Zhonghua minzu

{{Short description|Political term in modern Chinese nationalism}} {{about|the modern concept in Chinese nationalism|the general concept of peoples relating to China|Chinese people|the dominant Chinese ethnic group|Han Chinese|a list of ethnicities in modern China|List of ethnic groups in China|a list of ethnicities in historical China|Ethnic groups in Chinese history}} {{Other uses|Chinese nationality (disambiguation){{!}}Chinese nationality}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Italic title}} {{multiple| {{More citations needed|date=July 2024}} {{Missing information|"revival" / "rejuvenation" (复兴) of the Chinese nation|date=January 2021}} {{cleanup lang|date=July 2025}}}} alt=A map of China in multiple colours showing the ethnic minorities in each region.|thumb|A map of China showing the ethnic minorities in each region. Collectively, these ethnic minorities (as well as the Han majority) are considered part of the ''Zhonghua minzu''. {{Infobox Chinese | t = {{linktext|中華民族}} | s = 中华民族 | p = Zhōnghuá mínzú | mi = {{IPAc-cmn|zh|ong|1|.|h|ua|2|-|m|in|2|.|z|u|2}} | l = Chinese minzu{{NoteTag|Some writers also translate it as "Chinese people", "Chinese nation", "Chinese ethnicity", and "Chinese race".<ref name="GriesRosen212">{{Cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CG-OgkVxaAAC&dq=however,+the+CCP%27s+nationalist+claims+are+increasingly+falling+on+deaf+ears.+Popular+nationalists+like+Jin+Hui+now+speak+regularly+of+the+%22Motherland%22+(zuguo)+and+the+%22Chinese+race%22+(Zhonghua+minzu)+-+without+reference+to+the+Party.+And+they+care+so+deeply&pg=PA180 |title=State and Society in 21st Century China: Crisis, Contention and Legitimation |quote= ... however, the CCP's nationalist claims are increasingly falling on deaf ears. Popular nationalists like Jin Hui now speak regularly of the "Motherland" (zuguo) and the "Chinese race" (Zhonghua minzu) - without reference to the Party. And they care so deeply |date=2004 |publisher=Psychology Press |pages= 180|isbn=978-0-415-33204-0 }}</ref><ref name="ft.c_The_dark">{{Cite news |title=The dark side of China's national renewal |last=Anderlini |first=Jamil |newspaper=Financial Times |date=21 June 2017 |access-date=9 March 2021 |url= https://www.ft.com/content/360afba4-55d1-11e7-9fed-c19e2700005f}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=David Tobin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cMf3DwAAQBAJ&dq=Repeated+use+of+what+should+now+be+translated+as+%27Chinese+race,+(Zhonghua+Minzu+%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E%E6%B0%91%E6%97%8F),+alongside+omission+of+ethnic+minorities+in+official+narratives&pg=PA235 |title=Securing China's Northwest Frontier: Identity and Insecurity in Xinjiang |quote=Repeated use of what should now be translated as 'Chinese race, (Zhonghua Minzu 中华民族), alongside omission of ethnic minorities in official narratives ...|date= October 2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=235| isbn=978-1-108-48840-2 }}</ref>}} | w = {{tone superscript|Chung1-hua2 min2-tsu2}} | bpmf = ㄓㄨㄥㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄗㄨˊ | gr = Jonghwa Mintzwu | gan = {{tone superscript|Zung1 fa4 min4 zuk6}} | tl = Tiong-hûa bîn-cök | j = {{tone superscript|Zung1-waa4 man4 zuk6}} | suz = {{tone superscript|tson5 wa2 min2 zoq8}} | ouji = {{tone superscript|cion5 gho2 men2 yeu8}} | h = {{tone superscript|zhung24 fa11 min11 zuk5}} | ci = {{IPAc-yue|z|ung|1|-|w|aa|4|-|m|an|4|-|z|uk|6}} | tp = Jhong-huá Mín-zú }} {{Names of China}} '''''Zhonghua minzu''''' is a political term in modern Chinese nationalism related to the concepts of nation-building, ethnicity, and race in the Chinese nationality. Collectively, the term refers to the 56 ethnic groups of China, but being a part of the ''Zhonghua minzu'' does not mean one must have Chinese nationality ({{Lang-zh|c=中国国籍|p=Zhōngguó guójí}}) and thus have an obligation to be loyal to the People's Republic of China (PRC).<ref name="LandisAlbert2012" /><ref name="Zhao2000" /><ref>{{Cite journal |year=2007 |script-title=zh:关于"中华民族是一个"学术论辩的考察 |trans-title=On the academic argument that "the Chinese nation is one" |url=https://www.ixueshu.com/document/707a828b3050b9d8cfc98c157055c2e3318947a18e7f9386.html |url-status=live |journal=Minzu Yanjiu |language=zh |volume=3 |pages=20–29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029145113/https://www.ixueshu.com/document/707a828b3050b9d8cfc98c157055c2e3318947a18e7f9386.html |archive-date=29 October 2019 |access-date=29 October 2019 |via=d.old.wanfangdata.com.cn/Periodical/mzyj200703003 |author1-last=Zhou |author1-first=Wenjiu |author2-last=Zhang}}</ref><ref name="Lawrance2004" /><ref name="BloxhamMoses2010" />

