617/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20083309 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |last=Minahan |first=James |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-61069-017-1 |publication-date=10 February 2014 |page=90}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Interpreters in Early Imperial China |last= Lung |first=Rachel |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-90-272-2444-6 |page=5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture |last=Zhang |first=Qizhi |publisher=Springer |year=2016 |isbn=978-3-662-51507-5 |page=26}}</ref><ref name="Guo 2016 66–67">{{Cite book |title=An Introduction to the Chinese Economy: The Driving Forces Behind Modern Day China |last= Guo |first= Rongxing |publisher=Wiley |year= 2016 |isbn=978-3-319-32305-3 |pages=66–67}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1177/0022002795039003004 |title=War and Politics in Ancient China, 2700 B.C. To 722 B.C.: Measurement and Comparative Analysis |year=1995 |last1=Cioffi-Revilla |first1=C. |last2=Lai |first2=D. |journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=467–94 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA253|isbn=978-1-438-11913-7|last1=West|first1=Barbara A.|year=2009| publisher=Infobase |access-date=29 October 2015|archive-date=14 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414163029/https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA253|url-status=live}}</ref>{{excessive citations inline|date=July 2024}} In addition, numerous [[Ethnic groups in Chinese history#List of ethnic groups|ethnic groups]] were assimilated and absorbed by the Han Chinese at various points in China's history.<ref name="Guo 2016 66–67" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/CHIN-01-100114.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110131435/http://atimes.com/atimes/China/CHIN-01-100114.html |url-status=unfit |archive-date=10 January 2014 |title=Common traits bind Jews and Chinese |website=[[Asia Times]] |date=10 January 2014 |access-date=23 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="PV" /> Like many modern ethnic groups, the ethnogenesis of Han Chinese was a lengthy process that involved the expansion of the [[Dynasties of China|successive Chinese dynasties]] and their assimilation of [[Ethnic groups in Chinese history#List of ethnic groups|various non-Han ethnic groups]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Becoming Chinese American: A History of Communities and Institutions |last1=Him |first1=Mark Lai |last2=Hsu |first2= Madeline |author2-link=Madeline Y. Hsu|publisher=AltaMira |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-759-10458-7 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=A Short History of China and Southeast Asia: Tribute, Trade and Influence |last=Stuart-Fox |first=Martin |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=2003 |publication-date=1 November 2003 |page=21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title= Modern East Asia: An Introductory History |last=Miller |first=David |publisher= Routledge |year=2007 |isbn= 978-0-765-61823-8 |page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Pinghua population as an exception of Han Chinese's coherent genetic structure|journal=Journal of Human Genetics|volume=53|issue=4|pages=303–313|year=2008|doi=10.1007/s10038-008-0250-x|pmid = 18270655|last1=Gan|first1=Rui-Jing|last2=Pan|first2=Shang-Ling|last3=Mustavich|first3=Laura F.|last4=Qin|first4=Zhen-Dong|last5=Cai|first5=Xiao-Yun|last6=Qian|first6=Ji|last7=Liu|first7=Cheng-Wu|last8=Peng|first8=Jun-Hua|last9=Li|first9=Shi-Lin|last10=Xu|first10=Jie-Shun|last11=Jin|first11=Li|last12=Li|first12=Hui|doi-access=free}}</ref> 
[[File:A-Tomb of Emperor Huangdi in Shaanxi.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Huangdi in Shaanxi]]
During the [[Western Zhou]] and Han dynasties, Han Chinese writers established genealogical lineages by drawing from legendary materials originating from the [[Shang dynasty]],<ref>{{citation|last=Allan|first=Sarah|title=The Shape of the Turtle|year=1991|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany|isbn=978-0-791-40460-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QlEZd4x9LUAC&q=%22shape+of+the+turtle|access-date=5 October 2020|archive-date=14 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214010949/https://books.google.com/books?id=QlEZd4x9LUAC&q=%22shape+of+the+turtle|url-status=live}}</ref> while the Han dynasty historian [[Sima Qian]]'s ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' places the reign of the [[Yellow Emperor]], the legendary leader of Youxiong tribes ({{lang|zh|有熊氏}}), at the beginning of Chinese history. The Yellow Emperor is traditionally credited to have united with the neighbouring [[Shennong]] tribes after defeating their leader, the [[Yan Emperor]], at the [[Battle of Banquan]]. The newly merged [[Yanhuang]] tribes then combined forces to defeat their common enemy from the east, [[Chiyou]] of the Jiuli ({{lang|zh|九黎}}) tribes, at the [[Battle of Zhuolu]] and established their cultural dominance in the [[Central Plain (China)|Central Plain]] region. To this day, modern Han Chinese refer themselves as "[[Yan Huang Zisun|Descendants of Yan and Huang]]".

