We always say that China has been a unified multi-ethnic state since the Qin Dynasty. In Chinese history, division and reunification have always alternated, and the scale of reunification is different in each era. In the traditional concept, it is believed that the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Western Jin Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Song Yuan, the Ming and Qing Dynasties were the nine eras of great unification in Chinese history, and when the concept of unification among them is different, we must make certain distinctions.
First, Qin and Han: laid the map of Han China
The dynasty of China's first great unification was the Xia Dynasty, and the dynasties before the Xia Dynasty cannot be said to be unified. Around 2000 BC, the Xia Dynasty was established, but the Xia Dynasty's sphere of influence was basically in the Iloilo area. During the Shang Dynasty, the territory expanded, but the scope was basically limited to the lower reaches of the Yellow River. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the territory was further expanded, and the northern region was basically controlled. Territory aside, Xia Shang Zhou cannot be regarded as unified. During the three generations period, the state system was still relatively loose, and the control of the local area was basically in a state of alliance. For example, the Xia Dynasty was lined with all kinds of states, and the Shang Dynasty was a loose "Alliance of FangGuo". During the Western Zhou Dynasty, a strict system of sub-feudalism was implemented, and the localities had great independence, and even such as the Chu State and the Xu State openly quarreled with Zhou Tianzi, and fought with the Western Zhou Dynasty for many years, so it is difficult to say that the Western Zhou was a unified dynasty.
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were an era of great division, with constant attacks and wars between princes. However, the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period was an era of national integration. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou people called themselves "Xia", "Huaxia", and "Zhuxia", and referred to the surrounding ethnic groups as "Dongyi", "Southern Man", "Northern Di", "Xirong", etc., forming the "Huayi Debate". During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Chinese and surrounding ethnic groups continued to integrate, customs and cultures continued to converge, and gradually formed a nation with a common region, common culture, common language, and common economic life. However, a new name has not yet appeared.
In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, which was a major event in Chinese history, because the unification laid the foundation for China's Han territory in 2000. Geographically, Qin Shi Huang almost unified all the farming areas of the East Asian continent at that time, and built the Great Wall to separate the nomadic areas. Ethnically, Qin Shi Huang unified the 7 major Chinese countries formed by the Warring States and formed a national community. Since then, China's unification has been based on the Qin Dynasty as a reference, and if the unification of agricultural areas is basically realized, it is a great unification. However, this is only for the Han Chinese.
The unification of Qin Shi Huang soon fell apart, and it was not until the Han Dynasty that the new name of the nation, Han, appeared. The territory of the early Han Dynasty was basically composed of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, which can also be regarded as unified. In the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, a comprehensive expansion began, such as the annexation of Korea, South Vietnam, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and the laying of the Hexi Corridor, which continued to begin and became important areas for agricultural production. These areas, combined with the original Warring States Qixiong region, became the so-called "inland" in ancient times, which foreign countries called "Mainland China".
Second, Sui and Tang Dynasties: The Second Great Unification of the Interior
Beginning in 184, Chinese mainland was once again divided. After that, there was a confrontation between the Three Kingdoms, a brief unification of the Western Jin Dynasty, a chaotic era of the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the confrontation between the Southern and Northern Dynasties, which was not unified again until 589. In the past 400 years, the interior has been almost in the midst of great division, great turmoil, and great chaos, but this era is also an era of great national integration. During the Western Jin Dynasty, there was the "Wuhu Chaohua", many nomadic peoples entered the interior, and the Han nationality continued to move south. This accelerated the sinicization of the nomadic peoples in the north and the development of the southern region. Therefore, during the period of unification of the Sui and Tang dynasties, the economies of the north and south of the interior were basically balanced, and the economic capacity of the interior was enhanced.
The Great Split formed a large-scale transformation of the Han people and culture. In terms of blood, the Xiongnu, Xianbei and other ethnic groups have been integrated into the Han nationality, bringing tough and fresh blood to the Han nationality. The monarchs of the Sui and Tang dynasties were enthusiastic about expanding their territory, which had something to do with the humble blood on their bodies. Culturally, the East of Buddhism in India has impacted the status of Confucianism, so that Confucianism has to absorb the advanced theories of Buddhism, forming a trend of "the confluence of the three religions". It turns out that Buddhism later became an ideological weapon of China's great unification, and it was not only used in the interior, but also widely spread to nomadic areas. Later, Tibet and Mongolia both believed in Buddhism, at least in a certain connection in faith.
The core of the great unification of the Sui and Tang Dynasties was still in the interior, and for the western regions and other places, it was basically still in a state of bondage and alliance. However, the national strength of the Sui and Tang dynasties was strong, making the cultural export to the outside world unprecedentedly frequent. The surrounding countries of Nanzhao, Silla, Bohai, and Japan actively absorbed the tang dynasty's canonical system and culture, and eventually formed a common cultural circle. This is a good thing and a challenge. The good thing is that it expands the radiation scope of Han culture and lays the foundation for future unification; what is bad is that it accelerates the institutional maturity of the surrounding ethnic groups, resulting in a strengthening of political centrifugal forces.