The Republic of China (ROC) of the Beiyang (1912–1927) period developed the term to describe Han Chinese (''hanzu'') and four other major ethnic groups (the Manchus, Mongols, Hui, and Tibetans)<ref name="Fitzgerald1995" /><ref name="BlumJensen2002">{{Cite book |last1=Blum |first1=Susan Debra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pA_MP4Q11qgC&pg=PA170 |title=China Off Center: Mapping the Margins of the Middle Kingdom |last2=Jensen |first2=Lionel M. |author-link2=Lionel M. Jensen |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8248-2577-5 |pages=170– |access-date=13 October 2016}}</ref> based on Five Races Under One Union. Conversely, Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang (KMT) envisioned it as a unified composite of Han and non-Han people.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sun |first=Yat-sen |date=1994|orig-date=Speech from 1919|chapter=3.5 The Three Principles of the People [''San-min chu-i'']|title=Prescriptions for saving China: Selected writings of Sun Yat-sen|translator1-last=Wei|translator1-first=Julie Lee|translator2-last=Zen|translator2-first=E-su|translator3-last=Chao|translator3-first=Linda|editor1-last=Wei|editor1-first=Julie Lee|editor2-last=Myers|editor2-first=Ramon H.|editor3-last=Gillin|editor3-first=Donald G.|url=https://archive.org/details/prescriptionsfor0000suny|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/prescriptionsfor0000suny/page/222/|location=Stanford, Calif. |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |isbn=0-8179-9281-2|pages=223–225}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|reason=Provisionally using a primary source rather than none at all for a necessary correction, but secondary needed|date=November 2024}}

The PRC adopted ''Zhonghua minzu'' after the death of Mao Zedong. It was used to describe the Han Chinese and other ethnic groups as a collective Chinese family.<ref name="LandisAlbert2012" /><ref name="Lawrance2004" /> Since the late 1980s, {{zhp|p=Zhonghua minzu|l=the Chinese nation|s=中华民族}} replaced the term {{zhp|p=Zhongguo renmin|l=the Chinese people|s=中国人民}}, signalling a shift of nationality and minority policy from a multinational communist people's statehood ''of'' China to one multi-ethnic Chinese nation state with one single Chinese national identity.<ref name="BloxhamMoses2010" />

[[File:Qipao woman.jpg|thumbnail|Woman wearing a ''cheongsam'' or ''qipao'', a typical ethnic fusion dress of Manchu origin absorbing Han and Mongol styles.]]

== History == {{See also|Legacy of the Qing dynasty|Names of the Qing dynasty|History of the Republic of China}} An older proto-nationalist term throughout Chinese history was ''Huaxia'', but the immediate roots of the ''Zhonghua minzu'' lie in the Qing dynasty founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro in what is today Northeast China.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Culture, Music Education, and the Chinese Dream in Mainland China|author = Wai-Chung Ho|publisher = Springer Nature Singapore|year = 2018|isbn = 9789811075339|page = 38}}</ref> The Qing Emperors sought to portray themselves as ideal Confucian rulers for the Han Chinese, Bogda Khans for the Mongols, and Chakravartin kings for Tibetan Buddhists.<ref>{{Cite book|title = China's Challenges and International Order Transition|author = Huiyun Feng|publisher = University of Michigan Press|year = 2020|isbn = 9780472131761|page = 151}}</ref>

[[File:Chengde summer palace writings.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|Lizheng Gate ({{zhi|t=麗正門}}) at the Chengde Mountain Resort. On the sign hanging over the gate there is written the letters used in the Qing Dynasty. From the left: Mongolian script, Chagatai Arabic script, Chinese, Tibetan, and Manchurian.<ref>Chagatai is the predecessor of Uyghur</ref> These five languages are collectively referred to as "Chinese languages".]]