Although study of this period of history is complicated by the absence of contemporary records, the discovery of [[archaeological site]]s has enabled a succession of [[List of Neolithic cultures of China|Neolithic cultures]] to be identified along the Yellow River. Along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were the [[Cishan culture]] ({{circa|6500–5000&nbsp;BCE}}), the [[Yangshao culture]] ({{circa|5000–3000&nbsp;BCE}}), the [[Longshan culture]] ({{circa|3000–2000&nbsp;BCE}}) and the [[Erlitou culture]] ({{circa|1900–1500&nbsp;BCE}}). These cultures are believed to be related to the origins of the [[Sino-Tibetan languages]] and later the [[Sinitic languages]].<ref>{{cite journal | first1 =  Laurent | last1 = Sagart | last2 = Jacques |first2 = Guillaume | last3= Lai|first3 = Yunfan | last4=Ryder| first4= Robin | last5= Thouzeau| first5= Valentin | last6= Greenhill | first6= Simon J. | last7=List|first7 =  Johann-Mattis|year=2019 | title =Dated language phylogenies shed light on the ancestry of Sino-Tibetan | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=116|issue= 21 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1817972116| pmid = 31061123 | pmc = 6534992 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2019PNAS..11610317S |pages=10319–10320}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Menghan |last2=Yan |first2=Shi |last3=Pan |first3=Wuyun | author-link3=Pan Wuyun |last4=Jin |first4=Li |title=Phylogenetic evidence for Sino-Tibetan origin in northern China in the Late Neolithic |journal=Nature |date=24 April 2019 |volume=569 |issue=7754 |pages=112–115 |doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1153-z|pmid=31019300 |bibcode=2019Natur.569..112Z }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bradley |first1=David |author-link1=David Bradley (linguist) |title=Subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan languages |journal=10th International Conference on Evolutionary Linguistics, Nanjing University |date=27–28 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=LaPolla |first1=Randy |author-link1=Randy LaPolla |title=The origin and spread of the Sino-Tibetan language family |journal=Nature |date=2019 |volume=569 |issue=7754 |pages=45–47 |doi=10.1038/d41586-019-01214-6 |pmid=31036967 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2019Natur.569...45L }}</ref>{{sfnp|Sagart|Jacques|Lai|Ryder|2019|pp=10319–10320}} They were the foundation for the formation of [[Old Chinese]] and the founding of the [[Shang dynasty]], China's first confirmed dynasty.
<gallery widths="230" caption="Neolithic forebears of Sino-Tibetan and Chinese-speaking peoples">
File:Neolithic pottery bowl with legs, Cishan culture, Hebei, 1977.JPG|<small>Cishan culture pottery (6000–5500 BC)</small>
File:Yangshao Culture Pottery 28.jpg|<small>Yangshao culture pottery (5000–3000 BC)</small>
File:Neolithic Longshan Culture Pottery 01.jpg|<small>Longshan culture pottery (3200–2000 BC)</small>
</gallery>

=== Early history ===
{{Main|Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors}}
Early ancient Chinese history is largely legendary, consisting of mythical tales intertwined with sporadic annals written centuries to millennia later. Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Historian'' recorded a period following the Battle of Zhuolu, during the reign of successive generations of confederate overlords ({{lang-zh|t=共主}}) known as the [[Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors]] (c. 2852–2070 BCE), who, allegedly, were elected to power among the tribes.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} This is a period for which scant reliable archaeological evidence exists – these sovereigns are largely regarded as [[cultural hero]]es.

