Editing Han Chinese (section)

==Culture and society==
{{Main|Chinese culture}}

Chinese civilization is one of the world's oldest and most complex [[civilization]]s, whose culture dates back thousands of years. Overseas Han Chinese maintain cultural affinities to Chinese territories outside of their host locale through [[ancestor worship]] and [[Chinese clan|clan]] associations, which often identify famous figures from Chinese history or myth as ancestors of current members.<ref name="Cohen" /> Such patriarchs include the Yellow Emperor and the [[Yan Emperor]], who according to legend lived thousands of years ago and gave Han people the sobriquet "''[[Descendants of Yan and Huang Emperor]]''" ({{lang|zh-hant|炎黃子孫}}, {{lang|zh-hans|炎黄子孙}}), a phrase which has reverberative connotations in a divisive political climate, as in that of major contentions between [[Cross-Strait relations|China and Taiwan]]. [[File:Along the River During the Qingming Festival (detail of original).jpg|thumb|[[Zhang Zeduan]]'s painting ''[[Along the River During the Qingming Festival]]'' captures the daily life of people from the Song dynasty at the capital, Bianjing, today's [[Kaifeng]].]]

The Han Chinese also share a distinct set of cultural practices, traditions, and beliefs that have evolved over centuries. Traditional Han customs, art, dietary habits, literature, religious beliefs, and value systems have not only deeply influenced Han culture itself, but also the cultures of its East Asian neighbors as well.<ref name="Goscha 2016">{{Cite book |title=The Penguin History of Modern Vietnam: A History |last= Goscha |first= Christopher |publisher= Allen Lane |year=2016 |isbn= 978-1846143106}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America | publisher=Penguin Press HC |author1 = [[Amy Chua]] |author2 = [[Jed Rubenfeld]] | year=2014 |page=122 |isbn=978-1594205460}}</ref><ref name="Walker 2012 2">{{cite book |title=East Asia: A New History |last=Walker |first=Hugh Dyson |publisher=AuthorHouse |year=2012 |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty |last=Lewis |first=Mark Edward |publisher=Belknap Press |year=2012 |isbn= 978-0674064010 |publication-date=April 9, 2012 |page=156}}</ref><ref name="Reischauer">{{Cite journal |jstor = 20038053|title = The Sinic World in Perspective|journal = Foreign Affairs|volume = 52|issue = 2|pages = 341–348|last1 = Reischauer|first1 = Edwin O.|year = 1974|doi = 10.2307/20038053}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Asia Civilizations: Ancient to 1800 AD |last= Lim |first= SK |publisher=ASIAPAC |isbn=978-9812295941 |page=89|date= 2011-11-01 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Redesigning Asian Business: In the Aftermath of Crisis |last= Richter |first=Frank-Jurgen |publisher=Quorum Books |year=2002 |isbn=978-1567205251 |page=15}}</ref><ref name="Amy Chua, Jed Rubenfeld 2014 121">{{cite book |title=The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America |publisher=Penguin Press HC |author1=Amy Chua |author2 = Jed Rubenfeld |year=2014 |page=121 |isbn=978-1594205460 }}</ref><ref name="Kang 2012 33–34">{{Cite book |title=East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute |last=Kang |first=David C. |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0231153195 |pages=33–34}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=World History: Journeys from Past to Present |last1=Goucher |first1=Candice |last2=Walton |first2=Linda |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-0415670029 |publication-date=September 11, 2012 |page=232 }}</ref><ref name="2000years">{{cite book|last1=Smolnikov|first1=Sergey|title=Great Power Conduct and Credibility in World Politics|year=2018|publisher=Springer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3LJZDwAAQBAJ&q=pax+sinica+han+dynasty&pg=PA112|isbn=9783319718859|access-date=21 September 2023|archive-date=2 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002165320/https://books.google.com/books?id=3LJZDwAAQBAJ&q=pax+sinica+han+dynasty&pg=PA112#v=snippet&q=pax%20sinica%20han%20dynasty&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=September 2024}} [[Chinese art]], [[Chinese architecture]], [[Chinese cuisine]], [[Dance in China|Chinese dance]], [[Chinese clothing|Chinese fashion]], [[List of observances set by the Chinese calendar|Chinese festivals]], [[Public holidays in China|Chinese holidays]], [[Chinese language]], [[Chinese literature]], [[Music of China|Chinese music]], [[Chinese mythology]], [[Chinese numerology]], [[Chinese philosophy]], and [[Theatre in China|Chinese theatre]] all have undergone thousands of years of development and growth, while numerous Chinese sites, such as the [[Great Wall of China|Great Wall]] and the [[Terracotta Army]], are [[World Heritage Site]]s. Since this program was launched in 2001, aspects of Chinese culture have been listed by [[UNESCO]] as [[Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity]]. Throughout the [[history of China]], Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism. Credited with shaping much of Chinese philosophical thought, Confucianism was the official state philosophical doctrine throughout most of [[Imperial Chinese|Imperial China]]'s history, institutionalizing values such as [[filial piety]], which implied the performance of certain [[Li (Confucian)|shared rituals]]. Thus, villagers lavished on [[Chinese funeral rituals|funeral]] and [[Chinese wedding|wedding]] ceremonies that imitated the Confucian standards of the Emperors.<ref name="Cohen" /> Educational achievement and academic success gained through years of arduous study and mastery of [[Confucian classics|classical Confucian texts]] was an imperative duty for defending and protecting one's [[Family honor#East Asia|family honor]] while also providing the primary qualifying basis criterion for entry among ambitious individuals who sought to hold high ranking and influential [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|government positions]] of distinguished authority, importance, responsibility, and power within the upper echelons of the [[Civil service#China|imperial bureaucracy]].<ref name="McKnight1983">
{{cite book
|last= McKnight|first= Brian E.
|title= Village and Bureaucracy in Southern Sung China
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SEr8_6LieVMC&pg=PA1
|access-date= 7 February 2013|date= 1983
|publisher= University of Chicago Press
|isbn= 978-0-226-56060-1|page= 1
|quote=The government of imperial China still seems in many ways curiously modern and familiar. Bureaucratically organized, and dominated by a graded civil service led by men selected through competitive examinations, it was both a model for a precursor of the complex administrations of our modern world.
}}
</ref><ref name="TC">{{cite book|author=Wolfgang Franke|title=The Reform and Abolition of the Traditional Chinese Examination System|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofvBS7L6slUC&pg=PA69|year=1960|publisher=Harvard Univ Asia Center|isbn=978-0-674-75250-4|pages=69–71}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Guo |first=Xiaolin |date=March 17, 2022 |title=The Relationship Between Filial Piety and the Academic Achievement and Subjective Wellbeing of Chinese Early Adolescents: The Moderated Mediation Effect of Educational Expectations |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=13 |pages=2–3|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.747296 |pmid=35369161 |pmc=8970312 |doi-access=free}}</ref> But even among successful test takers and [[Jinshi|degree-holders]] who did not enter the imperial bureaucracy or who left it opting out to pursue other careers experienced significant improvements with respect to their credibility, pedigree, respectability, social status, and societal influence, resulting in a considerable amelioration with regards to the [[Respect#Chinese culture|esteem]], [[Glory (honor)|glory]], [[Family honor#East Asia|honor]], [[reputation|prestige]], and [[Recognition (sociology)|recognition]] that they brought and garnered to their families, social circles, and the localities that they hailed from. This elevation in their social standing, respectability, and pedigree was greatly augmented both within their own family circles, as well as among their neighbors and peers compared with the regular levels of recognition that they would have typically enjoyed had they only chosen to remain as mere commoners back in their ancestral regions. Yet even such a dynamic social phenomenon has greatly influenced Han society, leading to the homogenization of the Han populace. Additionally, it has played a crucial role in the formation of a socially cohesive and distinct shared Han culture as well as the overall growth and integration of Han society. This development has been facilitated by various extraneous factors, including periods of rapid urbanization and sprouts of geographically extensive yet interconnected commodity markets.<ref name="Cohen" />