''Dulimbai gurun'' ({{ManchuSibeUnicode|lang=mnc|ᡩᡠᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳ<br />ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ}}) is the Manchu name for China. It has the same meaning as the Chinese name {{zhp|p=Zhongguo|c=中國|l=Middle kingdom}}.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NESwGW_5uLoC&pg=PA117 Hauer 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804050912/https://books.google.com/books?id=NESwGW_5uLoC&pg=PA117 |date=4 August 2020 }}, p. 117.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TmhtAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA80 Dvořák 1895] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823010302/https://books.google.com/books?id=TmhtAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA80 |date=23 August 2020 }}, p. 80.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zqVug_wN4hEC&pg=PA102 Wu 1995] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823010303/https://books.google.com/books?id=zqVug_wN4hEC&pg=PA102 |date=23 August 2020 }}, p. 102.</ref> The Qing adopted the Han Chinese imperial model<ref name="Esherick_et_al" /> but considered the Manchu and Chinese names for "China" to be equivalent. It used "China" to describe the entirety of the state and its territory regardless of ethnic composition. The 'Chinese language' (''Dulimbai gurun i bithe'') referred to Chinese, Manchu, and Mongol languages. ''Zhongguo zhi ren'' ({{lang|zh|中國之人}}; {{ManchuSibeUnicode|lang=mnc|ᡩᡠᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳ<br />ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ {{zwj}}ᡳ<br />ᠨᡳᠶᠠᠯᠮᠠ}} ''Dulimbai gurun-i niyalma'' 'Chinese people') referred to all Han, Manchu, and Mongol subjects of the Qing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zhao |first=Gang |date=January 2006 |title=Reinventing China: Imperial Qing Ideology and the Rise of Modern Chinese National Identity in the Early Twentieth Century |url=https://webspace.utexas.edu/hl4958/perspectives/Zhao%20-%20reinventing%20china.pdf |s2cid-access=free |journal=Modern China |language=en |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=3–30 |doi=10.1177/0097700405282349 |issn=0097-7004 |jstor=20062627 |s2cid=144587815 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325231543/https://webspace.utexas.edu/hl4958/perspectives/Zhao%20-%20reinventing%20china.pdf |archive-date= Mar 25, 2014 }}</ref> The Qing used phrases like {{zhp|p=Zhongwai yijia|c=中外一家}} or {{zhp|p=neiwai yijia|c=內外一家|l=interior and exterior as one family}} to portray itself as a unifying force between the "inner" Han Chinese and the "outer" non-Han like the Mongols and Tibetans.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6qFH-53_VnEC&pg=PA77 Dunnell 2004] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203233227/https://books.google.com/books?id=6qFH-53_VnEC&pg=PA77 |date=3 December 2016 }}, pp. 76–77.</ref>

