Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.10, 2013

The Emergence of the Chinese Nation from the Perspective of Composite State Structure

(Abstract)

Wang Zhenzhong

Nation can be classified into two categories: “ancient nation” and “modern nation.” In its course of development, the ancient Chinese nation underwent a transition from a “self-being nation” (in the Xia and Shang period) to a “self-conscious one” (in the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period). The reason why the Chinese nation emerged as a “self-being nation” in the Xia and Shang dynasties was that this period was characterized by a pluralistic composite state structure that could accommodate a wide variety of clans and tribes. In the embryonic Five Emperors period before the Xia dynasty, different tribal states witnessed tribal and clan unions before becoming a unified national state.