The development course of Han nationality

From about 5000 BC, the Huaxia nationality, the main body of the Han nationality, originated in the Yellow River valley and began to develop gradually. It entered the Neolithic Age and went through the stages of matriarchal clan commune and paternal clan commune. In 2700 BC, there was a tribe named Ji in central Shaanxi, with the leader of Huangdi and the leader of a tribe named Jiang in the south. The two sides often clashed. The battle of Hanquan finally broke out between the two tribes. The Yellow Emperor defeated Yan Di, and then.

According to the legend recorded in the pre-Qin literature, the ancestors of the Han nationality lived in the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. The ancestors of the Han nationality generally lived in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, starting from Longshan in the west and Taishan in the east. Yangshao culture and Longshan culture are two Neolithic cultures mainly distributed in this area, which are generally considered as the cultural remains of Han ancestors.

Ancient legends also describe that Han ancestors experienced a long era of primitive commune system. Before the Yellow Emperor, there was a matriarchal clan tribe that "Anemarrhena denied his father" (see matriarchal clan system); The legend about the Yellow Emperor marks the change from matriarchal clan tribe to paternal clan tribe (see paternal clan system) and enters the stage of tribal alliance. Legend has it that Yao, Shun and Yu, who successively served as the leaders of the big tribal alliance after the Yellow Emperor, are considered to be descendants of the Yellow Emperor.

In 2 1 century BC, the primitive commune system in the Central Plains came to the end of history, and a class society appeared on the land in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. After the 20th century BC, Xia (about 2 1 century BC ~ 65438+6th century BC), Shang (about 65438+6th century BC ~1century BC) and Western Zhou (about 165438+ 65438 BC) Then it developed to the vast areas of Huaihe River, Surabaya, Yangtze River and Hanshui River. There were clan names in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which were called Huaxia, Xia or Huaxia, to distinguish them from barbarians, Yi, Rong and Di. But at this time, the distinction between China and foreigners is not very strict.

During the Spring and Autumn Period (770 ~ 476 BC), China people's concept of nobility and inferiority was already very strong. At that time, the standards, race and culture that distinguished China from barbarians were highly valued, and culture was especially the primary factor. Due to etiquette, customs, clothing and other factors, China people and foreigners can often switch places with each other. Qin and Chu are not only as famous as Qi, Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei, but also the two most powerful governors in China. The seven chivalrous men joined forces with Lian Heng to fight together, but the ethnic groups were the same, forming the trend of summer reunification; So Huaxia has become a stable ethnic group, and its distribution area has reached the middle and lower reaches of Liaohe River in Northeast China, Taohe River Basin in Northwest China, Bashu and central Guizhou in Southwest China, Hunan and wuyue in Southeast China.

Qin Shihuang unified China and established the Qin Dynasty, followed by the Han Dynasty, which ruled China for more than 400 years. During this period, the territory of China expanded unprecedentedly. At this time, the distribution of Han population is still concentrated in the Yellow River and Huaihe River basins. Since the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Han population has gradually migrated to the Yangtze River, the Pearl River and the southeast of China on a large scale. From the Western Jin Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the Han population entered Central Asia and Yunnan. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the population of the Han nationality in the south had surpassed that in the north, and Manchu prohibited the Han nationality from going out to the northeast. In the late Qing Dynasty, in order to enrich the frontier, Han people were allowed to enter the northeast of China. During Zhang's rule in Northeast China, a large number of Shandong Han people were introduced. From the Ming Dynasty, the Han nationality began to immigrate to Southeast Asia sporadically, and from the19th century, the Han nationality immigrated to Europe, North America and other places.