These terms were used in official documents. "China" was commonly used in international communications and treaties such as the Treaty of Nanking.<ref name="Esherick_et_al" /> A Manchu language memorial used ''Dulimbai gurun'' to proclaim the 1759 conquest of Dzungaria.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6qFH-53_VnEC&pg=PA77 Dunnell 2004] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203233227/https://books.google.com/books?id=6qFH-53_VnEC&pg=PA77 |date=3 December 2016 }}, p. 77.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6qFH-53_VnEC&pg=PA83 Dunnell 2004] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823010303/https://books.google.com/books?id=6qFH-53_VnEC&pg=PA83 |date=23 August 2020 }}, p. 83.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_qtgoTIAiKUC&pg=PA503 Elliott 2001] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518013253/https://books.google.com/books?id=_qtgoTIAiKUC&pg=PA503 |date=18 May 2016 }}, p. 503.</ref> A Manchu language version of a treaty with the Russian Empire concerning criminal jurisdiction over bandits called people from the Qing as "people of the central kingdom (''Dulimbai gurun'')".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qlJpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 Cassel 2011] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430205436/https://books.google.com/books?id=qlJpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 |date=30 April 2016 }}, p. 205.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=t2JTJW0X6LkC&pg=PA205 Cassel 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823010313/https://books.google.com/books?id=t2JTJW0X6LkC&pg=PA205 |date=23 August 2020 }}, p. 205.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qlJpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 Cassel 2011] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823010325/https://books.google.com/books?id=qlJpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 |date=23 August 2020 }}, p. 44.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=t2JTJW0X6LkC&pg=PA44 Cassel 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823010326/https://books.google.com/books?id=t2JTJW0X6LkC&pg=PA44 |date=23 August 2020 }}, p. 44.</ref> In the Manchu official Tulisen's Manchu language account of his meeting with the Torghut Mongol leader Ayuka Khan, it was mentioned that while the Torghuts were unlike the Russians, the "people of the Central Kingdom" (''dulimba-i gurun'') were like the Torghut Mongols, and the "people of the Central Kingdom" referred to the Manchus.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=J4L-_cjmSqoC&pg=PA218 Perdue 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721224450/https://books.google.com/books?id=J4L-_cjmSqoC&pg=PA218 |date=21 July 2020 }}, p. 218.</ref> [[File:Liang qichao.jpg|thumb|right|Liang Qichao, who put forward the concept of ''Zhonghua minzu'' ]] Before nationalism, loyalty was generally to the city-state, the feudal fief and its lord or, in the case of China, to a dynastic state.<ref name="nationalism_Britannica" /> Some Han nationalists such as Sun Yat-sen initially described the Manchus as "foreign invaders" to be expelled,<ref name="French Centre" /> and planned to establish a Han nation-state modelled closely after Germany and Japan; this was discarded because alienating non-Han groups potentially meant the loss of imperial territory.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} This development in Chinese thinking was mirrored in the expansion of the meaning of the term ''Zhonghua minzu'' to encompass Five Races Under One Union based on Qing ethnic categories; the term was originally created by the late-Qing philologist Liang Qichao and only referred to the Han Chinese.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Academic Nations in China and Japan|author = Margaret Sleeboom|publisher = Taylor & Francis|year = 2004|isbn = 9781134376148|page = 52}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = Afterlives of Chinese Communism|author = Christian P. Sorace|publisher = ANU Press|year = 2019|isbn = 9781760462499|page = 17}}</ref> This revision of ''Zhonghua minzu'' was used as early as 1912 by the Republic of China to supports claims of sovereignty over all Qing territories.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} By 1920, Sun Yat-sen also supported the creation of a "Chinese nation" from the various ethnic groups.<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=zh:修改党章的说明—— 在上海中国国民党本部会议的演说|trans-title=Explanation of the Revision of the Party Constitution - speech at the meeting of the Chinese Kuomintang headquarters in Shanghai|url=https://www.sunyat-sen.org/index.php/portal/article/index.html?id=24352&cid=19|date=4 November 2020 |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=The Museum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen |language=zh}}</ref> This conflicted with the views of non-Han groups like the Mongols and Tibetans; they considered their fealty to be held by the Qing sovereign, and whose abdication left them independent and without obligations to the new Chinese state.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

After the founding of the PRC, the concept of ''Zhonghua minzu'' became influenced by Soviet nationalities policy. Officially, the PRC is a unitary state composed of 56 ethnic groups, of which the Han are by far the largest. The concept of ''Zhonghua minzu'' is seen as an all-encompassing category consisting of people within the borders of the PRC.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

