View source for Han Chinese

{{Short description|East Asian ethnic group}}
{{Redirect|Han people|citizens and residents of China|Chinese people|the homophonic Han people of Korea|Koreans|the Alaskan people|Hän}}
{{For-multi|the language of Han Chinese|Chinese language|the Chinese imperial dynasty|Han dynasty}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Han Chinese
| native_name      = 漢人; 汉人
| native_name_lang = zh
| image            = 武官肖像.jpg
| image_caption    = Officials during the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1662) wearing ''[[hanfu]]''
| population       = 1.4 billion<ref name="Han_Groups">{{cite book |first=James B. |last=Minahan |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ |year=2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-610-69018-8 |pages=89–95 |access-date=21 May 2020 |archive-date=7 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607133434/https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region1          = [[China]]
| pop1             = {{round|1.290015419|2}} billion
| ref1             = <ref name="ciastat">[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/china/#people-and-society CIA Factbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217075558/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/china/#people-and-society |date=17 February 2023}}: "Han Chinese 91.1%" out of a reported population of 1,416,043,270 (2024 est.)</ref>
| region2          = [[Taiwan]]
| pop2             = 22 million
| ref2             = <ref name="taiwansnapshot">{{cite web |url=https://www.taiwan.gov.tw/images/content/ts.JPG |title=Taiwan snapshot |access-date=15 March 2020 |archive-date=15 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315131914/https://www.taiwan.gov.tw/images/content/ts.JPG |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Chien-Hsiun |last2=Yang |first2=Jenn-Hwai |last3=Chiang |first3=Charleston W.K. |last4=Hsiung |first4=Chia-Ni |last5=Wu |first5=Pei-Ei |last6=Chang |first6=Li-Ching |last7=Chu |first7=Hou-Wei |last8=Chang |first8=Josh |last9=Song |first9=I-Wen |last10=Yang |first10=Show-Ling |last11=Chen |first11=Yuan-Tsong |last12=Liu |first12=Fu-Tong |last13=Shen |first13=Chen-Yang |title=Population structure of Han Chinese in the modern Taiwanese population based on 10,000 participants in the Taiwan Biobank project |journal=Human Molecular Genetics |date=18 October 2016 |volume=25 |issue=24 |pages=5321–5331 |doi=10.1093/hmg/ddw346 |pmid=27798100 |pmc=6078601 }}</ref>
| region3          = [[Thailand]]
| pop3             = 10 million
| ref3             = <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Draper |first1=John |last2=Selway |first2=Joel Sawat |title=A New Dataset on Horizontal Structural Ethnic Inequalities in Thailand in Order to Address Sustainable Development Goal 10 |journal=Social Indicators Research |date=January 2019 |volume=141 |issue=1 |pages=275–297 |doi=10.1007/s11205-019-02065-4 }}</ref><ref name="ocac.gov.tw">{{cite web |url=http://www.ocac.gov.tw/english/public/public.asp?selno%3D1163%26no%3D1163%26level%3DB |title=Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission, R.O.C. |access-date=23 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104195124/http://www.ocac.gov.tw/english/public/public.asp?selno=1163&no=1163&level=B |archive-date=4 January 2011}}</ref>
| region4          = [[Malaysia]]
| pop4             = {{round|6.910000|2}} million
| ref4             = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/02/14/census-malaysias-population-grew-by-17-over-last-decade-to-324-million-104-comprised-those-above-60-says-pm |title=confirmed latest statistics |year=2022 |access-date=14 February 2022 |archive-date=14 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214063638/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/02/14/census-malaysias-population-grew-by-17-over-last-decade-to-324-million-104-comprised-those-above-60-says-pm |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region5          = [[United States]]
| pop5             = {{round|3.795000|2}}–{{round|5.789817|2}} million
| ref5             = <ref>{{cite web |title=Race Reporting for the Asian Population by Selected Categories: 2010 more information |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP8&prodType=table |archive-url=https://archive.today/20161012022855/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP8&prodType=table |archive-date=12 October 2016 |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=19 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Selected Population Profile in the United States |url=https://data.census.gov/table?t=035&y=2022 |website=census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=5 February 2024 |archive-date=5 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205015828/https://data.census.gov/table?t=035&y=2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region7          = [[Indonesia]]
| pop7             = {{round|2.832510|2}} million
| ref7             = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://marclaninternational.com/glodok-chinatown-market-your-guide-to-jakartas-oldest-charm/ |language=id |author= |date=2011 |title=Jumlah dan Persentase Penduduk menurut Kelompok Suku Bangsa |website=media.neliti.com |publisher=Kewarganegaraan, suku bangsa, agama dan bahasa sehari-hari penduduk Indonesia |access-date=30 May 2022 |archive-date=4 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704010200/https://media.neliti.com/media/publications/49956-ID-kewarganegaraan-suku-bangsa-agama-dan-bahasa-sehari-hari-penduduk-indonesia.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region6          = [[Singapore]]
| pop6             = {{round|3.072000|2}} million
| ref6             = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/622748/singapore-resident-population-by-ethnic-group/ |title=Topic: Resident Populationpf Singapore by ethnic group, 2023|access-date=27 August 2021 |archive-date=27 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827163841/https://www.statista.com/topics/5763/demographics-of-singapore/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region8          = [[Myanmar]]
| pop8             = {{round|1.638000|2}} million
| ref8             = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/burma/ |title=The World Factbook |access-date=17 February 2016 |archive-date=10 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210200835/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/burma/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region9          = [[Canada]]
| pop9             = {{round|1.469000|2}} million
| ref9             = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asiapacific.ca/statistics/population/population-2011-census/population-ethnic-origin-province |title=Population by Ethnic Origin by Province |author=Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada |publisher=Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada |access-date=17 February 2016 |archive-date=22 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322152756/http://www.asiapacific.ca/statistics/population/population-2011-census/population-ethnic-origin-province |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region10         = [[Philippines]]
| pop10            = {{round|1.350000|2}} million
| ref10            = <ref name="senate.gov.ph">{{Cite press release |title=Senate declares Chinese New Year as special working holiday |date=21 January 2013 |publisher=PRIB, Office of the Senate Secretary, Senate of the Philippines |url=http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2013/0121_prib1.asp |last1=Macrohon |first1=Pilar |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516035425/http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2013/0121_prib1.asp |archive-date=16 May 2021}}</ref>
| region11         = [[Australia]]
| pop11            = {{round|1.214000|2}} million
| ref11            = <ref name="2016Aus">{{cite web |website=2016 Census QuickStats |title=Australia |publisher=[[Australian Bureau of Statistics]] |url=http://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/036 |access-date=31 October 2018 |archive-date=30 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030150040/http://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/036 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| region12         = [[Vietnam]]
| pop12            = 992,600
| ref12            = <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Poston |first1=Dudley L |last2=Wong |first2=Juyin Helen |title=The Chinese diaspora: The current distribution of the overseas Chinese population |journal=Chinese Journal of Sociology |date=July 2016 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=348–373 |doi=10.1177/2057150X16655077 }}</ref>
| region13         = [[Chinese people in Japan|Japan]]
| pop13            = 922,000
| ref13            = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rbzwdb.com/hrxw/2018/01-17/12748.shtml |script-title=zh:在日华人统计人口达92万创历史新高 |website=www.rbzwdb.com |access-date=15 April 2020 |archive-date=22 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222050823/http://www.rbzwdb.com/hrxw/2018/01-17/12748.shtml |url-status=live |language=zh}}</ref>
| languages        = [[Chinese language|Chinese]]
| religions        = Predominantly [[Irreligion|non-religious]] in modern times<br />{{hlist|[[Chinese folk religion]]|[[Confucianism]]|[[Taoism]]|[[Chinese Buddhism|Buddhism]]|[[Christianity in China|Christianity]]|[[Islam in China|Islam]]}}
| related          = {{hlist|[[Bai people|Bai]]|[[Hui people|Hui]]|[[Taz people|Taz]]|other [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan peoples]]}}
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| s = 汉族
| t = 漢族
| p = Hànzú
| l = [[Han dynasty|Han]] ethnic group
| myr = Hàndzú
| w = {{tonesup|Han4-tsu2}}
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|h|an|4|z|u|2}}
| j = Hon3 zuk6
| y = Hon juhk
| ci = {{IPA|yue|hɔ̄ːn tsʊ̀k}}
| bpmf = ㄏㄢˋ ㄗㄨˊ
| wuu = Hoe zoh
| buc = Háng-cŭk
| poj = Hàn-cho̍k
| teo = Hàng-tsôk
| h = Hòn-tshu̍k
| order = t
| tp = Hàn-zú
}}

<!-- Unless otherwise specified, Chinese text in this article is to be written with the Lang-zh template.-->
The '''Han Chinese''', alternatively the '''Han people'''{{efn|name=Han people}} or the '''Chinese people''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lin |first=Yutang |author-link=Lin Yutang |url=https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/Lindict |title=Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage |publisher=[[Chinese University of Hong Kong]] |year=1972 |isbn=0-07-099695-4 |location=Hong Kong |pages=458, 1016 |oclc=773383696 |quote=五族, n., the Five Races: '''漢'''，滿，蒙，回，藏 '''Chinese''', Manchus, Mongolians, Mohammedans and Tibetans. (p. 458); '''漢人''', n., the '''Chinese people'''. (p. 1016)}}</ref> are an [[East Asian people|East Asian ethnic group]] native to [[Greater China]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |doi=10.1093/obo/9780199920082-0150 |title=Ethnicity and the Han |date=2018 |last1=Joniak-Lüthi |first1=Agnieszka |encyclopedia=Oxford Bibliographies }}</ref> With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the [[list of contemporary ethnic groups|world's largest ethnic group]], making up about 17% of the [[world population]]. The Han Chinese represent 91.11% of the population in [[China]] and 97% of the population in [[Taiwan]].<ref name="中華民國國情簡介2016">{{cite web |year=2016 |script-title=zh:中華民國國情簡介 |trans-title=ROC Vital Information |url=http://www.ey.gov.tw/state/News_Content3.aspx?n=7C222A52A60660EC&s=FFD5D521BBC119F8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218124716/http://www.ey.gov.tw/state/News_Content3.aspx?n=7C222A52A60660EC&s=FFD5D521BBC119F8 |archive-date=18 February 2017 |access-date=23 August 2016 |publisher=[[Executive Yuan]] |language=zh |script-quote=zh:臺灣住民以漢人為最大族群，約占總人口97%}}</ref><ref name="Yearbook2014">{{cite book |url=http://www.ey.gov.tw/Upload/UserFiles/YB%202014%20all%20100dpi.pdf |title=The Republic of China Yearbook |publisher=Government Information Office |year=2014 |isbn=978-986-04-2302-0 |page=36 |access-date=11 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820161048/http://www.ey.gov.tw/Upload/UserFiles/YB%202014%20all%20100dpi.pdf |archive-date=20 August 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Han Chinese are a significant [[Overseas Chinese|diasporic group]] in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. In [[Singapore]], people of some form of Chinese descent make up around 75% of the country's population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nptd.gov.sg/Portals/0/Homepage/Highlights/population-in-brief-2015.pdf |title=Home |access-date=14 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216110141/http://www.nptd.gov.sg/Portals/0/Homepage/Highlights/population-in-brief-2015.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2016}}</ref>

The Han Chinese have exerted a primary formative influence in [[Chinese culture]] and [[History of China|history]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ebrey |first=Patricia Buckley |title=Rethinking Han Chinese Identity |journal=[[China Review International|China Review]] |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=58–59 |year=2023 |doi=10.1093/jdh/epw042 |author-link=Patricia Buckley Ebrey}}</ref><ref name="hack">{{cite book |first2=Karl |last2=Hack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yO_wBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA96 |title=War Memory and the Making of Modern Malaysia and Singapore |first1=Kevin |last1=Blackburn |publisher=NUS Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-9971-69-599-6 |page=96 |access-date=12 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308010409/https://books.google.de/books?id=yO_wBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA96&redir_esc=y |archive-date=8 March 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="MA">{{Cite book |last=Liu |first=Xingwu |title=Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology |publisher=Springer |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-306-47754-6 |editor-last=Ember |editor-first=Carol R. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofme0000unse_l4p4/page/703 703–17] |chapter=Han |doi=10.1007/0-387-29905-X_73 |quote=The name "Han" was derived from the Han River, an upper tributary of the Yangtze River. It was further strengthened by the famous Han Empire (206 BC–220 AD) which lasted for several hundred years when the people began active interactions with the outside world. |editor-last2=Ember |editor-first2=Melvin |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofme0000unse_l4p4/page/703}}</ref> Originating from [[Zhongyuan]], the Han Chinese trace their ancestry and culture to the [[Huaxia]] people, a confederation of agricultural tribes that lived along the middle and lower reaches of the [[Yellow River]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cioffi-Revilla |first1=Claudio |last2=Lai |first2=David |title=War And Politics in Ancient China, 2700 B.C. to 722 B.C.: Measurement and Comparative Analysis |journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution |date=September 1995 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=467–494 |doi=10.1177/0022002795039003004 |jstor=174577 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Chinese Business: Landscapes and Strategies |last=Liu |first=Hong |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-138-91825-2 |page=34}}</ref><ref name="CH">{{cite book |title=Chinese History: A New Manual |last=Wilkinson |first=Endymion Porter |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-674-08846-7 |page=709}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese |last=Yuan |first=Haiwang |publisher=Libraries Unlimited |isbn=978-1-59158-294-6 |year=2006 |page=6}}</ref> in the north central plains of China.<ref name="CA">{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James B. |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-61069-017-1 |pages=89–90}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Duara |first=Prasenjit |title=Sovereignty and authenticity: Manchukuo and the East Asian modern |year=2003 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=0-7425-2577-5 |location=Lanham, MD |page=7}}</ref>

Han Chinese people and culture later spread southwards in the Chinese mainland, driven by large and sustained waves of migration during successive periods of Chinese history, for example the [[Qin dynasty|Qin]] (221–206&nbsp;BC) and [[Han dynasty|Han]] (202&nbsp;BC{{snd}}220&nbsp;AD) dynasties, leading to a demographic and economic tilt towards the south, and the absorption of various [[Ethnic groups in Chinese history#List of ethnic groups|non-Han ethnic groups]] over the centuries at various points in Chinese history.<ref name="CH" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Dingming |first=Wu |title=A Panoramic View of Chinese Culture |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James B. |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-61069-017-1 |page=91}}</ref> The Han Chinese became the main inhabitants of the fertile lowland areas and cities of Southern China by the time of the Tang and Song dynasties,<ref name="PK" /> with minority tribes occupying the highlands.

