There are a total of 56 ethnic groups in Our country, but in addition to the Han nationality, the other 55 ethnic groups are all ethnic minorities, this is because the Han nationality itself occupies more than 92% of the population in China, and the remaining 55 ethnic groups "divide" the remaining 8%, so it can be known that the Han nationality is not a minority.
The Han nationality is the main ethnic group in China, and since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, this title has continued for more than 2,000 years. Until the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the central plains ethnic groups were basically Han Chinese, and it was not until after the Wuhu Chaohua that the surrounding races merged into the big family of the Chinese nation and multiplied into other ethnic groups now.
It can be seen that the title of Han nationality has a lot to do with the Han Dynasty. Many people believe that the reason why the Han nationality is Han is because the dynasty at that time was called the Han Dynasty, but before the Han Dynasty there was the Qin Dynasty, and after the Han Dynasty there were Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and other dynasties, why not call it Qin, Tang or Ming and the like?
The reason why it is not called "Qin" in the first place is because although Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms and established the first great unified feudal dynasty in China's history, he also realized the cultural unification of the same track book and the same text. However, after the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, the customs and culture of the various princely states were still preserved, such as Xiang Yu still considered himself a Chu person, and did not reach cultural identity.
Moreover, Qin Shi Huang himself practiced tyranny, and even more intensified in Qin II, so the Qin Dynasty was unpopular, and people did not support the rule of the Qin Dynasty, first Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled, and then Liu Bang Xiangyu fought. The Qin Dynasty only existed for 14 years before it collapsed, and the natural Central Plains peoples had no cultural identity and would not call themselves "Qin".
And why not call it "Tang" or "Ming"? This is because the Han Dynasty laid the foundation of the Central Plains culture for more than 2,000 years. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed the Hundred Schools of Confucianism, Confucianism has become the official ideology of subsequent dynasties, whether it is the later Tang Dynasty or the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, etc., are in line with the Han Dynasty.
Moreover, during the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu thieves rebelled, and the Han Dynasty had to distinguish between the Central Plains peoples and the northern nomadic peoples, so the concept of the Han nationality was strengthened at that time. The Han Dynasty lasted for more than 400 years, so long that all the Central Plains peoples agreed with the concept of Han, coupled with the influence of Confucian culture, the name of Han continued, and has not changed since.
So since the Han nationality was only formed during the Han Dynasty, what was the name of the Central Plains people before the Han Dynasty? In fact, it is very simple, there are only two words, that is, we are familiar with but still very domineering and majestic - Huaxia.
The word "Huaxia" was first mentioned in the Book of Shang. The Book of Shang is an ancient book, written as early as the Zhou Dynasty in the 10th century BC, in which it is written that "Huaxia barbarians are reckless and reckless." This means that both the Chinese peoples in the Central Plains and the barbarian tribes in the four directions must be loyal to the Zhou Dynasty Tianzi.
That is to say, at this time, the Central Plains already had the so-called "Huayi Debate", and there was also a relatively specific cultural identity of the "Huaxia Ethnic Group". So why use "Huaxia" as the title of the Central Plains people?
First of all, according to the Shuowen Jiezi, the earliest meaning of "Hua" is "flower", and its original oracle bone form is actually a blooming flower. Because flowers emit beautiful luster under the illumination of the sun, "Hua" is also extended to the meaning of "brilliance", "gorgeous" and "essence".
Also according to the "Commentary on the Interpretation of Words", the original meaning of "Xia" has nothing to do with Summer, but refers to "a majestic and heroic person", and the word "Xia" is "built a house" on the head of the person "Xia". The oracle bone of the word "Xia" is also a character who looks very brave with open hands.
The word "Huaxia" is concatenated to mean "brilliant and great man." Since the Yellow Emperor swallowed the Yandi tribe and defeated Xuanyu in the Battle of Zhuolu, the Central Plains peoples have begun to merge and unite. At this time, a name is needed to name the people of the Central Plains, and from the original meaning of "Huaxia", the status of these two words in ancient China is very high, and the use of these two words as the name of the Central Plains people can naturally be matched.
For example, the Xia Dynasty chose "Xia" as the national name. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the King of Shang was suppressed under the name of opposing Shang and Fuxia, and the word "Xia" was further deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. From the etymological point of view, "Hua" and "Xia" actually have a considerable part of the meaning overlap, Confucius once used the word "Huaxia" as a synonym, the so-called "descendants do not seek Xia, Yi does not chaos Hua".
That is why, during the Zhou Dynasty, the word "Huaxia" began to be used together, becoming the collective name of the Central Plains peoples. But later, after the term "Han" became popular, the Huaxia became a nickname for the Han nationality. But we still need to know that the earliest Han nationality was the Huaxia ethnic group, and its original meaning was "brilliant and great nation", and now our historical task is to continue the glory and greatness of our nation!
▲ Follow me and give away a high-definition map of China and the world