This term has continued to be invoked and remains a powerful concept in China into the 21st century. In mainland China, it continues to hold use as the leaders of China need to unify into one political entity a highly diverse set of ethnic and social groups as well as to mobilize the support of overseas Chinese in developing China.{{citation needed|reason=How would this enhance the support of the overseas Chinese since the vast majority of them were Han. Wouldn't the decoupling of Han identity from Chineseness only serve to disenfranchise them?|date=July 2015}} The term is included in article 22 of the Regulations on United Front Work of the Chinese Communist Party: "...promote national unity and progress, and enhance the identification of the masses of all ethnic groups with the great motherland, the Chinese nation (''Zhonghua minzu''), Chinese culture, the Chinese Communist Party, and socialism with Chinese characteristics."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-05 |title= |script-title=zh:中共中央印发《中国共产党统一战线工作条例》 |trans-title=Regulations on United Front Work of the Chinese Communist Party |url=http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-01/05/content_5577289.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312063713/http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2021-01/05/content_5577289.htm |archive-date=2023-03-12 |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=State Council of the People's Republic of China |language=zh}}</ref> ''Zhonghua minzu'' is also one of the Five Identifications.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hayton |first=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4u8CEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Five+Identifications%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA131 |title=The Invention of China |date=2020-10-13 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-23482-4 |pages=131 |language=English}}</ref>

In Taiwan, it has been invoked by former President Ma Ying-jeou as a unifying concept that includes the people of both Taiwan and mainland China without a possible interpretation that Taiwan is part the People's Republic of China.<ref name="Ma2008" />

==Implications== The adoption of the ''Zhonghua minzu'' concept may give rise to the reinterpretation of Chinese history. For example, the Qing dynasty was originally sometimes characterized as a conquest dynasty or non-Han regime. Following the adoption of the ''Zhonghua minzu'' ideology, which regards the Manchus as a member of the ''Zhonghua minzu'', dynasties founded by ethnic minorities are no longer stigmatized.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

The concept of ''Zhonghua minzu'' nevertheless also leads to the reassessment of the role of many traditional hero figures. Heroes such as Yue Fei and Zheng Chenggong, who were originally often considered to have fought for China against barbarian incursions, have been re-characterized by some as ''minzu yingxiong'' ('ethnic heroes') who fought not against barbarians but against other members of the ''Zhonghua minzu''—the Jurchens and Manchus respectively.<ref name="chinadaily.com.cn" /> At the same time, China exemplified heroes such as Genghis Khan, who became a national hero as a member of the ''Zhonghua minzu''.<ref name="CUNY" />

==Ambiguity== The concept of the ''Zhonghua minzu'' has sometimes resulted in friction with neighboring countries such as Mongolia, North Korea and South Korea, who claim regional historical peoples and states. For instance, Mongolia has questioned the concept of Genghis Khan as a "national hero" during the Republic of China period. Since the collapse of socialism, Mongolia has clearly positioned Genghis Khan as the father of the Mongolian nation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Modern Mongolia: Reclaiming Genghis Khan |url=https://www.penn.museum/sites/mongolia/section2a.html |publisher=Penn Museum |access-date=2019-09-24}}</ref> Some Chinese scholars rejections of that position involve tactics such as pointing out that more ethnic Mongols live within China than Mongolia and that the modern-day state of Mongolia acquired its independence from the Republic of China which claimed the legal right to inherit all Qing territories, including Mongolia, through the Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor.<ref name="Edict1">{{Cite book |last1=Esherick |first1=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=reKxAAAAQBAJ&q=complete+territories+of+manchu,+han,+mongol,+hui,+tibetan&pg=PA245 |title=Empire to Nation: Historical Perspectives on the Making of the Modern World |last2=Kayali |first2=Hasan |last3=Van Young |first3=Eric |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-742-57815-9 |page=245 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="Edict2">{{Cite book |last=Zhai |first=Zhiyong |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ziEwDwAAQBAJ&q=仍合滿、漢、蒙、回、藏五族完全領土為一大中華民國&pg=PA190 |publisher=City University of HK Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-9-629-37321-4 |page=190 |script-title=zh:憲法何以中國 |language=zh}}</ref><ref name="Edict3">{{Cite book |last=Gao |first=Quanxi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P46rDAAAQBAJ&q=仍合滿、漢、蒙、回、藏五族完全領土為一大中華民國&pg=PA273 |publisher=City University of Hong Kong Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-9-629-37291-0 |page=273 |script-title=zh:政治憲法與未來憲制 |via=Google Books |language=zh}}</ref> There is also controversy between China and the Korean Peninsula regarding the historical status of Goguryeo.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Gi-Wook |last1=Shin |first2=Haley |last2=Gordon |first3=Hannah June |last3=Kim |title=South Koreans Are Rethinking What China Means to Their Nation |url=https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/south-koreans-are-rethinking-what-china-means-their-nation |date= February 8, 2022 |publisher=The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies |access-date=February 8, 2022}}</ref>

== Resistance to Zhonghua minzu == The Xi Jinping administration, since Xi Jinping's appointment as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012, has promoted the slogan of the "Great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation".