== Identity ==
[[File:Aoqun 1.jpg|140px|thumb|A girl wearing [[ruqun]], one of the most distinctive set of attire of female [[hanfu]]]]
[[File:Daopao4.jpg|140px|thumb|A man wearing [[daopao]], one of the most distinctive set of attire of male [[hanfu]]]]
The term "Han" not only refers to a specific ethnic collective, but also points to a shared ancestry, history, and cultural [[Group identity|identity]]. The term "Huaxia" was used by the ancient Chinese philosopher [[Confucius]]'s contemporaries during the [[Warring States period]] to elucidate the shared ethnicity of all Chinese;<ref name="Brindley2015">{{cite book |author=Erica Fox Brindley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B59rCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |title=Ancient China and the Yue: Perceptions and Identities on the Southern Frontier, c. 400 BCE–50 CE |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-316-35228-1 |pages=9–10}}</ref> Chinese people called themselves ''Hua ren''.<ref name="PandeyGeschiere2003">{{cite book |first=Gyanendra |last=Pandey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CT6FAAAAMAAJ&q=dynasty+hua+ren |title=The Forging of Nationhood |author2=Peter Geschiere |publisher=Manohar |year=2003 |isbn=978-81-7304-425-0 |page=102}}</ref> 

The Warring States period led to the emergence of the Zhou-era Chinese referring to themselves as being Huaxia (literally 'the beautiful grandeur'): under the [[Hua–Yi distinction]], a "Hua" culture (often translated as 'civilized') was contrasted to that of peoples perceived as "Yi" (often translated as '[[Barbarian#China|barbarian]]') living on the peripheries of the Zhou kingdoms.<ref name="EC">{{Cite book |last=Perkins |first=Dorothy |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofch00perk_0/page/202 |title=Encyclopedia of China: History and Culture |publisher=Checkmark |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8160-2693-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofch00perk_0/page/202 202]}}</ref><ref name="CH" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Schliesinger |first=Joachim |title=Origin of Man in Southeast Asia 2: Early Dominant Peoples of the Mainland Region |publisher=Booksmango |year=2016 |page=14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Holcombe |first1=Charles |title=A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-10754489-5 |edition=2nd |page=49}}</ref> 

[[Overseas Chinese]] who possess non-Chinese citizenship are commonly referred as "Hua people" ({{zhi|s=华人|t=華人|p=Huárén}}) or ''Huazu'' ({{zhi|s=华族|t=華族|p=Huázú}}). The two respective aforementioned terms are applied solely to those with a Han background that is semantically distinct from ''Zhongguo ren'' ({{zhi|s=中国人|t=中國人}}) which has connotations and implications limited to being [[Chinese passport|citizens]] and [[Chinese nationality law|nationals]] of China, especially with regard to [[ethnic minorities in China]].<ref name="chang">{{cite book |last1=Chang |first1=Hui-Ching |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vouLBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA162 |title=Language, Politics and Identity in Taiwan: Naming China |last2=Holt |first2=Richard |date=20 November 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-04635-4 |pages=162–164}}</ref><ref name="sheng">{{cite book |author=Sheng Lijun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZZABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 |title=China and Taiwan: Cross-strait Relations Under Chen Shui-bian |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |year=2002 |isbn=978-981-230-110-9 |page=53}}</ref><ref name="hack" />

==Designation==

=== "Han people" ===
The name "Han people" ({{zhi|s=汉人|t=漢人|p=Hànrén|first=t}}) first appeared during the [[Northern and Southern period]] and was inspired by the [[Han dynasty]], which is considered to be one of the first [[Golden ages of China|golden ages in Chinese history]]. As a unified and cohesive empire that succeeded the short-lived Qin dynasty, Han China established itself as the center of the East Asian geopolitical order at the time, projecting its power and influence unto Asian neighbors. It was comparable with the contemporary [[Roman Empire]] in population size, geographical extent, and cultural reach.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=Warren I. |title=East Asia At The Center: Four Thousand Years of Engagement With The World |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2000 |page=59}}</ref><ref name="EG">{{cite book |last=Minahan |first=James B. |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-61069-017-1 |page=92}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kang |first=David C. |title=East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-231-15319-5 |pages=33–34}}</ref> The Han dynasty's prestige and prominence led many of the ancient Huaxia to identify themselves as 'Han people'.<ref name="EC" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Tanner |first=Harold Miles |title=China: A History: From the Great Qing Empire through the People's Republic of China, 1644–2009 |publisher=Hackett |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60384-204-4 |page=83}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ueda |first=Reed |title=America's Changing Neighborhoods: An Exploration of Diversity through Places |publisher=Greenwood |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4408-2864-5 |page=403}}</ref><ref name="HD">{{cite book |last=Eno |first=R. |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~e232/09-Han.pdf |title=The Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – A.D. 220) |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=1 |access-date=22 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711015633/http://www.indiana.edu/~e232/09-Han.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Li |first=Xiaobing |title=China at War: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Pentagon |year=2012 |isbn=978-81-8274-611-4 |publication-date=30 June 2012 |page=155}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=China: A Religious State|last1=Hsu|first1=Cho-yun|last2=Lagerwey|first2=John|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2012|editor-last=Y. S. Cheng|editor-first=Joseph|page=126}}</ref> Similarly, the [[Chinese language]] also came to be named and alluded to as the "Han language" ({{zhi|s=汉语|t=漢語|p=Hànyǔ|first=t}}) ever since and the Chinese script is referred to as "[[Han characters]]".<ref name="EG" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Schaefer |first=Richard T. |year=2008 |title=Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society |volume=3 |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |publisher=Sage |isbn=978-1-4129-2694-2 |page=279}}</ref><ref name="HD" />

The word "Han" (漢/汉) in its original poetic meaning found in ancient Chinese works such as the ''[[Classic of Poetry]]'', refers to the "Milky Way."{{efn|《詩經·小雅·大東》: 維天有漢，監亦有光。<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gushiwen.cn/mingju/juv_aaf02627f9b9.aspx |title=维天有汉，监亦有光。|year= |website=Gushiwen.cn| quote=译文:仰望那高天上灿烂的银河，如同明镜似的熠熠闪毫光。注释: 汉：银河。}}</ref>}}

=== ''Huaren'' and ''Huayi'' ===
Prior to the Han dynasty, Chinese scholars used the term ''[[Huaxia]]'' ({{zhi|s=华夏|t=華夏|first=t|labels=no}}) in texts to describe [[China proper]], while the Chinese populace were referred to as either the 'various Hua' ({{zhi|s=诸华|t=諸華|first=t|p=Zhūhuá}}) or 'various Xia' ({{zhi|s=诸夏|t=諸夏|p=Zhūxià}}). This gave rise to two term commonly used nowadays by [[Overseas Chinese]] as an ethnic identity for the Chinese diaspora – ''Huaren'' ({{zhi|s=华人|t=華人|p=Huárén|first=t|l=ethnic Chinese people}}) and ''Huaqiao'' ({{zhi|s=华侨|t=華僑|p=Huáqiáo|l=the Chinese immigrant}}), meaning [[Overseas Chinese]].<ref name="hack" /> It has also given rise to the literary [[name for China]] – ''Zhonghua'' ({{zhi|s=中华|t=中華|p=Zhōnghuá|first=t}}).<ref name="MA" /> While the general term ''Zhongguo ren'' ({{zhi|s=中国人|t=中國人|first=t}}) refers to any [[Chinese citizen]] or [[Chinese national]] regardless of their ethnic origins and does not necessary imply Han ancestry, the term ''huaren'' in its narrow, classical usages implies Central Plains or Han ancestry.<ref name="sheng" />

=== ''Tangren'' ===
Among some Southern Han Chinese varieties such as [[Yue Chinese|Cantonese]], [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] and [[Southern Min|Minnan]], the term ''Tangren'' ({{zhi|t=唐人|p=Tángrén|l=people of Tang}}), derived from the name of the later [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907) that oversaw what is regarded as another [[golden age of China]]. The self-identification as ''Tangren'' is popular in south China, because it was at this time that massive waves of migration and settlement led to a shift in the center of gravity of the Chinese nation, away from the tumult of the Central Plains to the peaceful lands south of the Yangtze and on the southeastern coast.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Leung|first1=Genevieve Y.|last2=Wu|first2=Min-Hsuan|title=Linguistic landscape and heritage language literacy education|journal=Written Language & Literacy|year=2012|volume=15|issue=1|pages=114–140|doi=10.1075/wll.15.1.06leu}}</ref>

This lead to the earnest settlement by Chinese of lands previously regarded as part of the empire's sparsely populated frontier or periphery. Guangdong and Fujian, hitherto regarded as backwater regions, were populated by the descendants of garrison soldiers, exiles and refugees, became new centers and representatives of Han Chinese culture under the influence of the new Han migrants. The term is used in everyday colloquial discourse and is also an element in one of the words for [[Chinatown]]: {{zhl|c=唐人街|p=Tángrénjiē|j=Tong4 jan4 gaai1|l=streets of Tang people}}.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Leung|first1=Genevieve Y.|last2=Wu|first2=Min-Hsuan|title=Linguistic landscape and heritage language literacy education|journal=Written Language & Literacy|year=2012|volume=15|issue=1|pages=114–140|doi=10.1075/wll.15.1.06leu}}</ref> The phrase {{zhp|s=华埠|t=華埠|first=t|p=Huábù}} is also used to refer to Chinatowns.

=== ''Zhonghua minzu'' ===
The term ''[[Zhonghua minzu]]'', literally the 'Chinese nation', currently used as a supra-ethnic concept publicised first by the Republic of China, then by the People's Republic of China, was historically used specifically to refer to the Han Chinese. In his article "Observations on the Chinese ethnic groups in History", [[Liang Qichao]], who coined the term ''Zhonghua minzu'', wrote "the present-day ''Zhonghua minzu'' refers to what is commonly known as the Han Chinese".{{Efn|{{lang|zh|「今日之中華民族，即普遍俗稱所謂漢族者。}}」}}<ref>{{Cite book |author=Liang |first=Qichao |date=2015 |script-title=zh:飲冰室合集 |trans-title=Collected works of Yinbinshi |publisher=Zhonghua Book Company|isbn=978-7-101-09490-9 |script-chapter=zh:歷史上中國民族之觀察 |trans-chapter=Observations on the Chinese ethnic groups in History |language=zh}}</ref> It was only after the founding of the Society for the National Great Unity of the Republic of China{{Efn|中华民国民族大同会}} in 1912 that the term began to officially include ethnic minorities from all regions in China.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=杨义 |year=2012 |script-title=zh:中华民族文化发展与西南少数民族 |url=http://iel.cass.cn/mzwxbk/mzwh/201311/t20131107_2764732.shtml |script-journal=zh:民族文学研究 |issue=1 |pages=5–21 |archive-date=4 January 2025 |access-date=7 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250104230040/http://iel.cass.cn/mzwxbk/mzwh/201311/t20131107_2764732.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=张晨怡 |script-title=zh:近代"中华民族"观念形成的文化考察 |url=http://www.historychina.net/sxwh/356014.shtml |script-website=zh:中华文史网 |language=zh}}</ref>

==Han Chinese subgroups==
{{Prose|section|date=October 2024}}
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2024}}
{{Main|Han Chinese subgroups}}

Han Chinese can be divided into subgroups, based on the variety of Chinese that they speak.<ref name="Genetic Studies of Human Diversity">{{cite journal|last1 = Zhang|first1 = Feng|last2=Su|first2=Bing|last3=Zhang|first3=Ya-ping|last4=Jin|first4=Li|title = Genetic Studies of Human Diversity in East Asia|pmc=2435565|journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=362|issue=1482|pages=987–996|date=22 February 2007|pmid=17317646|doi = 10.1098/rstb.2007.2028}}</ref><ref name="Ancient DNA Reveals That the Geneti">{{cite journal|last1=Zhao|first1=Yong-Bin|last2=Zhang|first2=Ye|last3=Zhang|first3=Quan-Chao|last4=Li|first4=Hong-Jie|last5=Cui|first5=Ying-Qiu|last6=Xu|first6=Zhi|last7=Jin|first7=Li|last8=Zhou|first8=Hui|last9=Zhu|first9=Hong|title = Ancient DNA Reveals That the Genetic Structure of the Northern Han Chinese Was Shaped Prior to three-thousand Years Ago|journal=[[PLoS ONE]]|year=2015|volume=10|issue=5|article-number=e0125676|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0125676|pmid=25938511|pmc=4418768|bibcode=2015PLoSO..1025676Z|doi-access=free}}</ref> Waves of migration have occurred throughout China's long history and vast geographical expanse, engendering the emergence of Han Chinese subgroups found throughout the regions of modern China today, with distinct regional features.<ref name="Genetic Studies of Human Diversity" /><ref name="Ancient DNA Reveals That the Geneti" /><ref name="Gernet1996">{{cite book|author=Jacques Gernet|title=A History of Chinese Civilization|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchinese00gern |url-access=registration|year=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-49781-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofchinese00gern/page/8 8]}}</ref><ref name="gene">{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/nature02878 |title=Genetic evidence supports demic diffusion of Han culture |year=2004 |last1=Wen |first1=Bo |last2=Li |first2=Hui |last3=Lu |first3=Daru |last4=Song |first4=Xiufeng |last5=Zhang |first5=Feng |last6=He |first6=Yungang |last7=Li |first7=Feng |last8=Gao |first8=Yang |last9=Mao |first9=Xianyun|last10=Zhang |first10=L |last11=Qian |first11=J |last12=Tan |first12=J |last13=Jin |first13=J |last14=Huang |first14=W |last15=Deka |first15=R |last16=Su |first16=B |last17=Chakraborty |first17=R |last18=Jin |first18=L |display-authors=9 |journal=Nature |volume=431 |issue=7006 |pages=302–05 |pmid=15372031|bibcode=2004Natur.431..302W }}</ref><ref name="Vickers2013">{{cite book|author=Edward Vickers|title=History Education and National Identity in East Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8TTaAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA191|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-40500-7|pages=191–|access-date=8 January 2016|archive-date=14 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414161120/https://books.google.com/books?id=8TTaAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA191|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Процент китайцев в КНР.png|thumb|The percentage of Han Chinese by county level, including [[Mainland China]], [[Taiwan]], [[Hong Kong]], and [[Macau]]]]
The expansion of the Han people outside their linguistic homeland in the Yellow River is an important part of their historical consciousness and ethnogenesis, and accounts for their present-day diversity.