==== Xia dynasty ====
{{Main|Xia dynasty}}
The first dynasty to be described in Chinese historical records is the Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BCE), established by [[Yu the Great]] after [[Emperor Shun]] abdicated leadership to reward Yu's work in taming the [[Great Flood (China)|Great Flood]]. Yu's son, [[Qi of Xia|Qi]], managed to not only install himself as the next ruler, but also dictated his sons as heirs by default, making the Xia dynasty the first in recorded history where [[order of succession|genealogical succession]] was the norm. The civilizational prosperity of the Xia dynasty at this time is thought to have given rise to the name "Huaxia" ({{lang-zh|s=华夏|t=華夏|p=Huá Xià}}, "the magnificent Xia"), a term that was used ubiquitously throughout history to define the Chinese nation.<ref>{{Cite book |title=An Introduction to the Chinese Economy: The Driving Forces Behind Modern Day China |last= Guo |first= Rongxing |publisher= Wiley |year= 2010 |isbn= 978-0-470-82604-1 |page=10}}</ref>

Conclusive archaeological evidence predating the 16th century BCE is, however, rarely available. Recent efforts of the [[Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project]] drew the connection between the [[Erlitou culture]] and the Xia dynasty, but scholars could not reach a consensus regarding the reliability of such history.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==== Shang dynasty ====
{{Main|Shang dynasty}}
The Xia dynasty was overthrown after the [[Battle of Mingtiao]], around 1600 BCE, by [[Tang of Shang|Cheng Tang]], who established the Shang dynasty ({{Circa|1600}}–1046 BCE). The earliest archaeological examples of Chinese writing date back to this period – from characters inscribed on [[oracle bone]]s used for divination – but the well-developed characters hint at a much earlier origin of writing in China.

During the Shang dynasty, people of the [[Wu (region)|Wu area]] in the [[Yangtze River Delta]] were considered a different tribe, and described as being scantily dressed, tattooed and speaking a distinct language. Later, [[Taibo of Wu|Taibo]], elder uncle of [[King Wen of Zhou|Ji Chang]] – on realising that his younger brother, Jili, was wiser and deserved to inherit the throne – fled to Wu<ref name="chinaknowledge.de">{{cite web|url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/rulers-wu.html|title=The Feudal State of Wu 吳 (www.chinaknowledge.de)|first=Ulrich|last=Theobald|website=Chinaknowledge.de|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=8 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108110807/http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/rulers-wu.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and settled there. Three generations later, [[King Wu of Zhou|King Wu]] of the Zhou dynasty defeated [[King Zhou of Shang|King Zhou]] (the last Shang king), and [[Feoffment|enfeoffed]] the descendants of Taibo in Wu<ref name="chinaknowledge.de"/> – mirroring the later history of [[Nanyue]], where a Chinese king and his soldiers ruled a non-Han population and mixed with locals, who were [[sinicization|sinicized]] over time.