Reverence for the legendary ancestor of the Chinese people, the Yellow Emperor, has intensified, and in some regions such as Uyghur and Tibet, there are individuals who feel resentment toward being subsumed under the concept of the "Zhonghua minzu" {{cn|date=May 2026}}.

Furthermore, resistance to Chinese nationalism also exists among Taiwanese independence advocates and the Hong Kong localist camp.<ref>[https://thestandnews.com/politics/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%AD%E8%8F%AF%E8%86%A0%E7%9A%84%E6%87%BA%E6%82%94/ 大中華膠的懺悔]</ref> In response to this, Hong Kong nationalism emerged, and Taiwanese nationalism, advocated by Taiwanese historian Su Beng, gained traction. The theory that Hongkongers constitute a distinct ethnic group, known as Hong Kong ethnic theory, was also influenced by these ideas.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=倉田 | first1=徹. | title=雨傘運動とその後の香港政治―一党支配と分裂する多元的市民社会 | journal=アジア研究 | date=2017 | volume=63 | doi=10.11479/asianstudies.63.1_68 | url=https://doi.org/10.11479/asianstudies.63.1_68 }}</ref>

The concept of the Chinese nation has also been discussed in connection with territorial disputes, based on the notion that “the land inhabited by the Chinese nation should be governed by a single state” <ref>[https://www.yes-news.com/19324/%E8%AB%96%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E4%BA%BA%E4%B9%8B%E8%BA%AB%E4%BB%BD%E6%88%B4%E6%AF%9B%E7%95%8F 論香港人之身份（戴毛畏） - 熱新聞 YesNews]</ref>. These ideas are referred to as {{ill|Greater Chinese nationalism|lt=|ja|大中華主義}}, and in Hong Kong, supporters of such ideology are often mocked with the term {{ill|Zhōnghuá jiāo|lt=|zh|中華膠}}<ref>[https://www.thestandnews.com/politics/%E5%A4%A7%E4%B8%AD%E8%8F%AF%E8%86%A0%E7%9A%84%E6%87%BA%E6%82%94/ 大中華膠的懺悔立場新聞]{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>. The term “Greater China” itself originates from the traditional idea that China has historically been a unified civilization.

Liu Zhongjing, a political theorist residing in the United States, has argued that the concept of the Chinese nation is a political fabrication and has advocated for the theory of {{ill|Zhu-Xiaism|lt=|ja|諸夏主義}} (諸夏主義).

Chan Ho-tin stated that Peking claims the People’s Republic of China is a nation-state with a unified national identity called “Zhonghua Minzu” or the “Chinese race.”<ref name="hk1">[https://www.inmediahk.net/node/1058916 陳浩天於香港外國記者會演講全文獨媒轉載獨立媒體]</ref><ref name="hk2">[https://www.symedialab.com/talk/%E9%99%B3%E6%B5%A9%E5%A4%A9%E6%BC%94%E8%AC%9B%E5%85%A8%E6%96%87/ 陳浩天FCC演講全文 – 新傳網]</ref> This concept, used to serve political and imperial goals, includes diverse groups such as Tibetans, Mongolians, Shanghainese, Taiwanese, Hong Kongers, and the Chinese diaspora worldwide. According to Beijing’s official stance, all these groups are part of the “Zhonghua” race and thus owe loyalty to the central government.<ref name="hk1" /><ref name="hk2" /> While this is considered absurd by many scholars, it remains the party line. Chan Ho-tin criticized this nationalism as a cover for Chinese imperialism. He pointed to Beijing’s breaches of the Seventeen Point Agreement with Tibet, broken promises upon joining the WTO, and violations of the Sino-British Joint Declaration that have reduced freedoms in Hong Kong.<ref name="hk1" /><ref name="hk2" />