There were several periods of mass migration of Han people to Southeastern and Southern China throughout history.<ref name="Gernet1996" /> Initially, the sparsely populated regions of south China were inhabited by tribes known only as the Bai Yue or Hundred Yue. Many of these tribes developed into kingdoms under rulers and nobility of Han Chinese ethnicity, but retained a Bai Yue majority for several centuries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Xiong |first1=Huan |last2=Wu |first2=Gengxuan |last3=Li |first3=Sijia |last4=Xue |first4=Shujie |last5=Li |first5=Hua |last6=Zhu |first6=Tingshao |date=15 November 2022 |title=Exploring the impact of mass migration in Jin Dynasty by psycholinguistic analysis on Classical Chinese legacy text |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |language=English |volume=13 |article-number=993141 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.993141 |pmid=36457928 |doi-access=free |issn=1664-1078|pmc=9706089 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eastern Jin {{!}} PDF {{!}} Imperial China {{!}} China |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/609674242/eastern-jin |access-date=9 June 2025 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>

Others were forcibly brought into the Sinosphere by the imperial ambitions of emperors such as Qin Shi Huangdi and Han Wu Di, both of whom settled hundreds of thousands of Chinese in these lands to form agricultural colonies and military garrisons. Even then, control over these lands was tenuous, and Bai Yue cultural identity remained strong until sustained waves of Han Chinese emigration in the Jin, Tang and Song dynasties altered the demographic balance completely.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Xiong |first1=Huan |last2=Wu |first2=Gengxuan |last3=Li |first3=Sijia |last4=Xue |first4=Shujie |last5=Li |first5=Hua |last6=Zhu |first6=Tingshao |date=15 November 2022 |title=Exploring the impact of mass migration in Jin Dynasty by psycholinguistic analysis on Classical Chinese legacy text |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |language=English |volume=13 |article-number=993141 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.993141 |pmid=36457928 |doi-access=free |issn=1664-1078|pmc=9706089 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eastern Jin {{!}} PDF {{!}} Imperial China {{!}} China |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/609674242/eastern-jin |access-date=9 June 2025 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Map of sinitic languages full-en.svg|thumb|The distribution of Chinese languages in China]]
[[File:Mandarin subgroups and Jin group.png|thumb|The distribution of Mandarin dialects in China]]

Chinese language (or Chinese languages) can be divided to 10 primary dialects (or languages).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Li; Wurm |first=Rong; Stephen Adolphe |title=Language Atlas of China |year=2012 |isbn=978-962-359-085-3 |edition=2nd |location=China}}</ref>

Each [[Han Chinese subgroups|Han Chinese subgroup]] (民系) can be identified through their dialects:<ref name="Genetic Studies of Human Diversity" /><ref name="Ancient DNA Reveals That the Geneti" />
* [[Wu Chinese|Wu]] (吴语): [[Wu Chinese-speaking people|Jiangzhe people]] (江浙民系)
* [[Huizhou Chinese|Hui]] (徽语): [[Huizhou, Anhui#Culture|Wannan people]] (皖南民系)
* [[Gan Chinese|Gan]] (赣语): [[Gan Chinese-speaking people|Jiangxi people]] (江西民系)
* [[Xiang Chinese|Xiang]] (湘语): [[Hunanese people|Hunan people]] (湖南民系)
* [[Min Chinese|Min]] (闽语): [[Min Chinese speakers|Minhai people]] (闽海民系)
* [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] (客语): [[Hakka people]] (客家民系)
* [[Yue Chinese|Yue]] (粤语): [[Cantonese people]] (岭南民系)
* [[Pinghua]] (平话) and [[Tuhua (Chinese dialect)|Tuhua]] (土话): Pingnan people (平南民系)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gan |first1=Rui-Jing |last2=Pan |first2=Shang-Ling |last3=Mustavich |first3=Laura F. |last4=Qin |first4=Zhen-Dong |last5=Cai |first5=Xiao-Yun |last6=Qian |first6=Ji |last7=Liu |first7=Cheng-Wu |last8=Peng |first8=Jun-Hua |last9=Li |first9=Shi-Lin |last10=Xu |first10=Jie-Shun |last11=Jin |first11=Li |last12=Li |first12=Hui |title=Pinghua population as an exception of Han Chinese's coherent genetic structure |journal=Journal of Human Genetics |date=April 2008 |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=303–313 |doi=10.1007/s10038-008-0250-x |pmid=18270655 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lu |first1=Yan |last2=Pan |first2=Shang-Ling |last3=Qin |first3=Shu-Ming |last4=Qin |first4=Zheng-Dong |last5=Wang |first5=Chuan-Chao |last6=Gan |first6=Rui-Jing |last7=Li |first7=Hui |title=Genetic evidence for the multiple origins of Pinghua Chinese |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |date=May 2013 |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=271–279 |doi=10.1111/jse.12003 |bibcode=2013JSyEv..51..271L }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Project |first=Joshua |title=Pinghua, Southern in China |url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/18480/CH |access-date=27 October 2024 |website=joshuaproject.net |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Project |first=Joshua |title=Pinghua, Northern in China |url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/21839/CH |access-date=27 October 2024 |website=joshuaproject.net |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=江南区第五届平话文化旅游节盛大开幕_中国南宁 |url=http://www.nanning.china.com.cn/2019-09/20/content_40900792.htm |access-date=27 October 2024 |website=www.nanning.china.com.cn}}</ref><!-- In "江南区第五届平话文化旅游节盛大开幕" ("The 5th Jiangnan District Pinghua Culture and Tourism Festival Grandly Opens"), it says "据介绍, 平话文化源于中原, 随宋朝名将狄青军队进入广西.狄青的军队于1053年入桂, 距今已有960多年历史.据史料和平话族谱记载, 现在的江南亭子古称"平南村", "平话"原本称为"平南村(人)话", 在长期使用过程中, "平南村(人)话"简称为"平话".史料记载, 狄青率领的"平南军"曾留下部分士兵屯守广西, 其中一部分就屯守在邕江南岸, 他们及其后人从此定居于此, 成为最初的"平话人".以平话人为主体的汉族人口在与壮民族的长期文化交流融合中, 对原有中原文化进行了丰富和发展, 兼收并蓄、独具特色的平话文化由此形成." ("According to historical accounts, Pinghua culture originated in the Central Plains and was introduced to Guangxi by the army of the famous Song Dynasty general Di Qing. In 1053, Di Qing's troops entered Guangxi, marking over 960 years since then. Historical records and Pinghua family genealogies show that today's Jiangnan Tingzi was formerly known as "Pingnan Village." Initially, "Pinghua" referred to the language spoken by people from "Pingnan Village," but over time, this was shortened simply to "Pinghua." Records indicate that Di Qing's "Pingnan Army" left some soldiers stationed in Guangxi, with part of them settling on the southern bank of the Yong River. These soldiers and their descendants became the earliest "Pinghua people." The Han population, with Pinghua people as the main group, enriched and developed the original Central Plains culture through long-term cultural exchange and integration with the Zhuang ethnic group. This blending of influences led to the creation of the unique and inclusive Pinghua culture we know today.").

"Ping" in "Pinghua" ("Dialect Ping") stands for "Pingnan". -->
* [[Jin Chinese|Jin]] (晋语): [[Shanxi#Culture|Jinsui people]] (晋绥民系)
* [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] (官话): Northern people (北方民系)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Han Chinese, Mandarin people group in all countries {{!}} Joshua Project |url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/12051 |access-date=27 October 2024 |website=joshuaproject.net}}</ref>
** [[Northeastern Mandarin|Northeastern]] (东北): [[Northeast China#Culture|Northeastern people]] (东北民系)
** [[Beijing Mandarin (division of Mandarin)|Beijing]] (北平): [[Beijing#Culture|Youyan people]] (幽燕民系)
** [[Jilu Mandarin|Jilu]] (冀鲁): [[Qilu culture#Language|Jilu people]] (冀鲁民系)
** [[Jiaoliao Mandarin|Jiaoliao]] (胶辽): [[Qilu culture#Language|Jiaoliao people]] (胶辽民系)
** [[Central Plains Mandarin|Central Plains]] (中原): [[Zhongyuan culture|Central Plains people]] (中原民系)
** [[Lanyin Mandarin|Lanyin]] (兰银): [[Gansu#Culture|Longyou people]] (陇右民系)
** [[Southwestern Mandarin|Southwestern]] (西南): [[Sichuanese people|Southwestern people]] (西南民系)
** [[Lower Yangtze Mandarin|Jianghuai]] (江淮): [[Subei people|Jianghuai people]] (江淮民系)

=== Military garrisons and agricultural colonies ===
The first emperor [[Qin Shi Huang]] is said to have sent several hundred thousand men and fifteen thousand women to form agricultural and military settlements in [[Lingnan]] (present day [[Guangxi]] and Guangdong), under the leadership of a general named Zhao Tuo. The famous Han emperor, Han Wu Di, ordered another two hundred thousand men to build ships to attack and colonialize the Lingnan region, adding to the population in Guangdong and Guangxi.<ref name="Gernet1996" />

The first urban conurbations in the region, for example, Panyu, were created by Han settlers rather than the Bai Yue, who preferred to maintain small settlements subsisting on swidden agriculture and rice farming. Later on, Guangdong, northern Vietnam, and Yunnan all experienced a surge in Han Chinese migrants during [[Wang Mang]]'s reign.<ref name="Gernet1996" /> The demographic composition and culture of these regions during this period, could however scarcely be said to have been Sinitic outside the confines of these agricultural settlements and military outposts.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

=== Historical southward migrations ===
[[File:Han Expansion.png|thumb|A map showing the [[southward expansion of the Han dynasty]] during the 2nd century&nbsp;BC]]

The genesis of the modern Han people and their subgroups cannot be understood apart from their historical migrations to the south, resulting in a depopulation of the Central Plains, a fission between those that remained and those that headed south, and their subsequent fusion with aboriginal tribes south of the Yangtze, even as the centres of Han Chinese culture and wealth moved from the Yellow River Basin to Jiangnan, and to a lesser extent also, to Fujian and Guangdong.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

At various points in Chinese history, collapses of central authority in the face of barbarian uprisings or invasions and the loss of control of the Chinese heartland triggered mass migratory waves which transformed the demographic composition and cultural identity of the south. This process of sustained mass migration has been known as "garments and headdresses moving south" 衣冠南渡 (yì guān nán dù), on account of it first being led by the aristocratic classes.<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=zh:"衣冠南渡"字的解释 |url=https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E8%A1%A3%E5%86%A0%E5%8D%97%E6%B8%A1 |access-date=17 July 2024 |website=www.zdic.net |language=zh-cn}}</ref><ref name="PK">{{Cite book |last=Szonyi |first=Michael |title=Practicing Kinship: Lineage and Descent in Late Imperial China |year=2002 |page=27}}</ref><ref name="SK">{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Hugh R. |title=Portrait of a Community: Society, Culture, and the Structures of Kinship in the Mulan River Valley (Fujian) from the Late Tang Through the Song |publisher=Chinese University Press |year=2007 |page=223}}</ref>

Such migratory waves were numerous and triggered by such events such as the [[Uprising of the Five Barbarians]] during the Jin dynasty (304–316 AD) in which China was completely overrun by minority groups previously serving as vassals and servants to Sima (the royal house of Jin), the [[An Lu Shan rebellion]] during the Tang dynasty (755–763 AD), and the [[Jingkang incident]] (1127 AD) and [[Jin–Song wars|Jin-Song wars]]. These events caused widespread devastation, and even depopulated the north, resulting in the complete social and political breakdown and collapse of central authority in the Central Plains, triggering massive, sustained waves of Han Chinese migration into South China,<ref name="HT">{{Cite book |script-title=zh:全唐诗 |publisher=Zhonghua Book Company |page=761 |language=Chinese |trans-title=Complete History of the Tang}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Guo |first=Rongxing |title=An Introduction to the Chinese Economy: The Driving Forces Behind Modern Day China |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |publication-date=2011}}</ref> leading to the formation of distinct Han lineages,<ref name="Clark2007">{{cite book |author=Hugh R. Clark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=126EsR8rpC8C&pg=PA37 |title=Portrait of a Community: Society, Culture, and the Structures of Kinship in the Mulan River Valley (Fujian) from the Late Tang Through the Song |publisher=Chinese University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-962-996-227-2 |pages=37–38 |access-date=10 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802233602/https://books.google.com/books?id=126EsR8rpC8C&pg=PA37 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> who also likely assimilated the by-now partially sinicized Bai Yue in their midst.

