Huaxia
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The Yellow River Breaches its Course by Ma Yuan, Song dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 華夏 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 华夏 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Huaxia is a historical concept representing Chinese civilization that was distinct and stood in contrast to what was perceived as the non-Chinese barbaric peoples around them.[1] The term also refers to the ethnic stock of late neolithic and early Bronze-Age agricultural tribes to which modern Han Chinese originally trace their ancestry from.[2][3] It came forth out of a self-awareness of the Han Chinese towards their ancestral tribes, collectively known as the Huaxia.[4]
Etymology
According to the Zuo Zhuan, xia (夏)—which has the meaning of "grand"—was used to signify the ceremonial etiquette of China, while hua (華)—as it means "illustrious"—was used in reference to the beautiful clothing that the Chinese people wore (中國有禮儀之大，故稱夏；有服章之美，謂之華).[5]
History
Origin
The term Huaxia refers to a confederation of late neolithic and early Bronze-Age agricultural tribes that lived along the Guanzhong and Yellow River who were the ethnic stock to which modern Han Chinese originally trace their ancestry from.[6][7][8][9][10][11] During the Warring States (475–221 BCE), the self-awareness of the Huaxia identity developed and took hold in ancient China.[11][12] Initially, Huaxia defined mainly a civilized society that was distinct and stood in contrast to what was perceived as the barbaric peoples around them.[13][14]
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 (中国; 中國, translated as "Middle Kingdom"), that is, as Zhonghua (中华; 中華).[13] 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). Today, the term Zhongguo usually refers to the nation itself and Zhonghua to the civilization.
Han Chinese people widely call themselves Huaren (华人; 華人; Huaren), an abbreviation of Huaxia with ren (people) to signify their cognizance to their ancestral tribes that which all modern Han Chinese originally trace their ancestry from.[15]
See also
- Nine Provinces
- Yan Huang Zisun, literally "descendants of Yan and Huang"
- Zhonghua (disambiguation)
References
- ↑ Schliesinger, Joachim (2016). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 2: Early Dominant Peoples of the Mainland Region. Booksmango. p. 10-17.
- ↑ Guo, Rongxing (2016). An Introduction to the Chinese Economy: The Driving Forces Behind Modern Day China. Wiley. p. 66-67. ISBN 9783319323053.
- ↑ Schliesinger, Joachim (2016). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 2: Early Dominant Peoples of the Mainland Region. Booksmango. p. 10-17.
- ↑ Guo, Rongxing (2016). An Introduction to the Chinese Economy: The Driving Forces Behind Modern Day China. Wiley. p. 66-67. ISBN 9783319323053.
- ↑ Liu 2005, p. 9
- ↑ Schliesinger, Joachim (2016). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 2: Early Dominant Peoples of the Mainland Region. Booksmango. p. 10-17.
- ↑ Cioffi-Revilla, C.; Lai, D. (1995). "War and Politics in Ancient China, 2700 B.C. To 722 B.C.: Measurement and Comparative Analysis". Journal of Conflict Resolution. 39 (3): 467–494. doi:10.1177/0022002795039003004.
- ↑ West, Barbara A (2009-01-01). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. ISBN 9781438119137.
- ↑ Guo, Rongxing (2016). An Introduction to the Chinese Economy: The Driving Forces Behind Modern Day China. Wiley. p. 66-67. ISBN 9783319323053.
- ↑ Cioffi-Revilla & Lai 1995, pp. 471–72.
- 1 2 Selin 1997, p. 197.
- ↑ Guo & Feng 1997, p. 197.
- 1 2 Holcombe 2010, p. 7.
- ↑ Schliesinger, Joachim (2016). Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 2: Early Dominant Peoples of the Mainland Region. Booksmango. p. 10-17.
- ↑ Solé-Farràs 2013, p. 93.
Literature
- Cioffi-Revilla, Claudio; Lai, David (1995). "War and Politics in Ancient China, 2700 BC to 722 BC". The Journal of Conflict Resolution. 39 (3).
- Guo, Shirong; Feng, Lisheng (1997). "Chinese minorities". Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures. Dordrecht: Kluwer. ISBN 978-0-7923-4066-9.
- Holcombe, Charles (2010). A history of East Asia: From the origins of civilization to the twenty-first century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-73164-5.
- Liu, Xuediao [劉學銚] (2005). 中國文化史講稿 (in Chinese). Taipei: 知書房出版集團. ISBN 978-986-7640-65-9.
- Selin, Helaine (1997). Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology and medicine in non-western cultures. Dordrecht: Kluwer. ISBN 978-0-79234066-9.
- Solé-Farràs, Jesús (2013). New Confucianism in twenty-first century China: The construction of a discourse. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-13473908-0.