Huaxia is a historical concept representing the Chinese nation, and came from the self-awareness of a common cultural ancestry by the various confederations of pre-Qin ethnic ancestors of Han people.
| Huaxia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 The Yellow River Breaches its Course by Ma Yuan, Song dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 華夏 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 华夏 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | beautiful grandeur | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Etymology
The earliest extant authentic attestation of the Huaxia concept is in the Zuo Zhuan, a historical narrative and commentary authored before 300 BCE.[1][2] In Zuo zhuan, Huaxia refers to the central states (中國 Zhōngguó)[a][b] in the Yellow River valley, dwelt by the Huaxia people, ethnically equivalent to Han Chinese in pre-imperial discourses.[8][9]
According to the Confucian Kong Yingda, xià (夏 'grand') signified the 'greatness' (大) in the ceremonial etiquettes of the central states, while huá (華 'flower', 'blossom') was used in reference to the beauty (美) in the hanfu clothing that the denizens from those states wore.[c][11][12][13]
History
Origin
The Han-era historian Sima Qian asserts that "Xia" was the name of the state enfeoffed to legendary king Yu the Great, and Yu used its name as his surname.[14] In modern historiography, Huaxia refers to a confederation of tribes living along the Yellow River who were the ancestors of what later became the Han ethnic group in China.[15][16] During the Warring States (475–221 BCE), the self-awareness of the Huaxia identity developed and took hold in ancient China.[16] Initially, Huaxia defined mainly a civilized society that was distinct and stood in contrast to what was perceived as the barbaric peoples around them.[17] The Huaxia identity arose in the Eastern Zhou period as a reaction to the increased conflict with the Rong and Di peoples who migrated into the Zhou lands and extinguished some Zhou states.[18]
Modern usage
Although still used in conjunction, the Chinese characters for hua and xia are also used separately as autonyms.
The official Chinese names of both the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) use the term Huaxia in combination with the term Zhongguo (中國, 中国, translated as "Middle Kingdom"), that is, as Zhonghua (中華, 中华).[19] The PRC's official Chinese name is Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo (中华人民共和国), while that of the ROC is Zhonghua Minguo (中華民國). The term Zhongguo is confined by its association to a state, whereas Zhonghua mainly concerns culture.[20] The latter is being used as part of the nationalist term Zhōnghuá Mínzú which is an all Chinese nationality in the sense of a multi-ethnic national identity.
The term Huaren (華人) for a Chinese person is an abbreviation of Huaxia with ren (人, person).[21] Huaren in general is used for people of Chinese ethnicity, in contrast to Zhongguoren (中國人) which usually (but not always) refers to citizens of China.[20] Although some may use Zhongguoren to refer to the Chinese ethnicity, such usage is not common in Taiwan.[20] In overseas Chinese communities in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, Huaren or Huaqiao (overseas Chinese) is used as they are also not citizens of China.[22][23]
See also
- Xia dynasty, the first dynasty according to traditional Chinese historiography.
- Yanhuang, an ethnic group located around the Yellow River.
- Yan Huang Zisun, literally the "Descendants of Yan and Huang"
- Zhongyuan, the central regions associated with Huaxia.
- Names of China
- Zhonghua
- Hua–Yi distinction
- Kokutai, a similar concept of the Japanese people