=== Language ===
{{Main|Chinese language}}
{{See also|Standard Chinese}}

Han Chinese speak various forms of the Chinese language that are descended from a common early language;<ref name="Cohen" /> one of the names of the language groups is ''Hanyu'' ({{lang-zh|s={{linktext|汉语}}|t={{linktext|漢語}}|links=no}}), literally the "Han language". Similarly, [[Chinese characters]], used to write the language, are called ''Hanzi'' ({{lang-zh|s={{linktext|汉字}}|t={{linktext|漢字}}|links=no}}) or "Han characters".

In the Qing era, more than two-thirds of the Han Chinese population used a variant of [[Mandarin Chinese]] as their native tongue.<ref name="Cohen">{{cite book|title=Kinship, Contract, Community, And State: Anthropological Perspectives on China|first=Myron L.|last=Cohen|date=2005 |section=Late Imperial China and Its Legacies|pages=41–45, 50|publisher=Stanford University Press, 2005|isbn=978-1-5036-2498-6}}</ref> However, there was a larger variety of languages in certain areas of Southeast China, "in an arc extending roughly from [[Shanghai]] through [[Guangdong]] and into [[Guangxi]]."<ref name="Cohen" /> Since the Qin dynasty, which standardized the various forms of writing that existed in China, a standard [[Classical Chinese|literary Chinese]] had emerged with vocabulary and grammar that was significantly different from the various [[Varieties of Chinese|forms of spoken Chinese]]. A simplified and elaborated version of this written standard was used in business contracts, notes for [[Chinese opera]], ritual texts for [[Chinese folk religion]] and other daily documents for educated people.<ref name="Cohen" />

During the early 20th century, [[written vernacular Chinese]] based on Mandarin dialects, which had been developing for several centuries, was standardized and adopted to replace literary Chinese. While written vernacular forms of other varieties of Chinese exist, such as [[written Cantonese]], written Chinese based on Mandarin is widely understood by speakers of all varieties and has taken up the dominant position among written forms, formerly occupied by literary Chinese. Thus, although residents of different regions would not necessarily understand each other's speech, they generally share a common written language, Standard Written Chinese and Literary Chinese.{{Citation needed|date = December 2015}}

From the 1950s, [[Simplified Chinese characters]] were adopted in China and later in Singapore and Malaysia, while Chinese communities in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas countries continue to use [[Traditional Chinese characters]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Minahan |first1=James B. |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |date=2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara |page=93 |isbn=9781610690188 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ&dq=Hong+Kong,+Macau,+Taiwan+and+overseas+countries+continue+to+use+Traditional+Chinese+characters&pg=PA93 |access-date=10 Nov 2021 |archive-date=6 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506103018/https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ&dq=Hong+Kong,+Macau,+Taiwan+and+overseas+countries+continue+to+use+Traditional+Chinese+characters&pg=PA93 |url-status=live }}</ref> Although significant differences exist between the two character sets, they are largely [[mutually intelligible]].

=== Names ===
{{Main|Chinese name|List of common Chinese surnames}}

Through China, the notion of [[Baixing|hundred surnames]] ({{lang|zh|百家姓}}) is a crucial identity point of the Han people.<ref name="Anth">Ebrey, Patricia [http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/ANTH470Ebrey.pdf Surnames and Han Chinese Identity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122131224/http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/ANTH470Ebrey.pdf|date=22 November 2009}}, University of Washington</ref>

=== Fashion ===
{{Main|Chinese clothing|Hanfu}}
[[File:Gu Hongzhong's Night Revels, Detail 1.jpg|thumb|A [[Song dynasty]] Chinese painting ''Night Revels of Han Xizai'' showing scholars in scholar's robes and musicians dressed in a [[Hanfu]] variant, 12th-century remake of a 10th-century original by [[Gu Hongzhong]].]]Han Chinese clothing has been shaped through its dynastic traditions as well as foreign influences.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Chinese Clothing: Costumes, Adornments and Culture (Arts of China) |last= Yang |first=Shaorong |publisher= Long River Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59265-019-4 |page=3}}</ref> Han Chinese clothing showcases the traditional fashion sensibilities of Chinese clothing traditions and forms one of the major cultural facets of Chinese civilization.<ref name="Brown, 2006 79">{{Cite book |title=China, Japan, Korea: Culture and Customs |last= Brown |first=John |publisher= Createspace Independent Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4196-4893-9 |page=79}}</ref> [[Hanfu]] comprises all traditional clothing classifications of the Han Chinese with a recorded history of more than three millennia until the end of the Ming dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, Hanfu was mostly replaced by the Manchu style until the dynasty's fall in 1911, yet Han women continued to wear clothing from Ming dynasty. Manchu and Han fashions of women's clothing coexisted during the Qing dynasty.<ref>{{Cite book|script-title=zh:中国古代服饰史|last1=Zhou |first1=Xibao |author-mask=Zhou Xibao (周锡保)|publisher=中国戏剧出版社|year=2002|page=449|isbn=978-7-104-00359-5}}</ref><ref name="Yang2004">{{cite book|author=Shaorong Yang|title=Traditional Chinese Clothing Costumes, Adornments & Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nx5JDiacrH4C&pg=PA7|year=2004|publisher=Long River Press|isbn=978-1-59265-019-4|page=7|quote=Men's clothing in the Qing Dynasty consisted for the most part of long silk gowns and the so-called "Mandarin" jacket, which perhaps achieved their greatest popularity during the latter Kangxi Period to the Yongzheng Period. For women's clothing, Manchu and Han systems of clothing coexisted.|access-date=13 October 2018|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726001213/https://books.google.com/books?id=nx5JDiacrH4C&pg=PA7|url-status=live}}</ref> Moreover, neither Taoist priests nor Buddhist monks were required to wear the queue by the Qing; they continued to wear their traditional hairstyles, completely shaved heads for Buddhist monks, and long hair in the traditional Chinese topknot for Taoist priests.<ref>{{cite book|author=Edward J.M. Rhoads|title=Manchus and Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861–1928|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QiM2pF5PDR8C&pg=PA60|year=2000|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-98040-9|page=60}}</ref><ref name="Gerini1895">{{cite news |author=Gerolamo Emilio Gerini|title=Chŭlăkantamangala: Or, The Tonsure Ceremony as Performed in Siam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vstMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11|year=1895|newspaper=[[The Bangkok Times]]|pages=11–|access-date=13 October 2018|archive-date=10 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110112359/https://books.google.com/books?id=vstMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11|url-status=live}}</ref> During the Republic of China period, fashion styles and forms of traditional Qing costumes gradually changed, influenced by fashion sensibilities from the Western World resulting modern Han Chinese wearing Western style clothing as a part of everyday dress.<ref>Mei Hua, ''Chinese Clothing'', Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 133–34</ref><ref name="Brown, 2006 79" />

