Editing China proper (section)

== Political use ==
In the early 20th century, a series of [[History of China–Japan relations#Meiji Restoration and the rise of the Japanese Empire 1868–1931|Sino-Japanese]] conflicts had raised Chinese people's concern for national unity, and the concept of a [[Zhonghua minzu|unified, undivided Chinese nation]] became more popular among Chinese scholars. On Jan 1, 1939, [[Gu Jiegang]] published his article "The term 'China proper' should be abolished immediately",<ref>{{Cite journal|last={{lang|zh|颉刚}}|first={{lang|zh|顾}}|script-title=zh:"中国本部"一名亟应废弃|url=http://www.shehui.pku.edu.cn/upload/editor/file/20180627/20180627102430_7376.pdf|journal={{lang|zh|italics=no|益世报}}}}</ref> which argued that the widely accepted area covered by "China proper" is not the actual territory of any of the [[Dynasties of China|Chinese dynasties]]. Gu further theorized that "[[wikt:中国本部|中国本部]]",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.weblio.jp/wkpja/content/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E6%9C%AC%E5%9C%9F|script-title=ja:中国本土}}</ref> the Chinese and Japanese term equal to "China proper" at the time, actually originated from Japan and was translated into "China proper", hence the concept of "China proper" was developed by Japanese people, and it had become a tool to divide Chinese people, making way for the Japanese invasion of Mongolia, [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|Manchuria]], and other parts of China. Gu's article sparked a heated debate on the definition and origin of "[[Zhonghua minzu]]" (Chinese nation),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theory.people.com.cn/GB/49157/49163/8594511.html|script-title=zh:"中华民族是一个"?——追记抗战初期一场关于中国是不是多民族国家的辩论|date=2008-12-29|access-date=9 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210044414/http://theory.people.com.cn/GB/49157/49163/8594511.html|archive-date=10 February 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sohu.com/a/127357656_488111|script-title=zh:徘徊到纠结——顾颉刚关于"中国"与"中华民族"的历史见解|last={{lang|zh|葛}}|first={{lang|zh|兆光}}|date=2017-02-27|website=[[Sohu]]|access-date=9 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209232335/http://www.sohu.com/a/127357656_488111|archive-date=9 February 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> which contributed to unifying the Chinese people in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], and to an extent shaped the later established concept of Zhonghua minzu.