== Relations with Japan == Tang Chunfeng, a Chinese scholar specializing in Okinawan affairs, has expressed support for the Ryukyu independence movement and asserted that the Ryukyuan people are descendants of the Chinese nation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=中露海軍日本一周の意図：北海道はロシア領、沖縄を中国領にソ連による終戦後の北方四島侵攻は「米英ソの密約」で行われた {{!}} JBpress (ジェイビープレス) |url=https://jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/67637 |access-date=2025-11-09 |website=JBpress（日本ビジネスプレス） |language=ja}}</ref>

Zhao Dong of the Preparatory Committee for the Ryukyu Special Autonomous Region of China, which claims that Okinawa is Chinese territory, stated that "Ryukyu is part of the Chinese nation's domain".<ref>[https://www.hk01.com/%E7%A4%BE%E6%9C%83%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E/16977/%E4%BA%9E%E8%A6%96%E6%B8%85%E7%9B%A4-%E5%8F%88%E6%9C%89%E7%99%BD%E6%AD%A6%E5%A3%AB-%E5%85%A7%E5%9C%B0%E9%9B%BB%E5%AD%90%E5%95%86%E4%BA%BA%E8%B6%99%E6%9D%B1%E9%A1%98%E6%B3%A8%E8%B3%87%E5%85%AD%E5%8D%83%E8%90%AC 【亞視清盤】又有白武士內地電子商人趙東願注資六千萬]</ref>

In August 1948, Kiyuna Tsugumasa, a former spy for the Republic of China, declared, “We are part of the Chinese nation and must support the liberation of our Ryukyuan brothers.”<ref name="齋藤.2015">{{Cite thesis|author=齋藤道彦 |script-title=ja:蔡璋と琉球革命同志会・1941年～1948年 |journal=中央大学経済研究所年報 |issn=0285-9718 |publisher=中央大学経済研究所 |year=2015 |volume=46 |pages=551–565 |id={{NAID|120006639109}} |url=http://id.nii.ac.jp/1648/00007177/}}</ref>

== Notes == {{NoteFoot}}

== References == === Citations === {{Reflist |refs = <ref name="LandisAlbert2012">{{Cite book |last1=Landis |first1=Dan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5EFihegRpmkC&pg=PA182 |title=Handbook of Ethnic Conflict: International Perspectives |last2=Albert |first2=Rosita D. |date=14 February 2012 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1461404477 |pages=182– |access-date=13 October 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="Zhao2000">{{Cite journal |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |year=2000 |title=Chinese Nationalism and Its International Orientations |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=115 |issue=1 |pages=1–33 |doi=10.2307/2658031 |jstor=2658031}}</ref>

<ref name="Fitzgerald1995">{{Cite journal |last=Fitzgerald |first=John |date=January 1995 |title=The Nationaless State: The Search for a Nation in Modern Chinese Nationalism |journal=The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs |volume=33 |issue=33 |pages=75–104 |doi=10.2307/2950089 |issn=0156-7365 |jstor=2950089 |s2cid=150609586}}</ref>

<ref name="Lawrance2004">{{Cite book |last=Lawrance |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JWc9Ia7TcaMC&pg=PA252 |title=China Since 1919: Revolution and Reform: a Sourcebook |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-415-25141-9 |pages=252– |access-date=13 October 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="BloxhamMoses2010">{{Cite book |last1=Bloxham |first1=Donald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xCHMFHQRNtYC&pg=PR150 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies |last2=Moses |first2=A. Dirk |date=15 April 2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-161361-6 |pages=150– |access-date=13 October 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="nationalism_Britannica">{{Cite web |title=nationalism;Identification of state and people |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/405644/nationalism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315150936/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/405644/nationalism |archive-date=15 March 2010 |access-date=9 March 2010}}</ref>

<ref name="Esherick_et_al">Empire to nation: historical perspectives on the making of the modern world, by Joseph Esherick, Hasan Kayalı, Eric Van Young, p. 232</ref>

<ref name="French Centre">[http://www.cefc.com.hk/uk/pc/articles/art_ligne.php?num_art_ligne=1807 French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321222121/http://www.cefc.com.hk/uk/pc/articles/art_ligne.php?num_art_ligne=1807 |date=21 March 2008 }}. (cf. by Tongmenghui adherent)</ref>