==== Zhou dynasty ====
{{Main|Zhou dynasty}}
After the [[Battle of Muye]], the Shang dynasty was overthrown by [[Predynastic Zhou|Zhou]] (led by [[Ji Fa]]), which had emerged as a western state along the [[Wei River]] in the 2nd millennium BCE. The [[Zhou dynasty]] shared the language and culture of the Shang people, and extended their reach to encompass much of the area north of the [[Yangtze River]].<ref name="China The Zhou Period">{{cite web|title= China The Zhou Period|url= http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cn0015)|website= Lcweb2.loc.gov|access-date= 12 December 2017|archive-date= 21 December 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161221082054/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+cn0015%29|url-status= live}}</ref> Through conquest and colonization, much of this area came under the influence of sinicization and this culture extended south. However, the power of the Zhou kings fragmented not long afterwards, and many autonomous vassal states emerged. This dynasty is traditionally divided into two eras – the Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) and the [[Eastern Zhou]] (770–256 BCE) – with the latter further divided into the [[Spring and Autumn period|Spring and Autumn]] (770–476 BCE) and the [[Warring States period|Warring States]] (476–221 BCE) periods. It was a period of significant cultural and philosophical diversification (known as the [[Hundred Schools of Thought]]) and [[Confucianism]], [[Taoism]] and [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]] are among the most important surviving philosophies from this era.{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}

=== Imperial history ===
==== Qin dynasty ====
{{Main|Qin dynasty}}
The chaotic Warring States period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty came to an end with the unification of China by the western state of [[Qin (state)|Qin]] after its [[Qin's wars of unification|conquest of all other rival states]]{{when|date=February 2015}} under King [[Ying Zheng]]. King Zheng then gave himself a new title "[[First Emperor of Qin]]" ({{lang-zh|c=秦始皇帝|p=Qín Shǐ Huángdì}}), setting the precedent for the next two millennia. To consolidate administrative control over the newly conquered parts of the country, the First Emperor decreed a nationwide standardization of currency, writing scripts and measurement units, to unify the country economically and culturally. He also ordered large-scale infrastructure projects such as the [[Great Wall of China|Great Wall]], the [[Lingqu Canal]] and the Qin road system to militarily fortify the frontiers. In effect, he established a centralized bureaucratic state to replace the old feudal confederation system of preceding dynasties, making Qin the first [[Qin dynasty|imperial dynasty]] in Chinese history.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

This dynasty, sometimes phonetically spelt as the "Ch'in dynasty", has been proposed in the 17th century by [[Martino Martini]] and supported by later scholars such as [[Paul Pelliot]] and [[Berthold Laufer]] to be the etymological origin of the modern English word "China".{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==== Han dynasty ====
{{Main|Han dynasty}}
[[File:China.Terracotta statues007.jpg|thumb|upright|A female servant and male advisor dressed in [[Han Chinese clothing|silk robes]], ceramic figurines from the Western Han era]]

The reign of the first imperial dynasty was short-lived. Due to the First Emperor's autocratic rule and his massive labor projects, which fomented rebellion among his population, the Qin dynasty fell into chaos soon after his death. Under the corrupt rule of his son and successor [[Huhai]], the Qin dynasty collapsed a mere three years later. The Han dynasty (206 BC–220 CE) then emerged from the ensuing [[Chu-Han contention|civil wars]] and succeeded in establishing a much longer-lasting dynasty. It continued many of the institutions created by the Qin dynasty, but adopted a more moderate rule. Under the Han dynasty, art and culture flourished, while the Han Empire [[History of the Han dynasty|expanded militarily in all directions]]. Many Chinese scholars such as [[Ho Ping-ti]] believe that the concept ([[ethnogenesis]]) of Han ethnicity, although being ancient, was formally entrenched in the Han dynasty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.claytonbrown.org|title=Clayton D. Brown Research on Chinese History: Ethnology, Archaeology, and Han Identity|website=Claytonbrown.org|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=18 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118075448/http://www.claytonbrown.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Han dynasty is considered one of the [[golden age]]s of Chinese history, with the modern Han Chinese people taking their ethnic name from this dynasty and the Chinese script being referred to as "[[Chinese characters|Han characters]]".{{sfnp|Schaefer|2008|p=279}}

