Social Sciences in China Review

No.2, 2018

Did the Non-Han Regimes not Have a Chinese Consciousness: An Inspection Based on Non-Han Language Historical Materials （Abstract）

Zhong Han

The non-Han regimes that ruled China after the Han and Tang dynasties left us with rich historical materials in languages other than the Hanyu (the Han language). By sorting out and analyzing the use of the term 中国 (China) in these materials, we can see clearly that rulers of the Yuan and Qing dynasties not only referred to their dynasties as 中国, but also had a remarkable “Chinese consciousness” with a clear self-identification. That means that there was no fundamental difference between these dynasties and those established by the Han people. This identification can even be traced back into the Liao and Jin dynasties established respectively by the Khitan and Nüzhen peoples. Therefore, the suspicion of some foreign scholars that the term 中国 and the Chinese identity were not accepted by these non-Han regimes has no grounds.