Modern Han Chinese subgroups, such as the [[Cantonese people|Cantonese]], the [[Hakka people|Hakka]], the [[Putian people|Henghua]], the [[Hainanese]], the [[Hoklo people|Hoklo]] peoples, the [[Gan Chinese|Gan]], the [[Xiang Chinese|Xiang]], the [[Wu Chinese|Wu-speaking]] peoples, all claim Han Chinese ancestry pointing to official histories and their own genealogical records to support such claims.<ref name="PK" /><ref name="SK" /><ref name="EisenstadtSchluchter">{{cite book |author1=Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0DPEol7HO3gC&pg=PA213 |title=Public Spheres and Collective Identities |author2=Wolfgang Schluchter |author3=Björn Wittrock |publisher=Transaction Publishers |isbn=978-1-4128-3248-9 |pages=213–14 |access-date=5 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414100424/https://books.google.com/books?id=0DPEol7HO3gC&pg=PA213 |archive-date=14 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="LeongWright1997">{{cite book |author1=Sow-Theng Leong |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qeC_0u3pLIC&pg=PA78 |title=Migration and Ethnicity in Chinese History: Hakkas, Pengmin, and Their Neighbors |author2=Tim Wright |author3=George William Skinner |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8047-2857-7 |pages=78– |access-date=5 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414103333/https://books.google.com/books?id=6qeC_0u3pLIC&pg=PA78 |archive-date=14 April 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Linguists hypothesize that proto- Wu and Min varieties of Chinese may have originated from the time of [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kurpaska |first=Maria |title=Chinese Language(s): A Look Through the Prism of "The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects |year=2010 |page=161}}</ref> while the proto- Yue and Hakka varieties perhaps from the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] and [[Song dynasty|Song]], about half-a-millennium later.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hashimoto |first=Anne |title=Studies in Yue Dialects 1: Phonology of Cantonese |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1972}}</ref> The presence of [[Kra–Dai languages|Tai-Kradai]] substrates in these dialects may have been due to the assimilation of the remaining groups of Bai Yue, integrating these lands into the Sinosphere proper.

==== First wave: Jin dynasty ====
[[File:Wu Hu Uprising.png|thumb|The major nomadic groups involved in the [[Uprising of the Five Barbarians]]]]
The chaos of the [[Upheaval of the Five Barbarians|Uprising of the Five Barbarians]] triggered the first massive movement of Han Chinese dominated by civilians rather than soldiers to the south, being led principally by the aristocracy and the Jin elite. Thus, Jiangnan, comprising Hangzhou's coastal regions and the Yangtze valley were settled in the 4th century AD by families descended from Chinese nobility.<ref name="Gernet1996" /><ref name="LagerweyLü2009 34">{{cite book |first1=John |last1=Lagerwey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2nWdWbN3MQC&pg=PA831 |title=Early Chinese Religion: The Period of Division (220–589 AD) |first2=Pengzhi |last2=Lü |publisher=Brill |year=2009 |isbn=978-90-04-17585-3 |page=831}}</ref> 

Special "[[Commandery (China)|commanderies]] of immigrants" and "white registers" were created for the massive number of Han Chinese immigrating during this period <ref name="Gernet1996" /> which included notable families such as the Wang and the Xie.<ref>{{cite web |author=Nicolas Olivier Tackett |title=The Transformation of Medieval Chinese Elites (850–1000 C.E.) |url=http://history.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/slides/Dissertation.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304220551/http://history.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/slides/Dissertation.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=12 December 2017 |website=History.berkeley.edu}}</ref> A religious group known as the [[Celestial Masters]] contributed to the movement. Jiangnan became the most populous and prosperous region of China.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SOzKGAAACAAJ |title=Historical Atlas of the Classical World, 500 BC–AD 600 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7607-1973-2 |page=2.25}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Haywood |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YQMUNgAACAAJ |title=Historical Atlas of the Medieval World, AD 600–1492 |last2=Jotischky |first2=Andrew |last3=McGlynn |first3=Sean |publisher=Barnes & Noble |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-7607-1976-3 |pages=3.21}}</ref>

The [[Upheaval of the Five Barbarians|Uprising of the Five Barbarians]], also led to the resettlement of Fujian. The province of Fujian - whose aboriginal inhabitants had been deported to the Central Plains by Han Wu Di, was now repopulated by Han Chinese settlers and colonists from the Chinese heartland. The "Eight Great Surnames" were eight noble families who migrated from the Central Plains to Fujian - these were the Hu, He, Qiu, Dan, Zheng, Huang, Chen and Lin clans, who remain there until this very day.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dean |first1=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lSiwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA341 |title=Ritual Alliances of the Putian Plain. Volume One: Historical Introduction to the Return of the Gods |last2=Zheng |first2=Zhenman |date=2009 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-2946-3 |page=341 |access-date=29 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803004031/https://books.google.com/books?id=lSiwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA341 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Xu |first1=Bin |title=From the Oxus River to the Chinese Shores: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia |last2=Xie |first2=Bizhen |date=2013 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-643-90329-7 |editor1-last=Li |editor1-first=Tang |edition=illustrated |page=270 |chapter=The Rise and Fall of Nestorianism in Quanzhou during the Yuan dynasty |access-date=29 March 2019 |editor2-last=Winkler |editor2-first=Dietmar W. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYaMuV3N5vUC&pg=PA270}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Szonyi |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6La08w3cBcAC&pg=PA27 |title=Practicing Kinship: Lineage and Descent in Late Imperial China |date=2002 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-4261-8 |edition=illustrated |page=27 |access-date=29 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802235300/https://books.google.com/books?id=6La08w3cBcAC&pg=PA27 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Zheng |first1=Zhenman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6l_WOr1lLYC&pg=PA190 |title=Family Lineage Organization and Social Change in Ming and Qing Fujian |year=2001 |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |isbn=0-8248-2333-8 |page=190}}</ref>

==== Tang dynasty and An Lushan rebellion ====
[[File:唐尚父汾阳忠武王像.jpg|thumb|140px|left|[[Guo Ziyi]], who quelled the An Lushan rebellion, which caused a fall in recorded numbers of Tang inhabitants from 53 million to 17 million people]]

In the wake of the [[An Lushan rebellion]], a further wave of Han migrants from northern China headed the south.<ref name="Vickers2013" /><ref name="HT" /><ref name="PK" /><ref name="SK" /><ref name="Clark2007 2">{{cite book |author=Hugh R. Clark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=126EsR8rpC8C&pg=PA78 |title=Portrait of a Community: Society, Culture, and the Structures of Kinship in the Mulan River Valley (Fujian) from the Late Tang Through the Song |publisher=Chinese University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-962-996-227-2 |pages=78–79}}</ref> At the start of the rebellion in 755 there were 52.9 million registered inhabitants of the Tang Empire, and after its end in 764, only 16.9 million were recorded.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} It is likely that the difference in census figures was due to the complete breakdown in administrative capabilities, as well as the widespread escape from the north by the Han Chinese and their mass migration to the south.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

By now, the Han Chinese population in the south far outstripped that of the Bai Yue. Guangdong and Fujian both experienced a significant influx of Northern Han Chinese settlers, leading many Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew individuals to identify themselves as ''Tangren'', which has served as a means to assert and acknowledge their ethnic and cultural origin and identity.<ref name="Wilkinson2000">{{cite book |first=Endymion Porter |last=Wilkinson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERnrQq0bsPYC&pg=PA752 |title=Chinese History: A Manual |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-674-00249-4 |page=752}}</ref>

==== Jin–Song wars and Mongol invasion ====
[[File:岳飞像.jpg|right|thumb|140px|[[Yue Fei]], who was a general of the Song dynasty against the Jurchen (Jin) invasion, is considered a Chinese national hero and is often worshipped alongside [[Guan Yu]] in [[martial temple]]s.]]
[[File:Song Jin Wars.jpg|left|thumb|The Jin–Song wars resulted in the devastation of Northern China and the displacement of more Han Chinese to Southern China]]
The [[Jin–Song Wars]] caused yet another wave of mass migration of the Han Chinese from Northern China to Southern China,<ref name="PK" /><ref name="SK" /> leading to a further increase in the Han Chinese population across southern Chinese provinces. The formation of the Hainanese and Hakka people can be attributed to the chaos of this period.

The [[Mongol conquest of China]] during the thirteenth century once again caused a surging influx of Northern Han Chinese refugees to move south to settle and develop the [[Pearl River Delta]].<ref name="Hunter Publishing, Inc">{{cite book |last1=Foster |first1=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zdHeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT16 |title=China's Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou & Shenzhen |year=2010 |publisher=Hunter |isbn=978-1-58843-811-9 |series=Hunter travel guides}}</ref><ref name="China: An Environmental History">{{cite book |last1=Marks |first1=Robert B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5638DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA177 |title=China: An Environmental History |date=2017 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-7789-2 |edition=2nd |page=177}}</ref><ref name="Lexington Books">{{cite book |last1=Zhao |first1=Zhenzhou |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SKaE82DAlQYC&pg=PA243 |title=China's Mongols at University: Contesting Cultural Recognition |last2=Lee |first2=Wing On |year=2010 |publisher=Lexington |isbn=978-1-4616-3311-2 |series=Emerging Perspectives on Education in China |page=243}}</ref><ref name="Cambridge University Press">{{cite book |last1=Marks |first1=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dBsfts9wyRsC&pg=PA53 |title=Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China |year=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=1-139-42551-X |series=Studies in Environment and History |page=53}}</ref><ref name="Newspaper Enterprise Limited">{{cite book |last1=Herklots |first1=Geoffrey Alton Craig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1HgcAQAAIAAJ&q=pearl+river+delta+mongols |title=The Hong Kong Naturalist, Volumes 3-4 |year=1932 |publisher=Newspaper Enterprise|page=120}}</ref><ref name="Rowman Altamira">{{cite book |last1=Lai |first1=H. Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qZjruI0_XmcC&pg=PA11 |title=Becoming Chinese American: A History of Communities and Institutions |last2=Hsu |first2=Madeline |author2-link=Madeline Y. Hsu |year=2004 |publisher=Rowman Altamira |isbn=0-7591-0458-1 |volume=13 |series=Critical perspectives on Asian Pacific Americans |page=11}}</ref> These mass migrations over the centuries inevitably led to the demographic expansion, economic prosperity, agricultural advancements, and cultural flourishing of Southern China, which remained relatively peaceful unlike its northern counterpart.<ref name="Springer">{{cite book |last1=Yao |first1=Yifeng |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qLquDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA95 |title=Nanjing: Historical Landscape and Its Planning from Geographical Perspective |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-981-10-1637-0 |edition=illustrated |page=95}}</ref><ref name="Six Dynasties">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Six Dynasties |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Six-Dynasties |access-date=30 March 2019 |date=4 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330193129/https://www.britannica.com/event/Six-Dynasties |archive-date=30 March 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="MS">{{cite book |last1=Entenmann |first1=Robert Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e9nqAAAAIAAJ&q=an+lushan+sichuan+migration |title=Migration and settlement in Sichuan, 1644-1796 |year=1982 |publisher=Harvard University |page=14}}</ref><ref name="QC">{{cite book |last1=Shi |first1=Zhihong |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jE9DwAAQBAJ&q=an+lushan+sichuan+migration&pg=PA154 |title=Agricultural Development in Qing China: A Quantitative Study, 1661-1911 |year=2017 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-35524-8 |series=The Quantitative Economic History of China |page=154}}</ref><ref name="China: A New Cultural History">{{cite book |last1=Hsu |first1=Cho-yun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2_GQpLPPl8C&pg=PA194 |title=China: A New Cultural History |year=2012 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-52818-4 |edition=illustrated |series=Masters of Chinese Studies |page=194}}</ref><ref name="The History of China">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QV5Wp2fJbzMC&pg=PA127 |title=The History of China |year=2010 |publisher=Rosen |isbn=978-1-61530-109-6 |editor-last1=Pletcher |editor-first1=Kenneth |series=Understanding China |page=127}}</ref><ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3FLAQAAIAAJ&q=an+lushan+sichuan+migration |title=Chinese journal of international law, Volume 3 |year=2004 |page=631}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=September 2024}}

==Distribution==

=== China ===
[[File:Hanfu yueyao.jpg|thumb|Modern Han Chinese men wearing ''[[hanfu]]''.]]
{{Main|Chinese people|Demographics of China|Han Chinese subgroups}}
The vast majority of Han Chinese – over 1.2 billion – live in the [[China|People's Republic of China]] (PRC), where they constitute about 90% of its overall population.<ref name="ciastat2018">[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/china/ CIA Factbook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213122152/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/china/|date=13 February 2021}}: "Han Chinese 91.6%" out of a reported population of 1,384,688,986 billion (July 2018 est.)</ref> Han Chinese in China have been a culturally, economically and politically dominant majority vis-à-vis the non-Han minorities throughout most of China's recorded history.<ref>{{cite book|title=''World On Fire'' |last=Chua|first=Amy|author-link=Amy Chua|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing|year=2003|isbn=978-0-385-72186-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldonfirehowex00chua_0/page/177 177]|url=https://archive.org/details/worldonfirehowex00chua_0/page/177}}</ref><ref name="Chua 2000 328"/> Han Chinese are almost the majority in every [[Administrative divisions of China|Chinese province, municipality and autonomous region]] except for the autonomous regions of [[Xinjiang]] (38% or 40% in 2010) and [[Tibet Autonomous Region]] (8% in 2014), where [[Uyghurs|Uighurs]] and [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]] are the majority, respectively.