Han Chinese clothing has continued to play an influential role within the realm of traditional East Asian fashion as both the Japanese [[Kimono]] and the Korean [[Hanbok]] were influenced by Han Chinese clothing designs.<ref>{{Citation |title=Elizabeth LaCouture |journal=Journal of Design History |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages = 300–314 |doi=10.1093/jdh/epw042 |year=2017 |last=Lacouture |first=Elizabeth}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DaTpAAAAMAAJ |title=J. Liddell, The story of the kimono, EP Dutton New York, 1989 |isbn=978-0-525-24574-2 |last=Liddell |first=Jill |year=1989 |publisher=E.P. Dutton |access-date=21 May 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803014911/https://books.google.com/books?id=DaTpAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Stevens|first=Rebecca|title=The kimono inspiration: art and art-to-wear in America |publisher=Pomegranate|pages=131–42|year=1996|isbn=978-0-87654-598-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dalby |first=Liza |author-link=Liza Dalby |title= Kimono: Fashioning Culture |publisher=University of Washington Press |pages=25–32 |year=2001 |location=Washington |isbn=978-0-295-98155-0}}</ref><ref name="Evenson">{{cite encyclopedia|editor1=Annette Lynch|editor2=Mitchell D. Strauss|author=Sandra Lee Evenson|title=Hanfu Chinese robes|encyclopedia=Ethnic Dress in the United States A Cultural Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiEvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA135|date=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-7591-2150-8|pages=135–36|access-date=14 September 2018|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803020933/https://books.google.com/books?id=tiEvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA135|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Family ===
[[Chinese kinship|Han Chinese families]] throughout China have had certain traditionally prescribed roles, such as the family head ({{lang|zh-Hant|家長}}, ''jiāzhǎng''), who represents the family to the outside world and the family manager ({{lang|zh-Hant|當家}}, ''dāngjiā''), who is in charge of the revenues. Because farmland was commonly bought, sold or [[mortgage]]d, families were run like enterprises, with set rules for the allocation ({{lang|zh|分家}}, ''fēnjiā'') of pooled earnings and assets.<ref name="Cohen" />

Han Chinese houses differ from place to place. In Beijing, the whole family traditionally lived together in a large rectangle-shaped house called a ''[[siheyuan]]''. Such houses had four rooms at the front – guest room, [[kitchen]], [[Toilet (room)|lavatory]] and [[servants' quarters]]. Across large double doors was a wing for the elderly in the family. This wing consisted of three rooms: a central room where the four tablets – heaven, earth, ancestor and teacher – were worshipped and two rooms attached to the left and right, which were [[bedrooms]] for the grandparents. The east wing of the house was inhabited by the eldest son and his family, while the west wing sheltered the second son and his family. Each wing had a [[veranda]]; some had a "sunroom" made with surrounding fabric and supported by a wooden or [[bamboo]] frame. Every wing was also built around a central courtyard that was used for study, exercise or nature viewing.<ref>{{cite conference|author = Montgomery County Public Schools Foreign Language Department|title = Si-he-yuan|pages = 1–8|publisher = Montgomery County Public Schools|date = August 2006|url = http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/|conference = |access-date = 15 April 2007|archive-date = 22 March 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070322214622/http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/|url-status = live}}</ref>

Ancestry and lineage are an important part of Han Chinese cultural practice and self-identity, and there have been strict naming conventions since the time of the Song dynasty that have been preserved until this day. Elaborate and detailed genealogies and family registers are maintained, and most lineage branches of all surname groups will maintain a hall containing the memorial tablets (also known as spirit tablets) of deceased family members in clan halls. Extended family groupings have been very important to the Han Chinese, and there are strict conventions as how one may refer to aunts, uncles, and cousins and the spouses of the same, depending on their birth order as well as whether these blood relatives share the same surname.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}<gallery mode="packed" widths="200">
File:Genealogy of Ma Family WDL4661.jpg|<small>Ma (马) family genealogy</small>
File:Spirit tablets in Tainan Confucius Temple 03.jpg|<small>Name tablets or spirit tablets in Tainan, Taiwan</small>
File:Khoo Kongsi Penang Dec 2006 012.jpg|<small>Memorial tablets of the Khoo (許) family in Penang</small>
File:Genealogy and Portraits of the Li Family.jpg|<small>Painting of the ancestors of the Li (李) family</small>
File:Chinese painting Ancestors gallery 19th century.jpg|<small>Painting of ancestors</small>
</gallery>Ancestral halls and academies, as well as tombs were of great import to the Chinese. Ancestral halls were used for the veneration or commemoration of ancestors and other large family events. Family members preferred to be buried near one another. Academies were also set up to benefit those of the same surname.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} <gallery mode="nolines" widths="200">
File:Ancestral Shrine at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.JPG|<small>Imperial Ancestral Hall</small>
File:Ming Xiaoling (Emperor Hongwu Tomb) (10150982304).jpg|<small>Ming tombs in Nanjing</small>
File:Chen Clan Academy 3.jpg|<small>Chen (陳) clan academy</small>
File:Zhou Clan Ancestral Hall, Xinzhuang Village, 2017-12-31 05.jpg|<small>Zhou (周) clan ancestral hall, Xinzhuang village</small>
</gallery>