==== Three Kingdoms to Jin ====
{{Main|Three Kingdoms|Sixteen Kingdoms|Northern and Southern dynasties|Sui dynasty|Tang dynasty}}
[[File:China, 742.svg|upright=1.45|thumb|Map of [[:File:Tang Dynasty circa 700 CE.png|Tang Empire]] in 742, showing the [[Administrative divisions of the Tang dynasty|major provinces]] of the empire|alt=]]
The fall of the Han dynasty was followed by an age of fragmentation and several centuries of disunity amid warfare among rival kingdoms. There was a brief period of prosperity under the native Han Chinese dynasty known as the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin]] (266–420 BC), although protracted struggles within the ruling house of Sima (司馬) sparked off a protracted period of fragmentation, rebellion by immigrant tribes that served as slaves and indentured servants, and extended non-native rule.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

'''Non-native rule'''

{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2024}}

[[File:晋太保建昌公谢安.jpg|thumb|[[Xie An]], who led the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin dynasty]] army defeated the [[Di (Five Barbarians)|Di]] (one of the [[Five Barbarians]]) ruled [[Former Qin]] army in the [[Battle of Feishui]] was honoured in the [[Wu Shuang Pu|Table of Peerless Heroes]].]]

During this time, areas of northern China were overrun by various [[Five Barbarians|non-Han nomadic peoples]], which came to establish kingdoms of their own, the most successful of which was the [[Northern Wei]] established by the [[Xianbei]]. From this period, the native population of China proper was referred to as Hanren, or the "People of Han" to distinguish them from the nomads from the steppe. Warfare and invasion led to one of the first great migrations of Han populations in history, as they fled south to the [[Yangtze|Yangzi]] and beyond, shifting the Chinese demographic center and speeding up sinicization of the far south. At the same time, most of the nomads in northern China came to be sinicized as they ruled over large Chinese populations and adopted elements of their culture and administration. Of note, the Xianbei rulers of Northern Wei ordered a policy of systematic sinicization, [[Change of Xianbei names to Han names|adopting Han surnames]], institutions, and culture, so the Xianbei became Han Chinese.

'''Sui and Tang'''[[File:Figures in a cortege, tomb of Li Xian, Tang Dynasty.jpg|thumb|252x252px|<small>Cortege of Emperor Li Xian, Emperor of the Tang</small>]]Han Chinese rule resumed during the Sui and Tang dynasties, led by the Han Chinese families of the Yang (杨) and Li (李) surnames respectively. Both the Sui and Tang dynasties are seen as high points of Han Chinese civilization. These dynasties both emphasized their aristocratic Han Chinese pedigree and enforced the restoration of Central Plains culture, even the founders of both dynasties had already intermarried with non-Han or partly-Han women from the Dugu and Yuwen families.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

The Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties saw continuing emigration from the Central Plains to the south-eastern coast of what is now China proper, including the provinces of [[Fujian]], [[Guangdong]], and [[Hainan]]. This was especially true in the latter part of the Tang era and the Five Dynasties period that followed; the relative stability of the south coast made it an attractive destination for refugees fleeing continual warfare and turmoil in the north.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==== Song to Qing ====
{{Main|Song dynasty|Yuan dynasty|Ming dynasty|Qing dynasty}}
[[File:南宋 · 斗浆图 Tea Fighting Southern Song dynasty.png|thumb|<small>Tea competition in Song China</small>]]
[[File:史可法像.jpg|left|thumb|[[Shi Kefa]], the [[Three Departments and Six Ministries|Minister of War]] of [[Ming dynasty]], was famous for his tenacious defence in Yangzhou against the [[Manchu]] ([[Qing dynasty|Qing]]) invasion followed by the [[Yangzhou massacre]] commanded by the Manchu army.|350x350px]]

