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Concept
Huaxia
Summary
Huaxia () is a historical concept representing the Chinese nation, and came from the self-awareness of a common cultural ancestry by the various confederations of pre-Qin ethnic ancestors of Han people.
The earliest extant authentic attestation of the concept Huáxià 華夏 is in the historical narrative and commentary Zuo zhuan (finished around 300 BCE). In Zuo zhuan, Huaxia refers to the central states (中國 Zhōngguó) in the Yellow River valley, dwelt by the Huaxia people, ethnically equivalent to Han Chinese in pre-imperial discourses.
According to Confucianist Kong Yingda's "True Meaning of Chunqiu Zuo zhuan", xià () "grand" signified the "greatness" () in the ceremonial etiquettes of the central states, while huá () "flower" or "blossom" was used in reference to the "beauty" () in the clothing that those states' denizens wore.
Han historian Sima Qian asserts that Xia was the name of the state enfeoffed to legendary king Yu the Great, and Yu used its name as his surname. In modern historiography, Huaxia refers to a confederation of tribes—living along the Yellow River—who were the ancestors of what later became the Han ethnic group 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 names of both the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) use 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 (), while that of the ROC is Zhonghua Minguo ().
Official source
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