=== Food ===
{{Main|Chinese cuisine}}

There is no one specific uniform [[Chinese cuisine|cuisine]] of the Han Chinese since the culinary traditions and food consumed varies from [[Sichuan]]'s famously [[Sichuan cuisine|spicy food]] to Guangdong's [[dim sum]] and [[Cantonese cuisine#Seafood|fresh seafood]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-11-18|title=十大经典川菜 你吃过哪些？|url=https://www.aboluowang.com/2014/1118/473944.html|access-date=2020-11-05|website=阿波罗新闻网|language=zh-cn|archive-date=4 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204001215/https://www.aboluowang.com/2014/1118/473944.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Analyses throughout the reaches of [[northern and southern China]] have revealed their main staple to be rice (more likely to consumed by southerners) as well as noodles and other wheat-based food items (which are more likely to be eaten by northerners).<ref name="eberhard">{{cite journal |last=Eberhard |first=Wolfram |date=December 1965 |title=Chinese Regional Stereotypes |journal=Asian Survey |publisher=University of California Press |volume=5 |issue=12 |pages=596–608 |doi=10.2307/2642652 |jstor=2642652}}</ref> During China's Neolithic period, southwestern rice growers transitioned to millet from the northwest, when they could not find a suitable northwestern ecology – which was typically dry and cold – to sustain the generous yields of their staple as well as it did in other areas, such as along the eastern Chinese coast.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sagart |first1=Laurent |chapter=The expansion of Setaria farmers in East Asia: a linguistic and archaeological model |pages=133–157 |doi=10.4324/9780203926789 |title=Past Human Migrations in East Asia |date=2008 |isbn=978-1-134-14963-6 |editor-last1=Sanchez-Mazas |editor-last2=Blench |editor-last3=Ross |editor-last4=Peiros |editor-last5=Lin |editor-first1=Alicia |editor-first2=Roger |editor-first3=Malcolm D. |editor-first4=Ilia |editor-first5=Marie }}</ref>

=== Literature ===
{{Main|Chinese literature}}
[[File:鲁迅五十三岁生辰.jpg|thumb|[[Lu Xun]] is one of the founding figures of modern Chinese literature.<ref>{{cite web|author=[[Julia Lovell]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/books/review/the-big-red-book-of-modern-chinese-literature-edited-by-yunte-huang.html|title='The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature,' Edited by Yunte Huang|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2016-02-05|access-date=28 March 2024|archive-date=28 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328065423/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/books/review/the-big-red-book-of-modern-chinese-literature-edited-by-yunte-huang.html|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Dufu.jpg|left|thumb|318x318px|[[Du Fu]] is often considered one of the greatest Chinese poets.<ref name="ebrey2006">{{cite book |last1=Ebrey |first1=Patricia Buckley |title=East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History |last2=Walthall |first2=Anne |last3=Palais |first3=James |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-618-13384-0 |location=Boston |pages=103}}</ref>]]
With a rich historical literary heritage spanning over three thousand years, the Han Chinese have continued to push the boundaries that have circumscribed the standards of literary excellence by showcasing an unwaveringly exceptional caliber and extensive wealth of literary accomplishments throughout the ages. The Han Chinese possess a vast catalogue of [[Chinese classic texts|classical literature]] that can be traced back as far as three millennia, with a body of literature encompassing significant early works such as the ''[[Shijing|Classic of Poetry]]'', ''[[Analects of Confucius]]'', ''[[I Ching]]'', ''[[Tao Te Ching]]'' and the ''[[The Art of War|Art of War]]''. Canonical works of [[Chinese Buddhism|Buddhism]], Confucianism, and [[Taoism]] alongside historical writings, philosophical works, treatises, poetry, drama, and fiction have been revered and immortalized as timeless cultural masterpieces within the vast expanse of Chinese literature. Historically, ambitious individuals who aspired to seek top [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|government positions]] of distinguished authority, importance, and power were mandated to demonstrate their proficiency in the Confucian classics assessed through rigorous [[imperial examination|examinations]] in Imperial China.<ref name="McKnight1983" /><ref name="TC" /> Such comprehensive examinations were not only employed as the prevailing universal standards to evaluate a candidate's ethical behavior and virtuous conduct, but were also deployed as a measure of academic aptitude that determined a candidate's caliber, credibility, and eligibility for such esteemed roles of great influence and responsibility, extending beyond their prevailing entrance as a gateway into the imperial bureaucracy. Han literature itself has a rich tradition dating back thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature vernacular fiction novels that arose during the Ming dynasty which were employed as a source of cultural pleasure to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. Some of the most important Han Chinese poets in the pre-modern era were [[Li Bai]], [[Du Fu]] and [[Su Shi|Su Dongpo]]. The most esteemed and noteworthy novels of great literary significance in Chinese literature, otherwise known as the Four Great Classical Novels are: ''[[Dream of the Red Chamber]]'', ''[[Water Margin]]'', ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'' and ''[[Journey to the West]]''.

Drawing upon their extensive literary heritage rooted in a historical legacy spanning over three thousand years, the Han Chinese have continued to demonstrate a uniformly high level of literary achievement throughout the modern era as the reputation of contemporary Chinese literature continues to be internationally recognized. Erudite literary scholars who are well-versed in Chinese literature continue to remain highly esteemed in contemporary Chinese society. [[Liu Cixin]]'s ''[[San Ti]]'' series won the [[Hugo Award]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/2015/08/2014-hugo-award-winners-announced/|title=2015 Hugo Award Winners Announced|last=Kevin|date=23 August 2015|website=The Hugo Awards|access-date=6 August 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150824063329/http://www.thehugoawards.org/2015/08/2014-hugo-award-winners-announced/|archive-date=24 August 2015 }}</ref> [[Gao Xingjian]] became the first Chinese novelist to receive the [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize for Literature]] in 2000. In 2012, the novelist and short story writer [[Mo Yan]] also received the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2015, children's writer [[Cao Wenxuan]] was bestowed with the [[Hans Christian Andersen Award]], the first Chinese recipient of the esteemed international children's book prize.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibby.org/1568.0.html |title=HCAA 2016 Winners |access-date=2016-11-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022044619/http://www.ibby.org/1568.0.html |archive-date=2016-10-22 }}</ref>