==== Hong Kong and Macau ====
{{Main|Hongkongers|Macau people|Demographics of Hong Kong|Demographics of Macau}}

Han Chinese also constitute the majority in both of the [[Special administrative regions of China|special administrative regions]] of the PRC.<ref>{{Cite report |date=February 2016 |title=2016 Population By-census – Summary Results |url=http://www.bycensus2016.gov.hk/en/bc-mt.html |publisher=[[Census and Statistics Department (Hong Kong)|Census and Statistics Department]] |page=37 |access-date=14 March 2017 |archive-date=20 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120115053/http://www.bycensus2016.gov.hk/en/bc-mt.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |date=May 2017 |title=2016 Population By-Census Detailed Results |url=https://www.dsec.gov.mo/getAttachment/e20c6bab-ada4-4f83-9349-e72605674a42/E_ICEN_PUB_2016_Y.aspx |publisher=[[Statistics and Census Service]] |access-date=25 July 2019 |ref={{harvid|Population By-Census|2016}} |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816134504/https://www.dsec.gov.mo/getAttachment/e20c6bab-ada4-4f83-9349-e72605674a42/E_ICEN_PUB_2016_Y.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2022}} The Han Chinese in Hong Kong and Macau have been culturally, economically and politically dominant majority vis-à-vis the non-Han minorities.<ref name="Chua 2000 328">{{cite journal |last1=Chua |first1=Amy |title=The Paradox of Free Market Democracy: Rethinking Development Policy |journal=Harvard International Law Journal |date=15 April 2000 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=287–380 |url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/faculty_scholarship/2887 |hdl=20.500.13051/2534 }}</ref><ref name="Chua 2003 https://archive.org/details/worldonfirehowex00chua_0/page/178 178">{{Cite book|title=World On Fire|last=Chua|first=Amy|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing|year=2003|isbn=978-0-385-72186-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldonfirehowex00chua_0/page/178 178]|url=https://archive.org/details/worldonfirehowex00chua_0/page/178}}</ref>

=== Taiwan ===
{{Main|Han Taiwanese|Taiwanese people|Demographics of Taiwan}}

[[File:艋舺龍山寺 臺北市 直轄市定古蹟寺廟 Venation 2.JPG|thumb|[[Lungshan Temple of Manka]] in Taipei]]

There are over 22 million people of Han Chinese ancestry in living in Taiwan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/taiwan-population/|title=Taiwan Population (2017) – World Population Review|website=worldpopulationreview.com|access-date=23 January 2017|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027124717/https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/taiwan-population|url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=October 2024}}</ref> At first, these migrants chose to settle in locations that bore a resemblance to the areas they had left behind in China, regardless of whether they arrived in the north or south of Taiwan.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} [[Hoklo people|Hoklo]] immigrants from [[Quanzhou]] settled in coastal regions and those from [[Zhangzhou]] tended to gather on inland plains, while the [[Hakka people|Hakka]] inhabited hilly areas.

Clashes and tensions between the two groups over land, water, ethno-racial,{{dubious|reason=Surely sources don't use this term.|date=October 2024}} and cultural differences led to the relocation of some communities and over time, varying degrees of intermarriage and assimilation took place. In Taiwan, Han Chinese (including both the earlier Han Taiwanese settlers and the recent Chinese that arrived in Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek in 1949) constitute over 95% of the population. They have also been a politically, culturally and economically dominant majority vis-à-vis the non-Han [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples|indigenous Taiwanese peoples]].<ref name="Chua 2003 https://archive.org/details/worldonfirehowex00chua_0/page/178 178" /><ref name="Chua 2000 328" />

=== Southeast Asia ===
{{Main|Overseas Chinese#Southeast Asia}}

Nearly 30 to 40 million people of Han Chinese descent live in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Han |first=Enze |date=28 December 2017 |title=Bifurcated Homeland and Diaspora Politics in China and Taiwan towards the Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia |department=Politics and Public Administration |journal=[[Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies]] |location=Hong Kong |publisher=[[Routledge]] |publication-date=28 December 2017 |volume=45 |issue=1 |page=582 |doi=10.1080/1369183X.2017.1409172|doi-access=free|hdl=10722/250896 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> According to a [[population genetic]] study, [[Chinese Singaporeans|Singapore]] is "the country with the biggest proportion of Han Chinese" in Southeast Asia.<ref name="Ychrom_HanSingaporeans">{{cite thesis |last=Yim |first=Onn Siong |date=2005 |title=Y chromosome diversity in Singaporean Han Chinese population subgroups |type=Master |publisher=National University of Singapore |url=http://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/27767 |access-date=26 May 2016 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308150848/https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/27767 |url-status=live }}</ref> Singapore is the only nation in the world where Overseas Chinese constitute a majority of the population and remain the country's cultural, economic and politically dominant arbiters vis-à-vis their non-Han minority counterparts.<ref name="Chua 2003 https://archive.org/details/worldonfirehowex00chua_0/page/178 178" /><ref name="Vatikiotis February 12th 1998">{{cite book|last=Vatikiotis|first=Michael|title=Entrerepeeneurs|date=12 February 1998|publisher=Far Eastern Economic Review|location=Bangkok|url=http://www.chaihah.co.th/docs/Far%20Eastern%20Economic%20Review%20260698.pdf|access-date=26 July 2019|archive-date=16 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816064358/http://www.chaihah.co.th/docs/Far%20Eastern%20Economic%20Review%20260698.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Chua 2000 328" /> Up until the past few decades, overseas Han communities originated predominantly from areas in Eastern and Southeastern China (mainly from the provinces of [[Fujian]], [[Guangdong]] and [[Hainan]], and to a lesser extent, [[Guangxi]], [[Yunnan]] and [[Zhejiang]]).<ref name="Ychrom_HanSingaporeans" />

=== Others ===
{{Main|Overseas Chinese}}

There are 60 million Overseas Chinese people worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2021 |orig-date=2 December 2021 |title=Chinese education companies scramble to teach Overseas Children to learn Chinese language |url=https://edtechchina.medium.com/chinese-education-companies-scramble-to-teach-overseas-children-to-learn-chinese-language-c2803cde94c9 |publisher=GETChina Insights |access-date=15 February 2024 |archive-date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215004112/https://edtechchina.medium.com/chinese-education-companies-scramble-to-teach-overseas-children-to-learn-chinese-language-c2803cde94c9 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zhuang |first=Guotu |year=2021 |title=The Overseas Chinese: A Long History |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379264_eng |publisher=UNESDOC |page=24 |access-date=15 February 2024 |archive-date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215003650/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379264_eng |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Suryadinata |first1=Leo |title=Blurring the Distinction between huaqiao and huaren: China's Changing Policy towards the Chinese Overseas |journal=Southeast Asian Affairs |date=2017 |volume=2017 |issue=1 |pages=101–113 |doi=10.1355/aa17-1f |id={{Project MUSE|658015}} |jstor=26492596 }}</ref> Overseas Han Chinese have settled in numerous countries across the globe, particularly within the Western World where nearly 4 million people of Han Chinese descent live in the United States (about 1.5% of the population),<ref name="usasurveys2017">{{Cite web |title=American FactFinder - Results |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_1YR_B02018&prodType=table |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411173518/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_17_1YR_B02018&prodType=table |archive-date=11 April 2019 |access-date=16 September 2018 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref> over 1 million in Australia (5.6%)<ref name="2016Aus" />{{failed verification|date=January 2022}} and about 1.5 million in Canada (5.1%),<ref name="2016Census">{{Cite web |date=25 October 2017 |title=Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables |url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/imm/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=31&Geo=01&SO=4D |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027195802/http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/imm/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=31&Geo=01&SO=4D |archive-date=27 October 2017 |access-date=20 February 2020 |website=statcan.gc.ca}}</ref><ref name="www12.statcan.gc.ca">{{Cite web |date=8 May 2013 |title=Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity in Canada |url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-010-x/99-010-x2011001-eng.cfm#a4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103015229/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-010-x/99-010-x2011001-eng.cfm#a4 |archive-date=3 November 2021 |access-date=20 February 2020 |website=statcan.gc.ca}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2022}} nearly 231,000 in [[New Zealand]] (4.9%),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/2018-census-totals-by-topic-national-highlights |title=2018 Census totals by topic – national highlights &#124; Stats NZ |website=Stats.govt.nz |access-date=20 February 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923102431/https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/2018-census-totals-by-topic-national-highlights |url-status=live}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2022}} and as many as 750,000 in Sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>[http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=690 China and Africa: Stronger Economic Ties Mean More Migration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140129114909/http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=690 |date=29 January 2014}}, By Malia Politzer, ''Migration Information Source'', August 2008.</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of China}}

The Han Chinese people have had a substantial impact on the history of China, being considered the ethnic majority of the region for most of its history. The prevailing historical narrative of China is often told as the transference of power through [[Dynasties of China|dynasties]], periods during which it has seen [[Dynastic cycle|cycles]] of expansion, contraction, unity, and fragmentation. During this lengthy imperial period of dynastic rule, the Han people, much like the region itself, have seen periods of both global power<ref>{{cite book |last1=Twitchett |first1=Denis Crispin |title=The Cambridge History of China: Volume 1, The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC-AD 220 |last2=Fairbank |first2=John King |date=1978 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-24327-8 |publication-place=Cambridge}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fairbank |first1=John King |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nBDC2cqb6I0C&pg=PA128 |title=China: A New History, Second Enlarged Edition |last2=Goldman |first2=Merle |date=30 April 2006 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-01828-0 |access-date=29 August 2025}}</ref> and suppression,<ref>Akira, Fujiwara. "The Nanking Atrocity: An Interpretive Overview." ''The Nanking Atrocity, 1937-38: Complicating the Picture'', edited by Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi, 1st ed., Berghahn Books, 2009, pp. 29–54. ''JSTOR'', <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1x76dqr.7</nowiki>. Accessed 29 August 2025....</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=23 October 2016 |title=In Search of equality : the Chinese struggle against discrimination in nineteenth-century America : McClain, Charles J : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/insearchofequali0000mccl |access-date=29 August 2025 |website=Internet Archive |pages=128–143 |ref={{sfnref|Internet Archive|2016}}}}</ref> of strife and peace, of influence and isolation, and of unity and division. The Han Chinese have often been historically attributed to holding dominant positions of governance throughout this dynastic period of Chinese history{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}, though in notable periods the dynastic rule has been [[Conquest dynasty|held by non-Han ethnic minorities]] as well. Examples include the [[Khitan people|Khitan]]-lead [[Liao dynasty]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Franke |first1=Herbert |title=Alien regimes and border states, 907-1368 |last2=Twitchett |first2=Denis Crispin |last3=Fairbank |first3=John King |date=1994 |publisher=Cambridge university press |isbn=978-0-521-24331-5 |series=The Cambridge history of China |location=Cambridge (GB)}}</ref> (916–1125) [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]]-lead [[Yuan dynasty]]<ref name=":2" /> (1271–1368), and the [[Jurchen people|Jurchen]]-lead [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]]<ref name=":2" /> (1115–1234) and [[Qing dynasty]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hsü |first=Immanuel Chung-yueh |title=The rise of modern China |date=1990 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Pr |isbn=978-0-19-505867-3 |edition=4. |location=New York}}</ref> (1644–1912; initially the "[[Later Jin (1616–1636)|later Jin]]", 1616–1636<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perdue |first=Peter C. |title=China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia |date=2022 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-04202-5 |location=Cambridge, MA}}</ref>).

=== Prehistory ===
{{Main|Huaxia|Peopling of China|Yanhuang}}

{{multiple image
| align             = right
| total_width       = 275
| perrow            = 2
| footer            = Han Chinese refer to themselves as "[[Yan Huang Zisun|Descendants of Yan and Huang]]"
| image2            = Xu Jetian - Shennong.jpg
| alt2              = Yan Emperor
| image1            = Portraits of Famous Men - Yellow Emperor (Huangdi).jpg
| alt1              = Yellow Emperor
}}
The prehistory of the Han Chinese is closely intertwined with both archaeology, biology, historical textual records, and mythology. The ethnic stock to which the Han Chinese originally trace their ancestry from were confederations of late [[Neolithic]] and early [[Bronze Age]] agricultural tribes known as the [[Huaxia]] that lived along the [[Guanzhong]] and [[Yellow River]] basins in northern China.<ref name="PV">{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20083309 |title=A Point Of View: How China sees a multicultural world |last=Jacques |first=Martin |date=26 October 2012 |website=BBC News |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=23 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723222617/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20083309 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |last=Minahan |first=James |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-61069-017-1 |publication-date=10 February 2014 |page=90}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Interpreters in Early Imperial China |last= Lung |first=Rachel |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-90-272-2444-6 |page=5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture |last=Zhang |first=Qizhi |publisher=Springer |year=2016 |isbn=978-3-662-51507-5 |page=26}}</ref><ref name="Guo 2016 66–67">{{Cite book |title=An Introduction to the Chinese Economy: The Driving Forces Behind Modern Day China |last= Guo |first= Rongxing |publisher=Wiley |year= 2016 |isbn=978-3-319-32305-3 |pages=66–67}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1177/0022002795039003004 |title=War and Politics in Ancient China, 2700 B.C. To 722 B.C.: Measurement and Comparative Analysis |year=1995 |last1=Cioffi-Revilla |first1=C. |last2=Lai |first2=D. |journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=467–94 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA253|isbn=978-1-438-11913-7|last1=West|first1=Barbara A.|year=2009| publisher=Infobase |access-date=29 October 2015|archive-date=14 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414163029/https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&pg=PA253|url-status=live}}</ref>{{excessive citations inline|date=July 2024}} In addition, numerous [[Ethnic groups in Chinese history#List of ethnic groups|ethnic groups]] were assimilated and absorbed by the Han Chinese at various points in China's history.<ref name="Guo 2016 66–67" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/CHIN-01-100114.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110131435/http://atimes.com/atimes/China/CHIN-01-100114.html |url-status=unfit |archive-date=10 January 2014 |title=Common traits bind Jews and Chinese |website=[[Asia Times]] |date=10 January 2014 |access-date=23 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="PV" /> Like many modern ethnic groups, the ethnogenesis of Han Chinese was a lengthy process that involved the expansion of the [[Dynasties of China|successive Chinese dynasties]] and their assimilation of [[Ethnic groups in Chinese history#List of ethnic groups|various non-Han ethnic groups]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Becoming Chinese American: A History of Communities and Institutions |last1=Him |first1=Mark Lai |last2=Hsu |first2= Madeline |author2-link=Madeline Y. Hsu|publisher=AltaMira |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-759-10458-7 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=A Short History of China and Southeast Asia: Tribute, Trade and Influence |last=Stuart-Fox |first=Martin |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=2003 |publication-date=1 November 2003 |page=21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title= Modern East Asia: An Introductory History |last=Miller |first=David |publisher= Routledge |year=2007 |isbn= 978-0-765-61823-8 |page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Pinghua population as an exception of Han Chinese's coherent genetic structure|journal=Journal of Human Genetics|volume=53|issue=4|pages=303–313|year=2008|doi=10.1007/s10038-008-0250-x|pmid = 18270655|last1=Gan|first1=Rui-Jing|last2=Pan|first2=Shang-Ling|last3=Mustavich|first3=Laura F.|last4=Qin|first4=Zhen-Dong|last5=Cai|first5=Xiao-Yun|last6=Qian|first6=Ji|last7=Liu|first7=Cheng-Wu|last8=Peng|first8=Jun-Hua|last9=Li|first9=Shi-Lin|last10=Xu|first10=Jie-Shun|last11=Jin|first11=Li|last12=Li|first12=Hui|doi-access=free}}</ref>
[[File:Xuanyuan Temple in Yan'an, Shaanxi.jpg|thumb|[[Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor]] (''Huangdi'') in Shaanxi]]
During the [[Western Zhou]] and Han dynasties, Han Chinese writers established genealogical lineages by drawing from legendary materials originating from the [[Shang dynasty]],<ref>{{citation|last=Allan|first=Sarah|title=The Shape of the Turtle|year=1991|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany|isbn=978-0-791-40460-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QlEZd4x9LUAC&q=%22shape+of+the+turtle|access-date=5 October 2020|archive-date=14 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214010949/https://books.google.com/books?id=QlEZd4x9LUAC&q=%22shape+of+the+turtle|url-status=live}}</ref> while the Han dynasty historian [[Sima Qian]]'s ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'' places the reign of the [[Yellow Emperor]], the legendary leader of Youxiong tribes ({{lang|zh|有熊氏}}), at the beginning of Chinese history. The Yellow Emperor is traditionally credited to have united with the neighbouring [[Shennong]] tribes after defeating their leader, the [[Yan Emperor]], at the [[Battle of Banquan]]. The newly merged [[Yanhuang]] tribes then combined forces to defeat their common enemy from the east, [[Chiyou]] of the Jiuli ({{lang|zh|九黎}}) tribes, at the [[Battle of Zhuolu]] and established their cultural dominance in the [[Central Plain (China)|Central Plain]] region. To this day, modern Han Chinese refer themselves as "[[Yan Huang Zisun|Descendants of Yan and Huang]]".

