Huaxia is a historical concept representing the Zhonghua minzu, and came from the self-awareness of a Culture by ancestral populations of the Han Chinese people.
Etymology
The earliest extant authentic attestation of the
Huaxia concept is in the
Zuo Zhuan, a historical narrative and commentary authored before 300 BCE.
[ Zuo zhuan, "Duke Xiang, year 26, zhuan". text: "楚失 華夏．" translation: "Chu lost the the flourishing and grand states."] In Zuo zhuan, Huaxia refers to the central states (中國
zhōngguó) in the Yellow River valley, dwelt by the Huaxia people, ethnically equivalent to
Han Chinese in pre-imperial discourses who are said to be the descendants of the
Yellow Emperor.
[Shi (2020) p. 140, 142 of 466]
According to the Confucian Kong Yingda, xià ( 'grand') signified the 'greatness' () in the ceremonial etiquettes of the central states, while huá ( 'flower', 'blossom') was used in reference to the beauty () in the hanfu clothing that the denizens from those states wore.[ Chunqiu Zuozhuan Zhengyi, "vol. 56" quote: "夏，大也。中國有禮儀之大，故稱夏；有服章之美，謂之華。華、夏一也。" p. 70 of 118]
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
Chinese surname.
[ Sima Qian's discussion on "Annals of Xia" in Records of the Grand Historian: 禹爲姒姓，其後分封，用國爲姓] 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 Chinese ethnic group in China.
During the
Warring States (475–221 BCE), the self-awareness of the Huaxia identity developed and took hold in ancient China.
[ Initially, Huaxia defined mainly a civilized society that was distinct and stood in contrast to surrounding peoples who were perceived as barbaric.]
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" or "Middle State"), that is, as Zhonghua (中華, 中华).
The PRC's official Chinese name is
Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo (), while that of the ROC is
Zhonghua Minguo (). The term
Zhongguo is confined by its association to a state, whereas
Zhonghua mainly concerns culture.
[ 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).
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.
[ Although some may use Zhongguoren to refer to the Chinese ethnicity, such usage is not common in Taiwan.]
See also
-
Hua–Yi distinction
-
Kokutai, a similar concept of the Japanese people
-
Names of China
-
Neolithic China
-
Peopling of China
-
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"
-
Zhonghua
-
Zhongyuan, the central regions associated with Huaxia.
Notes