=== Science and technology ===
{{Main|List of Chinese inventions|List of Chinese discoveries}}
[[File:徐光啟.jpg|left|thumb|381x381px|[[Xu Guangqi]], was an agronomist, astronomer and mathematician. He wrote ''[[Complete Treatise on Agriculture]]'' and was one of the main editors of [[Chongzhen calendar|''Chongzhen Calendar'']].]]
The Han Chinese have made significant contributions to various fields in the advancement and progress of human civilization, including business and economy, culture and society, governance, and [[Science and technology in China|science and technology]], both historically and in the modern era. They have also played a pivotal role in being at the forefront of shaping the evolutionary trajectory of Chinese civilization and significantly influenced the advancement of East Asian civilization in concurrence with the broader region of East Asia as a whole. The invention of paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder are celebrated in Chinese society as the [[Four Great Inventions]].<ref name="Yigitcanlar 2016 19">{{Cite book |title=Technology and the City: Systems, Applications and Implications |last=Yigitcanlar |first=Tan |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=978-1138826700 |publication-date=May 10, 2016 |page=19}}</ref> The innovations of [[Yi Xing]] (683–727), a polymathic Buddhist monk, mathematician, and mechanical engineer of the Tang dynasty is acknowledged for applying the earliest-known escapement mechanism to a [[Armillary sphere|water-powered celestial globe]].<ref name="fry 10" /><ref name="Needham volume 3 351">Needham, Volume 3, 351.</ref><ref name="Needham volume 4 470">Needham, Volume 4, 470.</ref><ref>Joseph Needham, ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2: Mechanical Engineering'' (Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. 1986) pp. 470–475.</ref> The accomplishments and advancements of the Song dynasty polymath [[Su Song]] (1020–1101) is recognized for inventing a [[Hydraulics|hydro-mechanical]] [[Astronomical clock|astronomical]] [[clock tower]] in medieval [[Kaifeng]], which employed an early [[escapement]] mechanism.<ref name="Needham volume 4 445">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 445.</ref><ref name="Needham volume 4 448">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 448.</ref><ref name="bodde 140">Bodde, 140.</ref><ref name="fry 10">Fry, 10.</ref> The work of medieval Chinese polymath [[Shen Kuo]] (1031–1095) of the Song dynasty theorized that the sun and moon were spherical and wrote of planetary motions such as retrogradation as well as postulating theories for the processes of geological land formation.<ref name="O'Doherty 57" /> Medieval Han Chinese astronomers were also among the first peoples to record observations of a cosmic [[SN 1054|supernova]] in 1054 AD, the remnants of which would form the [[Crab Nebula]].<ref name="O'Doherty 57">{{Cite book |title=Let There be Peace - Ascension to Ivisimara |last=O'Doherty |first=Mark |isbn=978-1291208917 |date=November 24, 2012 |page=57 |publisher=Lulu.com}}</ref>

In the contemporary era, Han Chinese have continued to contribute to the development and growth of modern science and technology. Among such prominently illustrious names that have been honored, recognized, remembered, and respected for their historical groundbreaking achievements include [[Nobel Prize]] laureates [[Tu Youyou]], [[Steven Chu]], [[Samuel C.C. Ting]], [[Chen Ning Yang]], [[Tsung-Dao Lee]], [[Yuan T. Lee]], [[Daniel C. Tsui]], [[Roger Y. Tsien]] and [[Charles K. Kao]] (known as the "Godfather of Broadband" and "Father of Fiber Optics");<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/master-of-light-awarded-nobel-prize-1798723.html |title='Master of Light' awarded Nobel Prize |work=The Independent |last=Ferguson |first=Ben |date=7 October 2009 |access-date=22 August 2017 |archive-date=7 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307234016/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/master-of-light-awarded-nobel-prize-1798723.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Fields Medal#List of Fields medalists|Fields Medalist]]s [[Terence Tao]] and [[Shing-Tung Yau]] as well as [[Turing Award]] winner [[Andrew Yao]]. [[Tsien Hsue-shen]] was a prominent aerospace engineer who helped to establish [[NASA]]'s [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/technology-obituaries/6630578/Qian-Xuesen.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/technology-obituaries/6630578/Qian-Xuesen.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Qian Xuesen |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=22 November 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Chen Jingrun]] was a noted mathematician recognized for his contributions to number theory, where he demonstrated that any sufficiently large even number can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers or a [[prime number]] and a [[semiprime]], a concept now known as [[Chen's theorem]].<ref>{{Cite journal |first=J. R. |last=Chen |year=1973 |title=On the representation of a larger even integer as the sum of a prime and the product of at most two primes |journal=Scientia Sinica |volume=16 |pages=157–176}}</ref>