Although study of this period of history is complicated by the absence of contemporary records, the discovery of [[archaeological site]]s has enabled a succession of [[List of Neolithic cultures of China|Neolithic cultures]] to be identified along the Yellow River. Along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were the [[Cishan culture]] ({{circa|6500–5000&nbsp;BCE}}), the [[Yangshao culture]] ({{circa|5000–3000&nbsp;BCE}}), the [[Longshan culture]] ({{circa|3000–2000&nbsp;BCE}}) and the [[Erlitou culture]] ({{circa|1900–1500&nbsp;BCE}}). These cultures are believed to be related to the origins of the [[Sino-Tibetan languages]] and later the [[Sinitic languages]].<ref>{{cite journal | first1 =  Laurent | last1 = Sagart | last2 = Jacques |first2 = Guillaume | last3= Lai|first3 = Yunfan | last4=Ryder| first4= Robin | last5= Thouzeau| first5= Valentin | last6= Greenhill | first6= Simon J. | last7=List|first7 =  Johann-Mattis|year=2019 | title =Dated language phylogenies shed light on the ancestry of Sino-Tibetan | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=116|issue= 21 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1817972116| pmid = 31061123 | pmc = 6534992 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2019PNAS..11610317S |pages=10319–10320}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Menghan |last2=Yan |first2=Shi |last3=Pan |first3=Wuyun | author-link3=Pan Wuyun |last4=Jin |first4=Li |title=Phylogenetic evidence for Sino-Tibetan origin in northern China in the Late Neolithic |journal=Nature |date=24 April 2019 |volume=569 |issue=7754 |pages=112–115 |doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1153-z|pmid=31019300 |bibcode=2019Natur.569..112Z }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bradley |first1=David |author-link1=David Bradley (linguist) |title=Subgrouping of the Sino-Tibetan languages |journal=10th International Conference on Evolutionary Linguistics, Nanjing University |date=27–28 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=LaPolla |first1=Randy |author-link1=Randy LaPolla |title=The origin and spread of the Sino-Tibetan language family |journal=Nature |date=2019 |volume=569 |issue=7754 |pages=45–47 |doi=10.1038/d41586-019-01214-6 |pmid=31036967 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2019Natur.569...45L }}</ref>{{sfnp|Sagart|Jacques|Lai|Ryder|2019|pp=10319–10320}} They were the foundation for the formation of [[Old Chinese]] and the founding of the [[Shang dynasty]], China's first confirmed dynasty.
<gallery widths="230" caption="Neolithic forebears of Sino-Tibetan and Chinese-speaking peoples">
File:Neolithic pottery bowl with legs, Cishan culture, Hebei, 1977.JPG|<small>Cishan culture pottery (6000–5500 BC)</small>
File:Yangshao Culture Pottery 28.jpg|<small>Yangshao culture pottery (5000–3000 BC)</small>
File:Neolithic Longshan Culture Pottery 01.jpg|<small>Longshan culture pottery (3200–2000 BC)</small>
</gallery>

=== Early history ===
{{Main|Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors}}

Early ancient Chinese history is largely legendary, consisting of mythical tales intertwined with sporadic annals written centuries to millennia later. Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Historian'' recorded a period following the Battle of Zhuolu, during the reign of successive generations of confederate overlords ({{lang-zh|t=共主}}) known as the [[Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors]] (c. 2852–2070 BCE), who, allegedly, were elected to power among the tribes.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} This is a period for which scant reliable archaeological evidence exists – these sovereigns are largely regarded as [[cultural hero]]es.

==== Xia dynasty ====
{{Main|Xia dynasty}}

Though modernly agreed to be mostly a product of legends and folklore, the first dynasty to be described in Chinese historical records is the Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BCE).{{efn|There has been a lot of modern discourse relating to the Xia dynasty, and its possible role in the greater movements of Chinese history. It is generally accepted to have been at least largely legendary by modern scholarship. The modern consensus, formed primarily from a lack of archaeological evidence and any lack of mention during the Shang dynasty, would likely indicate it was a construction during the Zhou dynasty after the Zhou conquest of the Shang dynasty. This was most likely in order to establish a precedent that would retroactively justify Zhou rule. Any historical form that the possible historical Xia peoples would have existed would have little resemblance to a unified civilization and more of that of a loose band of tribes around the Yellow River valley. The legendary status of the Xia would then give similar justification when the Zhou dynastic rule is ended to pave way for the Han, and then by course all other major dynasties until 1911. The legend of the Xia is largely necessary to traditional narratives of the Mandate of Heaven, and without it the narrative would become unstable due to a regress.|name=Xia}}<ref>A reference for the footnote.</ref> established by [[Yu the Great]] after [[Emperor Shun]] abdicated leadership to reward Yu's work in taming the [[Great Flood (China)|Great Flood]]. In traditional narrative, this is primarily where the ethnic Han originate from. In myth, Yu's son, [[Qi of Xia|Qi]], managed to not only install himself as the next ruler, but also dictated his sons as heirs by default. This would have made the Xia dynasty to be the first civilization to be ruled by [[Order of succession|genealogical succession]]. The civilizational prosperity of the Xia dynasty at this time is thought to have given rise to the name "Huaxia", a term that was used ubiquitously throughout history to define the Chinese nation.<ref>{{Cite book |title=An Introduction to the Chinese Economy: The Driving Forces Behind Modern Day China |last= Guo |first= Rongxing |publisher= Wiley |year= 2010 |isbn= 978-0-470-82604-1 |page=10}}</ref>

Conclusive archaeological evidence predating the 16th century BCE is, however, rarely available. Recent efforts of the [[Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project]] drew the connection between the [[Erlitou culture]] and the Xia dynasty, but scholars found this connection tenuous.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://ealc.uchicago.edu/documents/6Chronologies%20of%20Ancient%20China-1.pdf |title=Windows on the Chinese world: reflections by five historians |date=2009 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-2769-8 |editor-last=Ho |editor-first=Clara Wing-chung |series=AsiaWorld |location=Lanham, MD |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815095950/http://ealc.uchicago.edu/documents/6Chronologies%20of%20Ancient%20China-1.pdf |archive-date=15 August 2011 }}</ref> By exention, earliest writing by the Han Chinese are found in the period of the Shang dynasty.

==== Shang dynasty ====
{{Main|Shang dynasty}}

The Xia dynasty was overthrown after the [[Battle of Mingtiao]], around 1600 BCE, by [[Tang of Shang|Cheng Tang]], who established the Shang dynasty ({{Circa|1600}}–1046 BCE). The earliest archaeological examples of Chinese writing date back to this period – from characters inscribed on [[oracle bone]]s used for divination – but the well-developed characters hint at a much earlier origin of writing in China.

During the Shang dynasty, people of the [[Wu (region)|Wu area]] in the [[Yangtze River Delta]] were considered a different tribe, and described as being scantily dressed, tattooed and speaking a distinct language. Later, [[Taibo of Wu|Taibo]], elder uncle of [[King Wen of Zhou|Ji Chang]] – on realising that his younger brother, Jili, was wiser and deserved to inherit the throne – fled to Wu<ref name="chinaknowledge.de">{{cite web|url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/rulers-wu.html|title=The Feudal State of Wu 吳 (www.chinaknowledge.de)|first=Ulrich|last=Theobald|website=Chinaknowledge.de|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=8 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108110807/http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/rulers-wu.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and settled there. Three generations later, [[King Wu of Zhou|King Wu]] of the Zhou dynasty defeated [[King Zhou of Shang|King Zhou]] (the last Shang king), and [[Feoffment|enfeoffed]] the descendants of Taibo in Wu<ref name="chinaknowledge.de"/> – mirroring the later history of [[Nanyue]], where a Chinese king and his soldiers ruled a non-Han population and mixed with locals, who were [[sinicization|sinicized]] over time.

==== Zhou dynasty ====
{{Main|Zhou dynasty}}

After the [[Battle of Muye]], the Shang dynasty was overthrown by [[Predynastic Zhou|Zhou]] (led by [[Ji Fa]]), which had emerged as a western state along the [[Wei River]] in the 2nd millennium BCE. The [[Zhou dynasty]] shared the language and culture of the Shang people, and extended their reach to encompass much of the area north of the [[Yangtze River]].<ref name="China The Zhou Period">{{cite web|title= China The Zhou Period|url= http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cn0015)|website= Lcweb2.loc.gov|access-date= 12 December 2017|archive-date= 21 December 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161221082054/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+cn0015%29|url-status= live}}</ref> Through conquest and colonization, much of this area came under the influence of sinicization and this culture extended south. However, the power of the Zhou kings fragmented not long afterwards, and many autonomous vassal states emerged. This dynasty is traditionally divided into two eras – the Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) and the [[Eastern Zhou]] (770–256 BCE) – with the latter further divided into the [[Spring and Autumn period|Spring and Autumn]] (770–476 BCE) and the [[Warring States period|Warring States]] (476–221 BCE) periods. It was a period of significant cultural and philosophical diversification (known as the [[Hundred Schools of Thought]]) and [[Confucianism]], [[Taoism]] and [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]] are among the most important surviving philosophies from this era.{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}

=== Imperial history ===
==== Qin dynasty ====
{{Main|Qin dynasty}}

The chaotic Warring States period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty came to an end with the unification of China by the western state of [[Qin (state)|Qin]] after its [[Qin's wars of unification|conquest of all other rival states]]{{when|date=February 2015}} under King [[Ying Zheng]]. King Zheng then gave himself a new title "[[First Emperor of Qin]]" ({{lang-zh|c=秦始皇帝|p=Qín Shǐ Huángdì}}), setting the precedent for the next two millennia. To consolidate administrative control over the newly conquered parts of the country, the First Emperor decreed a nationwide standardization of currency, writing scripts and measurement units, to unify the country economically and culturally. He also ordered large-scale infrastructure projects such as the [[Great Wall of China|Great Wall]], the [[Lingqu Canal]] and the Qin road system to militarily fortify the frontiers. In effect, he established a centralized bureaucratic state to replace the old feudal confederation system of preceding dynasties, making Qin the first [[Qin dynasty|imperial dynasty]] in Chinese history.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

This dynasty, sometimes phonetically spelt as the "Ch'in dynasty", has been proposed in the 17th century by [[Martino Martini]] and supported by later scholars such as [[Paul Pelliot]] and [[Berthold Laufer]] to be the etymological origin of the modern English word "China".{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==== Han dynasty ====
{{Main|Han dynasty}}

[[File:China.Terracotta statues007.jpg|thumb|upright|A female servant and male advisor dressed in [[Han Chinese clothing|silk robes]], ceramic figurines from the Western Han era]]

The reign of the first imperial dynasty was short-lived. Due to the First Emperor's autocratic rule and his massive labor projects, which fomented rebellion among his population, the Qin dynasty fell into chaos soon after his death. Under the corrupt rule of his son and successor [[Huhai]], the Qin dynasty collapsed a mere three years later. The Han dynasty (206 BC–220 CE) then emerged from the ensuing [[Chu-Han contention|civil wars]] and succeeded in establishing a much longer-lasting dynasty. It continued many of the institutions created by the Qin dynasty, but adopted a more moderate rule. Under the Han dynasty, art and culture flourished, while the Han Empire [[History of the Han dynasty|expanded militarily in all directions]]. Many Chinese scholars such as [[Ho Ping-ti]] believe that the concept ([[ethnogenesis]]) of Han ethnicity, although being ancient, was formally entrenched in the Han dynasty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.claytonbrown.org|title=Clayton D. Brown Research on Chinese History: Ethnology, Archaeology, and Han Identity|website=Claytonbrown.org|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=18 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118075448/http://www.claytonbrown.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Han dynasty is considered one of the [[golden age]]s of Chinese history, with the modern Han Chinese people taking their ethnic name from this dynasty and the Chinese script being referred to as "[[Chinese characters|Han characters]]".{{sfnp|Schaefer|2008|p=279}}

==== Three Kingdoms to Jin ====
{{Main|Three Kingdoms|Sixteen Kingdoms|Northern and Southern dynasties|Sui dynasty|Tang dynasty}}

The fall of the Han dynasty was followed by an age of fragmentation and several centuries of disunity amid warfare among rival kingdoms. There was a brief period of prosperity under the native Han Chinese dynasty known as the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin]] (266–420 BC), although protracted struggles within the ruling house of Sima (司馬) sparked off a protracted period of fragmentation, rebellion by immigrant tribes that served as slaves and indentured servants, and extended non-native rule.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

====Non-Han rule====
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2024}}
[[File:晋太保建昌公谢安.jpg|140px|thumb|[[Xie An]], who led the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin dynasty]] army defeated the [[Di (Five Barbarians)|Di]] (one of the [[Five Barbarians]]) ruled [[Former Qin]] army in the [[Battle of Feishui]] was honoured in the [[Wu Shuang Pu|Table of Peerless Heroes]].]]