This challenge was basically shown in the Song Dynasty. Although the territory of the Northern Song Dynasty was not complete, it was barely a unified dynasty. Around the Northern Song Dynasty, there were Dali, Vietnam, Goryeo, Western Xia, Liao and other countries, which were almost institutionally influenced by Han culture, and some were almost a small Tang Dynasty. However, they began to create their own square characters, fabricated their own national history, and shaped an independent national psychology, and the centrifugal force was extremely strong. Because everyone is an agrarian-based country and the system is very mature, it is difficult for the Northern Song Dynasty to have an advantage in military terms. If this situation is maintained for a long time, East Asia may become the second Europe.
Third, Yuanqing: Completed the upgrade of the great unification
The history of the Song Dynasty has proved that the Han Chinese at this time have lost the ability to conquer the surrounding mature countries. The Sui and Tang dynasties almost exhausted the national strength of the whole country when they conquered Goguryeo, and you can imagine how difficult it was. If we look up, we will find that the northern nomads have begun to bring an upgraded version of the great unification to China. The first was that the Liao State created the System of North and South Courtyards, which was able to effectively manage both farming peoples and nomads at the same time. The later Jin Dynasty was a model for managing two nationalities at the same time. After the fall of the Liao State, the Yelü family migrated to the Western Regions, established the Western Liao, and fully implemented the Han culture. Because the Han nationality was imprisoned by the idea of "Huayi Debate", the Han did not think of these systems.
As the most powerful nomadic people in history, the Mongols rose in a whirlwind in the 13th century, eventually wiping out the nomadic and agrarian countries of Eurasia. After Kublai Khan came to power, he began to claim the title of emperor, became the emperor of China, and reused Confucianism to promote the science of science and Han culture. Although the Sinicization of the Yuan Dynasty was not very successful, we cannot deny the function of the Yuan Dynasty, it was he who ended the independent countries of East Asia, for the first time unified all the countries of the East Asian continent into one country, and this country had a new name- China, and the Yuan Emperor basically used the word "China" in the national documents of Japan and Goryeo, which was the first time in history.
Since the founding of the Country, Japan has been close to China, and as for the decay, none of them have made peace with each other. - Yuan Dynasty's national letter to Japan
Kublai Khan
The Ming Dynasty was a counter-current. The Ming Dynasty was the last Han Dynasty, established on the basis of the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty, and therefore carried a very strong national narrow-mindedness, Han nationalism. The Ming Dynasty basically adopted the old-fashioned method of "using Yi to control Yi" for the surrounding ethnic groups, abandoning the dualistic system of Liaojinyuan. Eventually, the territory of the Ming Dynasty shrank to a similar extent to that of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty, and the Sui Dynasty. During the Yuan Dynasty, China had begun to become a common citizen of nomadic and agrarian peoples, and Zhu Yuanzhang proposed: "Drive out the Hu Yu and restore China", once again reducing China from a national to a regional name, which means the Central Plains. The Ming Dynasty never claimed to be China to the outside world, and it was called "Daming".
The Qing Dynasty, the successor of the Jin Dynasty and the successor of the Yuan Dynasty, completed the unfinished business of the Yuan Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty entered the customs in 1644 and unified the interior in 1664. According to the traditional concept, this is already a great unification. But the Qing Dynasty then conquered Taiwan, expelled Russia, unified Northern Mongolia, Tibet, Qinghai, and Xinjiang, and unified the entire East Asian continent. The Qing Dynasty declared itself To be China and reinterpreted the meaning of China. Yongzheng believes that China includes the Han nationality and all ethnic minorities, and that ethnic minorities cannot be excluded from China and cannot be disparaged as barbarians. In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the concepts of "Chinese nation" and "republic of the five nationalities" appeared.
Since the unification of ancient China, the territory cannot be wide, and those who do not have a direction are dismissed as Yidi... Since I entered Middle-earth, the king came to the world, and the tribes on the far side of Mongolia, all returned to the territory, it is the territory of China to open up a wide range, it is a great blessing for the Chinese subjects, how to still have the distinction between Huayi and foreign countries! - Yongzheng
To sum up, the Qin Dynasty achieved the unification of the interior for the first time, while the Han Dynasty consolidated. After that, the Western Jin Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty once again realized the unification of the interior. The Yuan Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty achieved the unification of China, that is, the great unification of nomadic and agricultural areas. The history of China is not only the history of the Han people, but also the history created by the Han people and ethnic minorities.