The 1978 Wolf Prize in Physics inaugural recipient and physicist [[Chien-Shiung Wu]], nicknamed the "First Lady of Physics" contributed to the development of the [[Manhattan Project]] and radically altered modern physical theory and changed the conventionally accepted view of the structure of the universe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greatwomen.org/women-of-the-hall/search-the-hall-results/details/2/173-Wu |title=Chien-Shiung Wu |publisher=National Women's Hall of Fame |access-date=4 November 2012 |archive-date=22 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522214806/http://www.greatwomen.org/women-of-the-hall/search-the-hall-results/details/2/173-Wu |url-status=dead}}</ref> The geometer [[Shiing-Shen Chern]] has been regarded as the "father of modern differential geometry" and has also been recognized as one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th-century. Chern was awarded the 1984 Wolf Prize in mathematics in recognition for his fundamental contributions to the development and growth of [[differential geometry]] and [[topology]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Chern.html|title=Chern biography: Shiing-shen Chern |first1=J J |last1=O'Connor |first2=E F |last2=Robertson |website=MacTutor History of Mathematics archive|access-date=2017-01-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505191038/http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Chern.html |archive-date=May 5, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/12/06_chern.shtml |first1=Robert |last1=Sanders |title=Renowned mathematician Shiing-Shen Chern, who revitalized the study of geometry, has died at 93 in Tianjin, China |date=2004-12-06 |website=Berkeley News |access-date=2017-01-16 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608220726/https://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/12/06_chern.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/world/asia/shiingshen-chern-93-innovator-in-new-geometry-dies.html|url-access=subscription|title=Shiing-Shen Chern, 93, Innovator in New Geometry, Dies|last=Chang|first=Kenneth|date=2004-12-07|newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2017-01-16|archive-date=25 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725154918/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/world/asia/shiingshen-chern-93-innovator-in-new-geometry-dies.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.ams.org/notices/199807/chern.pdf|title=Interview with Shiing Shen Chern |journal=Notices of the AMS |volume=45 |issue=7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120070054/http://www.ams.org/notices/199807/chern.pdf |archive-date= Jan 20, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simon |first1=Udo |last2=Tjaden |first2=Ekkehard-H. |last3=Wefelscheid |first3=Heinrich |title=Shiing-Shen Chern's Centenary |journal=Results in Mathematics |date=October 2011 |volume=60 |issue=1–4 |pages=13–51 |doi=10.1007/s00025-011-0196-8 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://zalafilms.com/takingthelongviewfilm/synopsis.html|title=Taking the Long View: The Life of Shiing-shen Chern|website=zalafilms.com|access-date=2019-05-08|archive-date=16 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216121956/http://zalafilms.com/takingthelongviewfilm/synopsis.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=September 2024}} The botanist [[Shang Fa Yang]] was well-noted for his research that unlocked the key to prolonging freshness in fruits and flowers and "for his remarkable contributions to the understanding of the mechanism of biosynthesis, mode of action and applications of the plant hormone, [[Ethylene]]."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wolffund.org.il/cat.asp?id=14&cat_title=AGRICULTURE |title=The Wolf Prize in Agriculture |access-date=23 August 2023 |archive-date=5 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305182526/http://www.wolffund.org.il/cat.asp?id=14&cat_title=AGRICULTURE |url-status=live }}</ref> The agronomist [[Yuan Longping]], regarded as the "Father of Hybrid Rice" was famous for developing the world's first set of [[hybrid rice]] varieties in the 1970s, which was then part of the [[Green Revolution]] that marked a major scientific breakthrough within the field of modern agricultural research.<ref name="Economist-obit">{{Cite news|date=2021-05-29|title=Obituary Yuan Longping|url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/2021/05/29/yuan-longping-died-on-may-22nd|newspaper=The Economist|volume=439 Number 9247|pages=86|access-date=23 August 2023|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624184507/https://www.economist.com/obituary/2021/05/29/yuan-longping-died-on-may-22nd|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/world/asia/yuan-longping-dead.html|title= Yuan Longping, Plant Scientist Who Helped Curb Famine, Dies at 90|newspaper= The New York Times|date= May 23, 2021|access-date= 26 May 2021|last1= Bradsher|first1= Keith|last2= Buckley|first2= Chris|archive-date= 26 May 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210526013958/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/world/asia/yuan-longping-dead.html|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|year=2004|title=Dr. Monty Jones and Yuan Longping|url=https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/20002009_laureates/2004_jones_and_yuan/|access-date=2017-10-24|publisher=[[World Food Prize]]|archive-date=25 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625025623/https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/20002009_laureates/2004_jones_and_yuan/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=CCTV-"杂交水稻之父"袁隆平|trans-title="Father of hybrid rice" Yuan Longping|url=http://news.cctv.com/special/C18407//index.shtml|access-date=2017-10-24|publisher=[[China Central Television]]|archive-date=9 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200909013119/http://news.cctv.com/special/C18407//index.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> The physical chemist [[Ching W. Tang]], was the inventor of the [[organic light-emitting diode]] (OLED) and hetero-junction [[organic photovoltaic cell]] (OPV) and is widely considered the "Father of [[Organic electronics|Organic Electronics]]".<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1557/mrs.2012.125 |title=Energy efficiency with organic electronics: Ching W. Tang revisits his days at Kodak |year=2012 |last1=Forrest |first1=Stephen |journal=MRS Bulletin |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=552–53|bibcode=2012MRSBu..37..552F |doi-access=free }}</ref> Biochemist [[Chi-Huey Wong]] is well known for his pioneering research in glycoscience research and developing the first enzymatic method for the large-scale synthesis of oligosaccharides and the first programmable automated synthesis of oligosaccharides. The chemical biologist [[Chuan He]] is notable for his work in discovering and deciphering reversible [[RNA]] methylation in post-transcriptional gene expression regulation.<ref name="Grand Challenge">{{cite journal | vauthors = He C | title = Grand Challenge Commentary: RNA epigenetics? | journal = Nat. Chem. Biol. | volume = 6 | issue = 12 | pages = 863–865 | date = November 2010 | doi = 10.1038/nchembio.482 | pmid = 21079590}}</ref> Chuan is also noteworthy for having invented TAB-seq, a biochemical method that can map 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) at base-resolution genome-wide, as well as hmC-Seal, a method that covalently labels 5hmC for its detection and profiling.<ref name="Yu 2012">{{cite journal | vauthors = Yu M, Hon GC, Szulwach KE, Song CX, Zhang L, Kim A, Li XK, Dai Q, Shen Y, Park B, Min JH, Jin P, Ren B, He C | title = Base-resolution analysis of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in the mammalian genome. | journal = Cell | volume = 149 | issue = 6 | pages = 1368–1380 | date = June 2012 | doi = 10.1016/j.cell.2012.04.027 | pmc = 3589129 | pmid=22608086}}</ref><ref name="Song 2011">{{cite journal | vauthors = Song CX, Szulwach KE, Fu Y, Dai Q, Yi C, Li X, Li Y, Chen CH, Zhang W, Jian X, Wang J, Zhang L, Looney TJ, Zhang B, Godley LA, Hicks LM, Lahn BT, Jin P, He C | title = Selective chemical labeling reveals the genome-wide distribution of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine | journal = Nat. Biotechnol. | volume = 29 | issue = 1 | pages = 68–72 | date = 2011 | doi = 10.1038/nbt.1732 | pmid=21151123 | pmc=3107705}}</ref>