During this time, areas of northern China were overrun by various [[Five Barbarians|non-Han nomadic peoples]], which came to establish kingdoms of their own, the most successful of which was the [[Northern Wei]] established by the [[Xianbei]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}} From this period, the native population of China proper was referred to as Hanren, or the "People of Han" to distinguish them from the nomads from the steppe. Warfare and invasion led to one of the first great migrations of Han populations in history, as they fled south to the [[Yangtze|Yangzi]] and beyond, shifting the Chinese demographic center and speeding up sinicization of the far south. At the same time, most of the nomads in northern China came to be sinicized as they ruled over large Chinese populations and adopted elements of their culture and administration. Of note, the Xianbei rulers of Northern Wei ordered a policy of systematic sinicization, [[Change of Xianbei names to Han names|adopting Han surnames]], institutions, and culture, so the Xianbei became Han Chinese.

====Sui and Tang====
[[File:China, 742.svg|thumb|Map of Tang Empire in 742, showing the [[Administrative divisions of the Tang dynasty|major provinces]] of the empire|left]]
[[File:Figures in a cortege, tomb of Li Xian, Tang Dynasty.jpg|thumb|140px|Cortege of Emperor Li Xian, Emperor of the Tang]]
{{quote box|敵可摧，旄頭滅，履胡之腸涉胡血。<br />
懸胡青天上，埋胡紫塞傍。<br />
胡無人，漢道昌。<br />
The enemy can be crushed, their banners destroyed;<br /> We tread upon the entrails of the [[Hu (people)|Hu]], wade through their blood.<br />
Hang the bodies of the Hu beneath the heavens, bury them beside the frontier.<br />
No [[Hu (people)|Hu]] will remain, and the Han will always prosper|author=[[Li Bai]] (701-762)}}
Han Chinese rule resumed during the Sui and Tang dynasties, led by the Han Chinese families of the Yang (杨) and Li (李) surnames respectively. Both the Sui and Tang dynasties are seen as high points of Han Chinese civilization. These dynasties both emphasized their aristocratic Han Chinese pedigree and enforced the restoration of Central Plains culture, even the founders of both dynasties had already intermarried with non-Han or partly-Han women from the Dugu and Yuwen families.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

The Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties saw continuing emigration from the Central Plains to the south-eastern coast of what is now China proper, including the provinces of [[Fujian]], [[Guangdong]], and [[Hainan]]. This was especially true in the latter part of the Tang era and the Five Dynasties period that followed; the relative stability of the south coast made it an attractive destination for refugees fleeing continual warfare and turmoil in the north.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==== Song to Qing ====
{{Main|Song dynasty|Yuan dynasty|Ming dynasty|Qing dynasty}}

[[File:南宋 · 斗浆图 Tea Fighting Southern Song dynasty.png|thumb|Tea competition in Song China]]
[[File:史可法像.jpg|left|140px|thumb|[[Shi Kefa]], the [[Three Departments and Six Ministries|Minister of War]] of [[Ming dynasty]], was famous for his tenacious defence in Yangzhou against the [[Manchu]] ([[Qing dynasty|Qing]]) invasion followed by the [[Yangzhou massacre]] commanded by the Manchu army.]]

The next few centuries saw successive invasions of Han and non-Han peoples from the north. In 1279, the [[Mongols]] conquered all of China, becoming the first non-Han ethnic group to do so, and established the [[Yuan dynasty]]. [[Emigration]], seen as disloyal to ancestors and ancestral land, was banned by the Song and Yuan dynasties.<ref>{{Cite book|first1 = Pál|last1 = Nyíri|first2 = Igorʹ|last2 = Rostislavovich Savelʹev|title = Globalizing Chinese migration: trends in Europe and Asia|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=77F23y4RrnUC&pg=PA208|publisher = Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|year = 2002|page = 208|isbn = 978-0-7546-1793-8|access-date = 29 October 2015|archive-date = 14 December 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211214010926/https://books.google.com/books?id=77F23y4RrnUC&pg=PA208|url-status = live}}</ref>

[[Hongwu Emperor|Zhu Yuanzhang]], who had a [[Sinocentrism|Han-centered concept of China]], and regarded expelling "[[Hua–Yi distinction|barbarians]]" and restoring Han people's China as a mission, established the [[Ming dynasty]] in 1368 after the [[Red Turban Rebellions]]. During this period, China referred to the Ming Empire and to the Han people living in them, and non-Han communities were separated from China.<ref name="md">{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Yonglin |title=Thinking About the 'Ming China' Anew: The Ethnocultural Space In A Diverse Empire-With Special Reference to the 'Miao Territory' |journal=Journal of Chinese History |date=January 2018 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=27–78 |doi=10.1017/jch.2017.27 }}</ref>

Early [[Manchu people|Manchu]] rulers treated China as equivalent to both the Ming Empire and to the Han group.<ref name="md" /> In 1644, the Ming capital, [[Beijing]], was captured by [[Li Zicheng]]'s peasant rebels and the [[Chongzhen Emperor]] committed suicide. The Manchus of the [[Qing dynasty]] then allied with former Ming general [[Wu Sangui]] and seized control of Beijing. Remnant Ming forces led by [[Koxinga]] fled to [[Taiwan]] and established the [[Kingdom of Tungning]], which eventually capitulated to Qing forces in 1683. Taiwan, previously inhabited mostly by non-Han aborigines, was [[Sinicization|sinicized]] during this period via large-scale migration accompanied by assimilation, despite efforts by the Manchus to prevent this, as they found it difficult to maintain control over the island. In 1681, the [[Kangxi Emperor]] ordered construction of the [[Willow Palisade]] to prevent Han Chinese migration to the three northeastern provinces, which nevertheless had harbored a significant Chinese population for centuries, especially in the southern [[Liaodong]] area. The Manchus designated Jilin and Heilongjiang as the Manchu homeland, to which the Manchus could hypothetically escape and regroup if the Qing dynasty fell.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Mark C. |last1=Elliott |date=August 2000 |title=The Limits of Tartary: Manchuria in Imperial and National Geographies |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=603–46 |jstor=2658945 |doi=10.2307/2658945 |url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:32095381 }}</ref> Because of increasing Russian territorial encroachment and annexation of neighboring territory, the Qing later reversed its policy and allowed the consolidation of a demographic Han majority in Northeast China. The [[Taiping Rebellion]] erupted in 1850 from the [[Anti-Qing sentiment|anti-Manchu]] sentiment of the Han Chinese, which killed at least twenty million people and made it [[List of wars by death toll|one of the bloodiest conflicts]] in history.<ref name="hm">{{cite magazine|author=Ian Buruma|url=https://harpers.org/archive/2022/02/the-great-wall-of-steel-xi-jinping-chinese-nationalism/|title=The Great Wall of Steel|magazine=[[Harper's Magazine]]|date=February 2022|access-date=30 March 2024|archive-date=30 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330054104/https://harpers.org/archive/2022/02/the-great-wall-of-steel-xi-jinping-chinese-nationalism/|url-status=live}}</ref> Late Qing revolutionary intellectual [[Zou Rong]] famously proclaimed that "China is the China of the Chinese. We compatriots should identify ourselves with the China of the Han Chinese".<ref name="ww" />

=== Republican history ===
{{main|History of the Republic of China|History of the People's Republic of China}}

[[File:1912Jimingxiaoling.jpg|thumb|[[Sun Yat-sen]] (center) and other [[Republic of china|ROC]] officials commemorated [[Hongwu Emperor]] in [[Xiao Mausoleum]], February 1912]]
The [[Han nationalism|Han nationalist]] revolutionary [[Sun Yat-sen]] made [[Han chauvinism|Han Chinese superiority]] a basic tenet of the [[1911 Revolution]].<ref name="so">{{cite web|url=https://saisobserver.org/2014/04/07/han-chauvinismexceptionalism-the-problem-with-han-chauvinism/|title=Han Chauvinism/Exceptionalism: The Problem with it|work=[[Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies|The SAIS Observer]]|date=7 April 2014|access-date=30 March 2024|archive-date=30 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330055844/https://saisobserver.org/2014/04/07/han-chauvinismexceptionalism-the-problem-with-han-chauvinism/|url-status=live}}</ref> In Sun's revolutionary philosophical view, Han identity is exclusively possessed by the so-called civilized Hua Xia people who originated from the Central Plains, and were also the former subjects of the [[Celestial Empire|Celestial empire]] and evangelists of Confucianism.<ref name="ww">{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Weiying |title=Han-Nationalism Throughout the Ages |journal=Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal |date=2023 |issue=2 |pages=148–170 |doi=10.24968/2693-244X.4.2.10 }}</ref> Restoring Chinese rule to the Han majority was one of the motivations for supporters of the 1911 Revolution to overthrow the Manchu-led [[Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor|Qing dynasty in 1912]], which led to the establishment of the Han-dominated [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/19thcpcnationalcongress/2011-07/27/content_29714617.htm|title=Revolution of 1911|date=27 July 2011|work=[[China Daily]]}}</ref> After the establishment of the republic, Sun went to offer sacrifices in [[Hongwu Emperor]]'s [[Xiao Mausoleum]]:
 
{{quote box
| width = 60%
| align = center
| quote = 我高皇帝，應時崛起，廓清中土，日月重明，河山再造，光復大義，昭示來茲。<br />不幸季世俶擾，國力罷疲，滿清乘間，入據中夏。嗟我邦人，諸父兄弟，迭起迭踣，至於二百六十有八年。<br />
...
<br />
武漢軍興，建立民國。義聲所播，天下響應，越八十有七日，旣光復十有七省，國民公議，立臨時政府於南京。
----
Our [[Hongwu Emperor|Emperor Gaozu]], rose in due time to pacify the [[zhongyuan|Central Earth]], restoring clarity to sun and moon, rebuilding rivers and mountains, reviving the great righteousness and proclaiming it to posterity.<br /> Alas, in the troubled age at the end of the dynasty, the nation's strength was exhausted, and the [[Manchus]] took the opportunity to invade and occupy China. <br />Alas, our compatriots—forefathers, elder and younger brothers—rose and fell one after another, for as long as 268 years.<br />
...
<br />
When the [[Wuchang Uprising|Revolt began in Wuhan]], the Republic was established. Wherever the call of righteousness spread, the whole nation responded. <br />After just eighty-seven days, [[China proper|seventeen provinces]] had been restored. By the will of the people, a provisional government was established in Nanjing through public consensus.
| author = [[Sun Yat-sen]] (1866-1925)
}}
[[Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party|Chairman]] [[Mao Zedong]] and his [[China|People's Republic of China]] founded in 1949 was critical of Han chauvinism.<ref name="hm" /> In the latter half of the 20th century, official policy of [[Chinese Communist Party|communist]] China marked Han chauvinism as [[Criticism of Marxism|anti-Marxist]].<ref name="so" /> Today, the tension between the dominant Han Chinese majority and [[Ethnic minorities in China|ethnic minorities]] remains contentious, as the deterioration in ethnic relations has compounded by [[Affirmative action in China|China's contemporary ethnic policies in favor of ethnic minorities]] since its founding.<ref name="ww" /> [[Han chauvinism]] has been gaining mainstream popularity throughout China since the 2000s, attributed to discontent toward these ethnic policies instituted by the Chinese government.<ref name="凭栏观史">《凭栏观史》第34期：中国到底有没有大汉族主义</ref><ref name="皇汉史观：今天我们如何定义中国？">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dwnews.com/中国/59812518/皇汉史观今天我们如何定义中国|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113002044/https://www.dwnews.com/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/59812518/%E7%9A%87%E6%B1%89%E5%8F%B2%E8%A7%82%E4%BB%8A%E5%A4%A9%E6%88%91%E4%BB%AC%E5%A6%82%E4%BD%95%E5%AE%9A%E4%B9%89%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD|archive-date=13 January 2020|title=皇汉史观今天我们如何定义中国｜多维新闻网｜中国|date=26 April 2017|website=多维新闻网}}</ref> The contemporary dissatisfaction and discord between the dominant Han Chinese mainstream and its non-Han minorities has led to the Chinese government scaling back on [[Affirmative action in China|preferential treatment]] for ethnic minorities under the [[general secretaryship of Xi Jinping]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mimi Lau |date=5 December 2019 |title=China's ethnic groups face end to affirmative action in education, taxes |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3040577/chinas-ethnic-groups-face-end-affirmative-action-education |access-date=10 December 2019 |website=[[South China Morning Post]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Culture and society==
{{Main|Chinese culture}}


Chinese civilization is one of the world's oldest and most complex{{According to whom|date=August 2025}} [[civilization]]s, whose culture dates back thousands of years. Overseas Han Chinese maintain cultural affinities to Chinese territories outside of their host locale through [[ancestor worship]] and [[Chinese clan|clan]] associations, which often identify famous figures from Chinese history or myth as ancestors of current members.<ref name="Cohen" /> Such patriarchs include the Yellow Emperor and the [[Yan Emperor]], who according to legend lived thousands of years ago and gave Han people the sobriquet "''[[Descendants of Yan and Huang Emperor]]''" ({{lang|zh-hant|炎黃子孫}}, {{lang|zh-hans|炎黄子孙}}), a phrase which has reverberative connotations in a divisive political climate, as in that of major contentions between [[Cross-Strait relations|China and Taiwan]]. [[File:Along the River During the Qingming Festival (detail of original).jpg|thumb|[[Zhang Zeduan]]'s painting ''[[Along the River During the Qingming Festival]]'' captures the daily life of people from the Song dynasty at the capital, Bianjing, today's [[Kaifeng]].]]

