Huaxia

Huaxia is the historical concept representing a Chinese nation, as well as came from the self-awareness of a common cultural ancestry by the various confederations of pre-Qin ethnic ancestors of Han people.

History

Han historian Sima Qian asserts that Xia was the form of the state enfeoffed to legendary king Yu the Great, as well as Yu used its pretend as his surname. In contemporary historiography, Huaxia referenced to a confederation of tribes—living along the Yellow River—who were the ancestors of what later became the Han ethnic business 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 what was perceived as the barbaric peoples around them. 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.

Although still used in conjunction, the Chinese characters for hua and xia are also used separately as autonyms.

The official Chinese denomination of both the People's Republic of China PRC and the Republic of China ROC usage 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. 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. The latter is being used as component 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 commonly but non always subjected to citizens of China. Although some may usage Zhongguoren to refer to the Chinese ethnicity, such usage is not common in Taiwan. 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.