Other prominent Han Chinese who have made notable contributions the development and growth of modern science and technology include the medical researcher, physician, and virologist [[David Ho (scientist)|David Ho]], who was one of the first scientists to propose that AIDS was caused by a virus, thus subsequently developing combination antiretroviral therapy to combat it. In recognition of his medical contributions, Ho was named [[Time Person of the Year|''Time'' magazine Person of the Year]] in 1996.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19961230,00.html |title=Dr David Ho, Man of the Year |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=30 December 1996 |access-date=17 October 2012 |archive-date=30 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230124354/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19961230,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The medical researcher and transplant surgeon [[Patrick Soon-Shiong]] is the inventor of the drug [[Abraxane]], which became known for its efficacy against lung, breast, and pancreatic cancer.<ref name="Forb 2020/08/27">{{Cite magazine|last=Knapp|first=Alex|date=August 27, 2020|title=The Inside Story Of Biotech's Barnum And His Covid Cures|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2020/08/27/the-inside-story-of-biotechs-barnum-and-his-covid-cures/|access-date=2020-08-27|magazine=Forbes|language=en|archive-date=25 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231125040411/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2020/08/27/the-inside-story-of-biotechs-barnum-and-his-covid-cures/|url-status=live}}</ref> Soon-Shiong is also well known for performing the first whole-pancreas transplant<ref name="UMagUCLA15">{{cite journal | author = Light, Leti McNeill | date = 2015 | issue = Spring | title = Visions of Progress and Courage [Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong — Medical Visionary Award] | journal = U Magazine | format = print and online | pages = 42f | url = http://magazine.uclahealth.org/workfiles/UMagazine_Spring_2015.pdf | access-date = 2016-11-20 | archive-date = 11 September 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150911073242/http://magazine.uclahealth.org/workfiles/UMagazine_Spring_2015.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>Whole [[pancreas transplantation]] began as a part of multi-organ transplants, in the mid-to-late 1960s, at the [[University of Minnesota]]. See {{cite journal |author1=Squifflet, J.P. |author2=Gruessner, R.W. |author3=Sutherland, D.E. | date = 2008 | title = The History of Pancreas Transplantation: Past, Present and Future | journal = Acta Chir. Belg. | volume = 108 | issue = 3, May–June | pages = 367–378 |doi=10.1080/00015458.2008.11680243 | quote = The first attempt to cure type 1 diabetes by pancreas transplantation was done at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, on December 17, 1966… [This] opened the door to a period, between the mid-[1970s] to mid-[1980s] where only segmental pancreatic grafts were used... In the late [1970s] – early [1980s], three major events… boosted the development of pancreas transplantation… [At] the Spitzingsee meetings, participants had the idea to renew the urinary drainage technique of the exocrine secretion of the pancreatic graft with segmental graft and eventually with whole pancreaticoduodenal transplant. That was clinically achieved during the mid-[1980s] and remained the mainstay technique during the next decade. In parallel, the Swedish group developed the whole pancreas transplantation technique with enteric diversion. It was the onset of the whole pancreas reign. The enthusiasm for the technique was rather moderated in its early phase due to the rapid development of liver transplantation and the need for sharing vascular structures between both organs, liver and pancreas. During the modern era of immunosuppression, the whole pancreas transplantation technique with enteric diversion became the gold standard… [for SPK, PAK, PTA]. | pmid=18710120 }}</ref> and he developed and first performed the experimental [[Type 1 diabetes]]-treatment known as encapsulated-human-[[Islet transplantation|islet transplant]], and the "first pig-to-man islet-cell transplant in diabetic patients."<ref name="UMagUCLA15" /> The physician and physiologist [[Thomas Ming Swi Chang]] is the inventor of the world's first [[artificial cell]] made from a permeable plastic sack that would effectively carry hemoglobin around the human circulatory system.<ref name="pioneer">[https://www.mcgill.ca/about/history/mcgill-pioneers/chang Thomas Chang, Professor of Physiology | About McGill – McGill University] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727222720/http://www.mcgill.ca/about/history/mcgill-pioneers/chang |date=27 July 2017 }}. Mcgill.ca. Retrieved on 2012-05-25.</ref> Chang is also noteworthy for his development of charcoal-filled cells to treat drug poisoning in addition to the discovery of enzymes carried by artificial cells as a medical tool to correct the faults within some metabolic disorders.<ref>[https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-13530 The Governor General of Canada > Honours > Recipients > Thomas Ming Swi Chang] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906235442/https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-13530 |date=6 September 2023 }}. Gg.ca. Retrieved on 2020-03-03.</ref> [[Min Chueh Chang]] was the co-inventor of the [[combined oral contraceptive pill]] and is known for his pioneering work and significant contributions to the development of [[in vitro fertilization]] at the [[Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Min Chueh Chang |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]] |url=http://www.nap.edu/html/biomems/mchang.html |access-date=15 September 2012 |archive-date=12 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512031801/http://www.nap.edu/html/biomems/mchang.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Chang Min-Chueh |encyclopedia=Britannica Online for Kids |url=http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9319254/Chang-Min-Chueh |access-date=6 January 2013 |archive-date=14 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514203948/http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9319254/Chang-Min-Chueh |url-status=live }}</ref> Biochemist [[Choh Hao Li]] discovered [[Growth hormone|human growth hormone]] (and subsequently used it to treat a form of [[dwarfism]] caused by [[growth hormone deficiency]]), [[beta-endorphin]] (the most powerful of the body's natural painkillers), [[follicle-stimulating hormone]] and [[luteinizing hormone]] (the key hormone used in [[fertility testing]], an example is the [[ovulation]] home test).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-02-mn-17142-story.html |title=Discovered Human Growth Hormone: Choh Hao Li, 74; Endocrinologist at UC |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |last=Maugh II |first=Thomas |date=2 December 1987 |access-date=26 November 2012 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005001756/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-12-02/news/mn-17142_1_human-growth-hormone |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CHL">{{cite web |title=Choh Hao Li |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]] |url=http://www.nap.edu/readingroom.php?book=biomems&page=cli.html |access-date=15 September 2012 |archive-date=2 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002123345/http://www.nap.edu/readingroom.php?book=biomems&page=cli.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Joe Hin Tjio]] was a cytogeneticist renowned as the first person to recognize the normal number of human chromosomes, a breakthrough in [[karyotype]] [[cytogenetics|genetics]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/dec/11/guardianobituaries.medicalscience |title=Joe Hin Tjio The man who cracked the chromosome count |work=[[The Guardian]] |last=Wright |first=Pearce |date=11 December 2001 |access-date=14 December 2016 |archive-date=25 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825151411/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/dec/11/guardianobituaries.medicalscience |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/07/us/joe-hin-tjio-82-research-biologist-counted-chromosomes.html |title=Joe Hin Tjio, 82; Research Biologist Counted Chromosomes |work=[[The New York Times]] |last=Saxon |first=Wolfgang |date=7 December 2001 |access-date=19 February 2017 |archive-date=12 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512193836/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/07/us/joe-hin-tjio-82-research-biologist-counted-chromosomes.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The bio-engineer [[Yuan-Cheng Fung]], was regarded as the "Father of modern [[biomechanics]]" for pioneering the application of quantitative and analytical engineering principles to the study of the human body and disease.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=01042007 |title=News from the National Academies |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]] |date=4 January 2007 |access-date=8 November 2012 |archive-date=12 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512151122/http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=01042007 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nae.edu/Activities/Projects/Awards/RussPrize/RussWinners/page20079101/55231.aspx |title=Dr. Yuan-Cheng 'Bert' Fung |publisher=National Academy of Engineering |year=2007 |access-date=8 November 2012 |archive-date=15 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615064155/http://www.nae.edu/Activities/Projects/Awards/RussPrize/RussWinners/page20079101/55231.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> China's system of "[[barefoot doctors]]" was among the most important inspirations for the [[World Health Organization]] conference in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan in 1978, and was hailed as a revolutionary breakthrough in international health ideology emphasizing [[primary health care]] and [[preventive medicine]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fleck |first1=Fiona |title=Consensus during the Cold War: back to Alma-Ata |journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization |date=October 2008 |volume=86 |issue=10 |pages=745–746 |id={{Gale|A188738637}} {{ProQuest|229653110}} |doi=10.2471/blt.08.031008 |pmid=18949208 |pmc=2649520 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weiyuan |first1=Cui |title=China's village doctors take great strides. |journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization |date=December 2008 |volume=86 |issue=12 |pages=914–915 |id={{Gale|A19230921}} {{ProQuest|229652120}} |doi=10.2471/blt.08.021208 |pmid=19142288 |pmc=2649581 }}</ref>