The next few centuries saw successive invasions of Han and non-Han peoples from the north. In 1279, the [[Mongols]] conquered all of China, becoming the first non-Han ethnic group to do so, and established the [[Yuan dynasty]]. [[Emigration]], seen as disloyal to ancestors and ancestral land, was banned by the Song and Yuan dynasties.<ref>{{Cite book|first1 = Pál|last1 = Nyíri|first2 = Igorʹ|last2 = Rostislavovich Savelʹev|title = Globalizing Chinese migration: trends in Europe and Asia|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=77F23y4RrnUC&pg=PA208|publisher = Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|year = 2002|page = 208|isbn = 978-0-7546-1793-8|access-date = 29 October 2015|archive-date = 14 December 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211214010926/https://books.google.com/books?id=77F23y4RrnUC&pg=PA208|url-status = live}}</ref>

[[Hongwu Emperor|Zhu Yuanzhang]], who had a [[Sinocentrism|Han-centered concept of China]], and regarded expelling "[[Hua–Yi distinction|barbarians]]" and restoring Han people's China as a mission, established the [[Ming dynasty]] in 1368 after the [[Red Turban Rebellions]]. During this period, China referred to the Ming Empire and to the Han people living in them, and non-Han communities were separated from China.<ref name="md">{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Yonglin |title=Thinking About the 'Ming China' Anew: The Ethnocultural Space In A Diverse Empire-With Special Reference to the 'Miao Territory' |journal=Journal of Chinese History |date=January 2018 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=27–78 |doi=10.1017/jch.2017.27 }}</ref>

Early [[Manchu people|Manchu]] rulers treated China as equivalent to both the Ming Empire and to the Han group.<ref name="md" /> In 1644, the Ming capital, [[Beijing]], was captured by [[Li Zicheng]]'s peasant rebels and the [[Chongzhen Emperor]] committed suicide. The Manchus of the [[Qing dynasty]] then allied with former Ming general [[Wu Sangui]] and seized control of Beijing. Remnant Ming forces led by [[Koxinga]] fled to [[Taiwan]] and established the [[Kingdom of Tungning]], which eventually capitulated to Qing forces in 1683. Taiwan, previously inhabited mostly by non-Han aborigines, was sinicized during this period via large-scale migration accompanied by assimilation, despite efforts by the Manchus to prevent this, as they found it difficult to maintain control over the island. In 1681, the [[Kangxi Emperor]] ordered construction of the [[Willow Palisade]] to prevent Han Chinese migration to the three northeastern provinces, which nevertheless had harbored a significant Chinese population for centuries, especially in the southern [[Liaodong]] area. The Manchus designated Jilin and Heilongjiang as the Manchu homeland, to which the Manchus could hypothetically escape and regroup if the Qing dynasty fell.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Mark C. |last1=Elliott |date=August 2000 |title=The Limits of Tartary: Manchuria in Imperial and National Geographies |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=603–46 |jstor=2658945 |doi=10.2307/2658945 }}</ref> Because of increasing Russian territorial encroachment and annexation of neighboring territory, the Qing later reversed its policy and allowed the consolidation of a demographic Han majority in Northeast China. The [[Taiping Rebellion]] erupted in 1850 from the [[Anti-Qing sentiment|anti-Manchu]] sentiment of the Han Chinese, which killed at least twenty million people and made it [[List of wars by death toll|one of the bloodiest conflicts]] in history.<ref name="hm">{{cite magazine|author=Ian Buruma|url=https://harpers.org/archive/2022/02/the-great-wall-of-steel-xi-jinping-chinese-nationalism/|title=The Great Wall of Steel|magazine=[[Harper's Magazine]]|date=February 2022|access-date=30 March 2024|archive-date=30 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330054104/https://harpers.org/archive/2022/02/the-great-wall-of-steel-xi-jinping-chinese-nationalism/|url-status=live}}</ref> Late Qing revolutionary intellectual [[Zou Rong]] famously proclaimed that "China is the China of the Chinese. We compatriots should identify ourselves with the China of the Han Chinese".<ref name="ww" />