<ref name="Ma2008">See, e.g. Ma Ying-jeou, [http://www.president.gov.tw/2_special/2008_0520p/speech.html President of Republic of China inauguration speech] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602083756/http://www.president.gov.tw/2_special/2008_0520p/speech.html |date=2 June 2008 }}, 20 May 2008: (Section 2, Paragraph 8)</ref>

<ref name="chinadaily.com.cn">{{Cite web |title=What makes a national hero? |url=http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2003/0109/fe20-1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610211125/http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2003/0109/fe20-1.html |archive-date=10 June 2008 |access-date=25 May 2008}}</ref>

<ref name="CUNY">[http://www.smhric.org/E_Bulag_2.pdf The Chinese Cult of Chinggis Khan: Genealogical Nationalism and Problems of National and Cultural Integrity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528003549/http://www.smhric.org/E_Bulag_2.pdf |date=28 May 2008 }}, City University of New York.</ref>

}}

=== Works cited === {{Refbegin}} * {{Cite book |last=Cassel |first=Par Kristoffer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qlJpAgAAQBAJ |title=Grounds of Judgment: Extraterritoriality and Imperial Power in Nineteenth-Century China and Japan |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0199792122 |access-date=10 March 2014}} * {{Cite book |last=Cassel |first=Par Kristoffer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2JTJW0X6LkC |title=Grounds of Judgment: Extraterritoriality and Imperial Power in Nineteenth-Century China and Japan |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0199792054 |edition=illustrated |author-mask=3 |access-date=10 March 2014}} * {{Cite book |last=Dvořák |first=Rudolf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmhtAAAAIAAJ |title=Chinas religionen ... |publisher=Aschendorff (Druck und Verlag der Aschendorffschen Buchhandlung) |year=1895 |isbn=978-0199792054 |edition=illustrated |volume=12; Volume 15 of Darstellungen aus dem Gebiete der nichtchristlichen Religionsgeschichte |language=de}} * {{Cite book |last1=Dunnell |first1=Ruth W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qFH-53_VnEC |title=New Qing Imperial History: The Making of Inner Asian Empire at Qing Chengde |last2=Elliott |first2=Mark C. |last3=Foret |first3=Philippe |last4=Millward |first4=James A |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=978-1134362226 |access-date=10 March 2014}} * {{Cite book |last=Elliott |first=Mark C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qtgoTIAiKUC |title=The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0804746847 |edition=illustrated, reprint |access-date=10 March 2014}} * {{Cite book |last=Hauer |first=Erich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NESwGW_5uLoC |title=Handwörterbuch der Mandschusprache |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |year=2007 |isbn=978-3447055284 |editor-last=Corff |editor-first=Oliver |edition=illustrated |volume=12; Volume 15 of Darstellungen aus dem Gebiete der nichtchristlichen Religionsgeschichte |language=de}} * {{Cite book |last=Perdue |first=Peter C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4L-_cjmSqoC |title=China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0674042025 |edition=reprint |access-date=10 March 2014}} * {{Cite book |last=Wu |first=Shuhui |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zqVug_wN4hEC |title=Die Eroberung von Qinghai unter Berücksichtigung von Tibet und Khams 1717–1727: anhand der Throneingaben des Grossfeldherrn Nian Gengyao |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |year=1995 |isbn=978-3447037563 |edition=reprint |volume=2 of Tunguso Sibirica |access-date=10 March 2014 |language=de}} {{Refend}}

== External links == * [http://hnn.us/articles/7077.html The War of Words Between South Korea and China Over An Ancient Kingdom: Why Both Sides Are Misguided] Zhonghua minzu and the Sino-Korean controversy over the 'ownership' of ancient Koguryo. * [http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/chinesehistory/pgp/xiaoweiqingessay.htm Sinicization vs. Manchuness: The Success of Manchu Rule] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106091854/http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/chinesehistory/pgp/xiaoweiqingessay.htm |date=6 January 2008 }}

{{Clear}} {{Ethnicity}} {{Nationalism}} {{Ethnic groups in China}} {{Chinese Nationalist Party}} {{Cross-Strait relations}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhonghua Minzu}} * Category:Anti-separatism in China Category:Chinese culture Category:Chinese words and phrases Category:Ethnic groups in China Category:Ethnology Category:Ideology of the Kuomintang Category:National identities