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Chinese folk religion|Three teachings|Chinese folk religion in Southeast Asia|Religion in China}}
[[File:Confucius_Laozi_Buddha.jpg|thumb|[[Confucius]] handing over an infant [[Gautama Buddha]] to an elderly [[Laozi]]]]
[[Confucianism]], [[Daoism]], and [[Chinese Buddhism]], as well as other various traditional homegrown Chinese philosophies, have influenced not only Han Chinese culture, but also the [[East Asian religions|neighboring cultures in East Asia]]. Chinese spiritual culture has been long characterized by [[religious pluralism]] and [[Chinese folk religion]] has always maintained a profound influence within the confines of Chinese civilization both historically and in the modern era. Indigenous Confucianism and Taoism share aspects of being a philosophy or a religion and neither demand exclusive adherence, resulting in a culture of tolerance and [[syncretism]], where multiple religions or belief systems are often practiced in conjunction with local customs and traditions. Han culture has for long been influenced by [[Mahayana Buddhism]], while in recent centuries [[Christianity in China|Christianity]] has also gained a foothold among the population.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Anderlini|first=Jamil|date=7 November 2014|title=The rise of Christianity in China|url=https://www.ft.com/content/a6d2a690-6545-11e4-91b1-00144feabdc0|access-date=4 January 2021|website=www.ft.com|language=en-GB|archive-date=15 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215031743/https://www.ft.com/content/a6d2a690-6545-11e4-91b1-00144feabdc0|url-status=live}}</ref>

Chinese folk religion is a set of worship traditions of the [[Shen (Chinese religion)|ethnic deities]] of the Han people. It involves the worship of various extraordinary figures in [[Chinese mythology]] and [[History of China|history]], heroic personnel such as [[Guan Yu]] and [[Qu Yuan]], mythological creatures such as the [[Chinese dragon]] or family, clan and national ancestors. These practices vary from region to region and do not characterize an organized religion, though many [[List of observances set by the Chinese calendar|traditional Chinese holidays]] such as the [[Dragon Boat Festival|Duanwu (or Dragon Boat) Festival]], [[Qingming Festival]], [[Ghost Festival|Zhongyuan Festival]] and the [[Mid-Autumn Festival]] come from the most popular of these traditions.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

[[Taoism]], another [[indigenous religion|indigenous Han philosophy and religion]], is also widely practiced by the Han in both its folk forms and as an organized religion with its traditions having been a source of vestigial perennial influence on Chinese art, poetry, philosophy, [[Taoist music|music]], [[Traditional Chinese medicine|medicine]], [[Chinese astronomy|astronomy]], [[Neidan]] and [[Chinese alchemy|alchemy]], [[Taoist diet|dietary habits]], [[Neijia]] and other [[Chinese martial arts|martial arts]] and [[Chinese architecture|architecture]]. Taoism was the state religion during the Han and Tang eras where it also often enjoyed state patronage under subsequent emperors and successive ruling dynasties.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

Confucianism, although sometimes described as a religion, is another indigenous governing philosophy and moral code with some religious elements like ancestor worship. It continues to be deeply ingrained in modern Chinese culture and was the official state philosophy in ancient China during the [[Han dynasty]] and until the [[Fall of the Qing dynasty|fall of imperial China in the 20th century]] (though it is worth noting that there is a [[New Confucianism|movement in China today advocating that the culture be "re-Confucianized")]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Yi-Huah | title=Confucian Political Theory in Contemporary China |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |year=2018 |volume=21 |pages=155–173 |doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-041916-020230 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

During the Han dynasty, [[Confucian]] ideals were the dominant ideology. Near the end of the dynasty, Buddhism entered China, later gaining popularity. Historically, Buddhism alternated between periods of state tolerance (and even patronage) and [[Four Buddhist Persecutions in China|persecution]]. In its original form, certain ideas in [[Pre-sectarian Buddhism|Buddhism]] was not quite compatible with traditional Chinese cultural values, especially with the Confucian sociopolitical elite, as certain Buddhist values conflicted with Chinese sensibilities. However, through centuries of mutual tolerance, assimilation, adaptation, and syncretism, [[Chinese Buddhism]] gained a respectable place in the culture. Chinese Buddhism was also influenced by Confucianism and Taoism and exerted influence in turn – such as in the form of [[Neo-Confucianism]] and Buddhist influences in Chinese folk religion, such as the cult of Guanyin, who is treated as a Bodhisattva, immortal, goddess or exemplar of Confucian virtue, depending on the tradition. The four largest schools of Han Buddhism (Chan, Jingtu, Tiantai and Huayan) were all developed in China and later spread throughout the Chinese sphere of influence.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

Though [[Christianity in China|Christian influence in China]] existed as early as the 7th century, Christianity did not gain a significant foothold in China until the [[Europeans in Medieval China|establishment of contact with European]]s during the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing dynasty|Qing dynasties]]. Christian beliefs often had conflicts with traditional Chinese values and customs which eventually resulted in the [[Chinese Rites controversy]] and a subsequent reduction in Christian influence in the country. Christianity grew considerably following the [[First Opium War]], after which foreign missionaries in China enjoyed the protection of the Western powers and engaged in widespread proselytizing.<ref>{{cite book|first = Alvyn|last = Austin|year = 2007|title = China's Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late Qing Society|publisher = Eerdmans|location = Grand Rapids, Michigan|isbn =978-0-8028-2975-7}}</ref>

The People's Republic of China government defined Chinese-speaking Muslims as a separate ethnic group, the "[[Hui people|Hui People]]". This was opposed by the Republic of China government and Muslim celebrities such as [[Bai Chongxi]], the founder of the [[Chinese Muslim Association]]. Han Chinese Muslims were categorised as "[[:zh:第一屆中華民國國民大會代表#內地生活習慣特殊國民代表|inland nationals with special living customs]]" under the Republic of China government.<ref>Muslim Chinese : ethnic nationalism in the People's Republic. Gladney, Dru C. Cambridge, Mass,1996</ref> Bai Chongxi believed that "Hui" is an alternative name for [[Islam in China|Islam]] as a religion in the Chinese language instead of the name for any ethnic group, and that Chinese-speaking Muslims should not be considered as a separate ethnic group apart from other Han Chinese.<ref>白崇禧先生访问纪录（下册）第五七四章</ref>