=== Republic history ===
{{main|History of the Republic of China|History of the People's Republic of China}}
[[File:Xh3.jpg|thumb|[[Sun Yat-sen]], one of the main revolutionaries against the [[Qing dynasty|Qing Empire]] and the founder of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]]]
The [[Han nationalism|Han nationalist]] revolutionary [[Sun Yat-sen]] made [[Han chauvinism|Han Chinese superiority]] a basic tenet of the [[Timeline of late anti-Qing rebellions|Chinese revolution]] in the early 1900s.<ref name="so">{{cite web|url=https://saisobserver.org/2014/04/07/han-chauvinismexceptionalism-the-problem-with-han-chauvinism/|title=Han Chauvinism/Exceptionalism: The Problem with it|work=[[Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies|The SAIS Observer]]|date=2014-04-07|access-date=30 March 2024|archive-date=30 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330055844/https://saisobserver.org/2014/04/07/han-chauvinismexceptionalism-the-problem-with-han-chauvinism/|url-status=live}}</ref> In Sun's revolutionary philosophical view, Han identity is exclusively possessed by the so-called civilized Hua Xia people who originated from the Central Plains, and were also the former subjects of the [[Celestial Empire|Celestial empire]] and evangelists of Confucianism.<ref name="ww">{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Weiying |title=Han-Nationalism Throughout the Ages |journal=Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal |date=2023 |issue=2 |pages=148–170 |doi=10.24968/2693-244X.4.2.10 }}</ref> Restoring Chinese rule to the Han majority was one of the motivations for supporters of the [[1911 Revolution]] to overthrow the Manchu-led [[Fall of the Qing dynasty|Qing dynasty in 1912]], which led to the establishment of the Han-dominated [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|Republic of China]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/19thcpcnationalcongress/2011-07/27/content_29714617.htm|title=Revolution of 1911|date=2011-07-27|work=[[China Daily]]}}</ref>
 
[[Mao Zedong]] and his [[China|People's Republic of China]] founded in 1949 was critical of Han chauvinism.<ref name="hm" /> In the latter half of the 20th century, official policy of [[Chinese Communist Party|communist]] China marked Han chauvinism as [[Criticism of Marxism|anti-Marxist]].<ref name="so" /> Today, the tension between the dominant Han Chinese majority and [[Ethnic minorities in China|ethnic minorities]] remains contentious, as the deterioration in ethnic relations has compounded by [[Affirmative action in China|China's contemporary ethnic policies in favor of ethnic minorities]] since its founding.<ref name="ww" /> [[Han chauvinism]] has been gaining mainstream popularity throughout China since the 2000s, attributed to discontent toward these ethnic policies instituted by the Chinese government.<ref name="凭栏观史">《凭栏观史》第34期：中国到底有没有大汉族主义</ref><ref name="皇汉史观：今天我们如何定义中国？">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dwnews.com/中国/59812518/皇汉史观今天我们如何定义中国|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113002044/https://www.dwnews.com/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/59812518/%E7%9A%87%E6%B1%89%E5%8F%B2%E8%A7%82%E4%BB%8A%E5%A4%A9%E6%88%91%E4%BB%AC%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E5%AE%9A%E4%B9%89%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 January 2020|title=皇汉史观今天我们如何定义中国｜多维新闻网｜中国|date=April 26, 2017|website=多维新闻网}}</ref> The contemporary dissatisfaction and discord between the dominant Han Chinese mainstream and its non-Han minorities has led to the Chinese government scaling back on [[Affirmative action in China|preferential treatment]] for ethnic minorities under the [[Xi Jinping]] administration.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mimi Lau |date=2019-12-05 |title=China's ethnic groups face end to affirmative action in education, taxes |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3040577/chinas-ethnic-groups-face-end-affirmative-action-education |access-date=2019-12-10 |website=[[South China Morning Post]] |language=en}}</ref>