When was the Han nationality first formed?

From about 7000 BC, a branch of the Han nationality, Ba people and Chu people, developed in the Yangtze River basin. About 5000 years ago, the Huaxia nationality, another source of the Han nationality, originated in the Yellow River valley and began to develop gradually. It entered the Neolithic Age and went through matriarchal clan commune and paternal clan commune. In 2700 BC, there was a tribe named Ji in central Shaanxi, whose leader was Huangdi, and there was a tribe named Jiang in the south, whose leader was. Friction often occurs between the two sides. The battle of Han Quan finally broke out between the two tribes, and the Yellow Emperor defeated Yan Di. After that, the two tribes formed an alliance and captured the surrounding tribes, and the predecessor of Huaxia Kingdom was born.

About 2070 BC, the Xia Dynasty was established by Qi, and the Shang Dynasty was established 1600 years ago. Before 1046, the Zhou Dynasty was established. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, various ethnic groups and tribes in the territory have been continuously integrated, forming the Huaxia nationality in the Yellow River basin and the Chu nationality in the Huaihe River, Surabaya River, Yangtze River and Hanshui River basins. During this period, Huaxia and Chu ethnic groups gradually formed and became the predecessors of modern Han nationality, which was different from many ethnic groups such as Yi, Man, Rong and Di, but the distinction between Hua and Yi was not very strict at this time.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Huaxia people further integrated with the surrounding ethnic groups, and Huaxia people gradually integrated with Chu people and Qin people. During the Warring States Period, the vassal states of China fought against each other, and the Yi, Man, Rong and Di who entered the Central Plains gradually merged with the Huaxia nationality, forming a relatively stable nation. At this time, the activity area of Huaxia nationality also expanded to the middle and lower reaches of Liaohe River, Taohe River Basin, Sichuan Basin, south of the Yangtze River and other places.

Qin destroyed six countries and unified China. In just over ten years, under the leadership of Chu people such as Chen Sheng, Guangwu, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, the Qin Dynasty perished. Subsequently, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, both Chu people, competed for supreme sovereignty. Liu Bang won, and the Han Dynasty was established and ruled China for more than 400 years. During this period, the territory of China expanded unprecedentedly, with Chu and Huaxia in the pre-Qin period as the core, and some tribes of Qiang and Xiongnu were integrated, forming the Han nationality. At this time, the distribution of Han population is still mainly in the Yellow River and Huaihe River basins. From the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Han population gradually migrated to the Yangtze River, the Pearl River and the southeast of China. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the ethnic policy of the ruling class, the Han population in the south indirectly surpassed that in the north. Since the Republic of China, the Han nationality has gradually migrated to the northeast. 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.