Re: Why did we call ourselves Hans?

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: Just a short note; : There are 3 main terms normally used: : Han Ren, Tang Ren and Hua Ren : The explanations for the terms are very well described by Chen below. : I'd just like to add that one of the reasons why many Cantonese, Hakka and Fujien : speaking chinese outside China refer to themselves as Tang Ren is because these : southern provinces were only incorporated into China proper during the Tang : Dynasty. Ethnically, they are Han Chinese who migrated down south to displace : the minority tribes in the south. : Kit : : The term "Han" was used to describe the Chinese nationality by the ancient Chinese from the Han : : Dynasty (206BC - 220AD) onwards. The reason why the name of this dynasty is choosen rather than : : the other dynasties is because the Han Dynasty was among the most powerful and influential in ancient : : China. It was also the dynasty during which the peoples of China, who were previously divided into : : various states, were unified politically, legally and culturally. (Even though the unification process : : began in the previous Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) that dynasty was too short-lived to have as large a : : lasting impression on the people as the Han did) As a result, the Han Dynasty was really the first time : : during which all peoples from every part of China's vast territories shared the same national identity. : : Prior to this they had the same cultural identity but belonged to different states. : : "Tang" is also a term often used to describe the Chinese nationality as the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 : : AD) was arguably the most powerful and influential dynasty in Chinese history. (Or at least as : : powerful as the Han) Some scholars believe that the first part of the Tang Dynasty, from the reign of : : the second Emperor Tang Taizong (beginning from 627AD) to the Battle of Talas River with the : : Islamic empire in 751AD marked not only the Golden Age of Chinese Civilisation but was also the : : period of time in which China was the leading civilisation of the world in almost every aspect, between : : the fall of Rome and the rise of Islam. : : Another point of interest is that the English term "China" is not actually a Chinese word but is based : : on what almost every nation and civilisation to the west of China calls it. The term "China" is believed : : to have been derived from the Qin Dynasty, sometimes pronounced in English as "Chin Dynasty" (see : : the similarity between "Chin" and "China"), which united China politically for the first time in 221BC. : : But the use of a term based on "Qin" to refer to China predates the unification of China by at least a : : few centuries. This is because the state of Qin is actually very ancient and existed for several : : centuries before it became powerful enought to unify all of China. As the state of Qin is the westmost : : state in ancient China before the unification, it is this state that western traders from Persia, India : : or Greece encounter when they reach China. Therefore they call China by the name of the Qin state. : : Evidence of this can be seen in many ancient western documents which contain terms referring to : : China. The ancient Hebrew word for China is "Sinim". This is actually a phonetic (sound-based) : : translation of the term "Qin", but as there is no equal sound in Hebrew to how "Qin" is actually : : pronounced so the closest matching sound of "Qin" is "Sin" which then became "Sinim". The word " : : Sinim" is also referred to in the Bible. The term used to refer to China by the other ancient western : : peoples are based on the term "Sinim". The ancient Romans called China "Serre" while the ancient : : Greeks referred to China as "Sinnai". The modern English word "China" came from the French "Chine", : : which has a pronounciation similar to "Sinim" so is also derived from the same source. : : In fact, Chinese people's most ancient name for our nation is the term "Xia". This name is no longer : : used frequently now, but it was the term used to describe the Chinese nationality almost exclusively : : during the 2000 years of Chinese history before the Han Dynasty. Evidence of this can be found in the : : Analects of Confucius (China's great sage and philosopher, Analects is a book of dialogues compiled by : : Confucius' students after his death). The term "Xia" is so ancient that the name for China's first : : dynasty, the Xia Dynasty (created around 2200BC), is named after the term "Xia" used to describe : : the Chinese nationality rather than the other way around. The word "Xia" is sometimes combined with : : the word "Hua" ("Huaren", meaning "Hua people", of course is the word used by many overseas Chinese : : people to describe themselves) into "Huaxia", which is a term still used quite often in China when : : referring to the Chinese nation. I personally believe due to the antiquity of the term "Xia" and the : : popularity of the term "Hua" (The Chinese name for the People's Republic of China, for example, is " : : Zhong Hua Re Min Gong He Guo", which contain the word "Hua", but does not contain "Han"), the term : : "Huaxia" is the most accurate and authetic way to call the Chinese nation, more authetic than even the : : "Han". Another reason for this is that "Huaxia" is more "politically correct" than "Han", as "Han" is : : only one of the 56 nationalities in China (albeit the largest, with 93% of China's population), so using : : "Han" to describe China will alienate the other 55 nationalities in China, whereas historically the Xia : : peoples were the ancestors of many minority nationalities in modern China as well as the Han : : nationality the term "Huaxia" is more inclusive of all the diverse peoples of China compared with the : : term "Han".

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