The Han Chinese also share a distinct set of cultural practices, traditions, and beliefs that have evolved over centuries. Traditional Han customs, art, dietary habits, literature, religious beliefs, and value systems have not only deeply influenced Han culture itself, but also the cultures of its East Asian neighbors as well.<ref name="Goscha 2016">{{Cite book |title=The Penguin History of Modern Vietnam: A History |last= Goscha |first= Christopher |publisher= Allen Lane |year=2016 |isbn= 978-1-84614-310-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America | publisher=Penguin Press HC |author1 = [[Amy Chua]] |author2 = [[Jed Rubenfeld]] | year=2014 |page=122 |isbn=978-1-59420-546-0}}</ref><ref name="Walker 2012 2">{{cite book |title=East Asia: A New History |last=Walker |first=Hugh Dyson |publisher=AuthorHouse |year=2012 |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty |last=Lewis |first=Mark Edward |publisher=Belknap Press |year=2012 |isbn= 978-0-674-06401-0 |publication-date=9 April 2012 |page=156}}</ref><ref name="Reischauer">{{Cite journal |jstor = 20038053|title = The Sinic World in Perspective|journal = Foreign Affairs|volume = 52|issue = 2|pages = 341–348|last1 = Reischauer|first1 = Edwin O.|year = 1974|doi = 10.2307/20038053}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Asia Civilizations: Ancient to 1800 AD |last= Lim |first= SK |publisher=ASIAPAC |isbn=978-981-229-594-1 |page=89|date= 1 November 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Redesigning Asian Business: In the Aftermath of Crisis |last= Richter |first=Frank-Jurgen |publisher=Quorum Books |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-56720-525-1 |page=15}}</ref><ref name="Amy Chua, Jed Rubenfeld 2014 121">{{cite book |title=The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America |publisher=Penguin Press HC |author1=Amy Chua |author2 = Jed Rubenfeld |year=2014 |page=121 |isbn=978-1-59420-546-0 }}</ref><ref name="Kang 2012 33–34">{{Cite book |title=East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute |last=Kang |first=David C. |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-231-15319-5 |pages=33–34}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=World History: Journeys from Past to Present |last1=Goucher |first1=Candice |last2=Walton |first2=Linda |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-415-67002-9 |publication-date=11 September 2012 |page=232 }}</ref><ref name="2000years">{{cite book|last1=Smolnikov|first1=Sergey|title=Great Power Conduct and Credibility in World Politics|year=2018|publisher=Springer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3LJZDwAAQBAJ&q=pax+sinica+han+dynasty&pg=PA112|isbn=978-3-319-71885-9|access-date=21 September 2023|archive-date=2 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002165320/https://books.google.com/books?id=3LJZDwAAQBAJ&q=pax+sinica+han+dynasty&pg=PA112#v=snippet&q=pax%20sinica%20han%20dynasty&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=September 2024}} [[Chinese art]], [[Chinese architecture]], [[Chinese cuisine]], [[Dance in China|Chinese dance]], [[Chinese clothing|Chinese fashion]], [[List of observances set by the Chinese calendar|Chinese festivals]], [[Public holidays in China|Chinese holidays]], [[Chinese language]], [[Chinese literature]], [[Music of China|Chinese music]], [[Chinese mythology]], [[Chinese numerology]], [[Chinese philosophy]], and [[Theatre in China|Chinese theatre]] all have undergone thousands of years of development and growth, while numerous Chinese sites, such as the [[Great Wall of China|Great Wall]] and the [[Terracotta Army]], are [[World Heritage Site]]s. Since this program was launched in 2001, aspects of Chinese culture have been listed by [[UNESCO]] as [[Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity]]. Throughout the [[history of China]], Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism. Credited with shaping much of Chinese philosophical thought, Confucianism was the official state philosophical doctrine throughout most of [[Imperial Chinese|Imperial China]]'s history, institutionalizing values such as [[filial piety]], which implied the performance of certain [[Li (Confucian)|shared rituals]]. Thus, villagers lavished on [[Chinese funeral rituals|funeral]] and [[Chinese wedding|wedding]] ceremonies that imitated the Confucian standards of the Emperors.<ref name="Cohen" /> Educational achievement and academic success gained through years of arduous study and mastery of [[Confucian classics|classical Confucian texts]] was an imperative duty for defending and protecting one's [[Family honor#East Asia|family honor]] while also providing the primary qualifying basis criterion for entry among ambitious individuals who sought to hold high ranking and influential [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|government positions]] of distinguished authority, importance, responsibility, and power within the upper echelons of the [[Civil service#China|imperial bureaucracy]].<ref name="McKnight1983">
{{cite book
|last= McKnight|first= Brian E.
|title= Village and Bureaucracy in Southern Sung China
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SEr8_6LieVMC&pg=PA1
|access-date= 7 February 2013|date= 1983
|publisher= University of Chicago Press
|isbn= 978-0-226-56060-1|page= 1
|quote=The government of imperial China still seems in many ways curiously modern and familiar. Bureaucratically organized, and dominated by a graded civil service led by men selected through competitive examinations, it was both a model for a precursor of the complex administrations of our modern world.
}}
</ref><ref name="TC">{{cite book|author=Wolfgang Franke|title=The Reform and Abolition of the Traditional Chinese Examination System|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofvBS7L6slUC&pg=PA69|year=1960|publisher=Harvard Univ Asia Center|isbn=978-0-674-75250-4|pages=69–71}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Guo |first=Xiaolin |date=17 March 2022 |title=The Relationship Between Filial Piety and the Academic Achievement and Subjective Wellbeing of Chinese Early Adolescents: The Moderated Mediation Effect of Educational Expectations |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=13 |pages=2–3|article-number=747296 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.747296 |pmid=35369161 |pmc=8970312 |doi-access=free}}</ref> But even among successful test takers and [[Jinshi|degree-holders]] who did not enter the imperial bureaucracy or who left it opting out to pursue other careers experienced significant improvements with respect to their credibility, pedigree, respectability, social status, and societal influence, resulting in a considerable amelioration with regards to the [[Respect#Chinese culture|esteem]], [[Glory (honor)|glory]], [[Family honor#East Asia|honor]], [[reputation|prestige]], and [[Recognition (sociology)|recognition]] that they brought and garnered to their families, social circles, and the localities that they hailed from. This elevation in their social standing, respectability, and pedigree was greatly augmented both within their own family circles, as well as among their neighbors and peers compared with the regular levels of recognition that they would have typically enjoyed had they only chosen to remain as mere commoners back in their ancestral regions. Yet even such a dynamic social phenomenon has greatly influenced Han society, leading to the homogenization of the Han populace. Additionally, it has played a crucial role in the formation of a socially cohesive and distinct shared Han culture as well as the overall growth and integration of Han society. This development has been facilitated by various extraneous factors, including periods of rapid urbanization and sprouts of geographically extensive yet interconnected commodity markets.<ref name="Cohen" />

=== Language ===
{{Main|Chinese language}}

{{See also|Standard Chinese}}

Han Chinese speak various forms of the Chinese language that are descended from a common early language;<ref name="Cohen" /> one of the names of the language groups is ''Hanyu'' ({{lang-zh|s={{linktext|汉语}}|t={{linktext|漢語}}|links=no}}), literally the "Han language". Similarly, [[Chinese characters]], used to write the language, are called ''Hanzi'' ({{lang-zh|s={{linktext|汉字}}|t={{linktext|漢字}}|links=no}}) or "Han characters".

In the Qing era, more than two-thirds of the Han Chinese population used a variant of [[Mandarin Chinese]] as their native tongue.<ref name="Cohen">{{cite book|title=Kinship, Contract, Community, And State: Anthropological Perspectives on China|first=Myron L.|last=Cohen|date=2005 |section=Late Imperial China and Its Legacies|pages=41–45, 50|publisher=Stanford University Press, 2005|isbn=978-1-5036-2498-6}}</ref> However, there was a larger variety of languages in certain areas of Southeast China, "in an arc extending roughly from [[Shanghai]] through [[Guangdong]] and into [[Guangxi]]."<ref name="Cohen" /> Since the Qin dynasty, which standardized the various forms of writing that existed in China, a standard [[Classical Chinese|literary Chinese]] had emerged with vocabulary and grammar that was significantly different from the various [[Varieties of Chinese|forms of spoken Chinese]]. A simplified and elaborated version of this written standard was used in business contracts, notes for [[Chinese opera]], ritual texts for [[Chinese folk religion]] and other daily documents for educated people.<ref name="Cohen" />

During the early 20th century, [[written vernacular Chinese]] based on Mandarin dialects, which had been developing for several centuries, was standardized and adopted to replace literary Chinese. While written vernacular forms of other varieties of Chinese exist, such as [[written Cantonese]], written Chinese based on Mandarin is widely understood by speakers of all varieties and has taken up the dominant position among written forms, formerly occupied by literary Chinese. Thus, although residents of different regions would not necessarily understand each other's speech, they generally share a common written language, Standard Written Chinese and Literary Chinese.{{Citation needed|date = December 2015}}

From the 1950s, [[Simplified Chinese characters]] were adopted in China and later in Singapore and Malaysia, while Chinese communities in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas countries continue to use [[Traditional Chinese characters]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Minahan |first1=James B. |title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia: An Encyclopedia |date=2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara |page=93 |isbn=978-1-61069-018-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ&dq=Hong+Kong,+Macau,+Taiwan+and+overseas+countries+continue+to+use+Traditional+Chinese+characters&pg=PA93 |access-date=10 November 2021 |archive-date=6 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506103018/https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCOAwAAQBAJ&dq=Hong+Kong,+Macau,+Taiwan+and+overseas+countries+continue+to+use+Traditional+Chinese+characters&pg=PA93 |url-status=live }}</ref> Although significant differences exist between the two character sets, they are largely [[mutually intelligible]].

=== Names ===
{{Main|Chinese name|List of common Chinese surnames}}

Through China, the notion of [[Baixing|hundred surnames]] ({{lang|zh|百家姓}}) is a crucial identity point of the Han people.<ref name="Anth">Ebrey, Patricia [http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/ANTH470Ebrey.pdf Surnames and Han Chinese Identity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122131224/http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/ANTH470Ebrey.pdf|date=22 November 2009}}, University of Washington</ref>

=== Fashion ===
{{Main|Chinese clothing|Hanfu}}

[[File:Gu Hongzhong's Night Revels, Detail 1.jpg|thumb|A [[Song dynasty]] Chinese painting ''Night Revels of Han Xizai'' showing scholars in scholar's robes and musicians dressed in a [[Hanfu]] variant, 12th-century remake of a 10th-century original by [[Gu Hongzhong]].]]Han Chinese clothing has been shaped through its dynastic traditions as well as foreign influences.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Chinese Clothing: Costumes, Adornments and Culture (Arts of China) |last= Yang |first=Shaorong |publisher= Long River Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59265-019-4 |page=3}}</ref> Han Chinese clothing showcases the traditional fashion sensibilities of Chinese clothing traditions and forms one of the major cultural facets of Chinese civilization.<ref name="Brown, 2006 79">{{Cite book |title=China, Japan, Korea: Culture and Customs |last= Brown |first=John |publisher= Createspace Independent Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4196-4893-9 |page=79}}</ref> [[Hanfu]] comprises all traditional clothing classifications of the Han Chinese with a recorded history of more than three millennia until the end of the Ming dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, Hanfu was mostly replaced by the Manchu style until the dynasty's fall in 1911, yet Han women continued to wear clothing from Ming dynasty. Manchu and Han fashions of women's clothing coexisted during the Qing dynasty.<ref>{{Cite book|script-title=zh:中国古代服饰史|last1=Zhou |first1=Xibao |author-mask=Zhou Xibao (周锡保)|publisher=中国戏剧出版社|year=2002|page=449|isbn=978-7-104-00359-5}}</ref><ref name="Yang2004">{{cite book|author=Shaorong Yang|title=Traditional Chinese Clothing Costumes, Adornments & Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nx5JDiacrH4C&pg=PA7|year=2004|publisher=Long River Press|isbn=978-1-59265-019-4|page=7|quote=Men's clothing in the Qing Dynasty consisted for the most part of long silk gowns and the so-called "Mandarin" jacket, which perhaps achieved their greatest popularity during the latter Kangxi Period to the Yongzheng Period. For women's clothing, Manchu and Han systems of clothing coexisted.|access-date=13 October 2018|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726001213/https://books.google.com/books?id=nx5JDiacrH4C&pg=PA7|url-status=live}}</ref> Moreover, neither Taoist priests nor Buddhist monks were required to wear the queue by the Qing; they continued to wear their traditional hairstyles, completely shaved heads for Buddhist monks, and long hair in the traditional Chinese topknot for Taoist priests.<ref>{{cite book|author=Edward J.M. Rhoads|title=Manchus and Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861–1928|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QiM2pF5PDR8C&pg=PA60|year=2000|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-98040-9|page=60}}</ref><ref name="Gerini1895">{{cite news |author=Gerolamo Emilio Gerini|title=Chŭlăkantamangala: Or, The Tonsure Ceremony as Performed in Siam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vstMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11|year=1895|newspaper=[[The Bangkok Times]]|pages=11–|access-date=13 October 2018|archive-date=10 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110112359/https://books.google.com/books?id=vstMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11|url-status=live}}</ref> During the Republic of China period, fashion styles and forms of traditional Qing costumes gradually changed, influenced by fashion sensibilities from the Western World resulting modern Han Chinese wearing Western style clothing as a part of everyday dress.<ref>Mei Hua, ''Chinese Clothing'', Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 133–34</ref><ref name="Brown, 2006 79" />

Han Chinese clothing has continued to play an influential role within the realm of traditional East Asian fashion as both the Japanese [[Kimono]] and the Korean [[Hanbok]] were influenced by Han Chinese clothing designs.<ref>{{Citation |title=Elizabeth LaCouture |journal=Journal of Design History |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages = 300–314 |doi=10.1093/jdh/epw042 |year=2017 |last=Lacouture |first=Elizabeth}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DaTpAAAAMAAJ |title=J. Liddell, The story of the kimono, EP Dutton New York, 1989 |isbn=978-0-525-24574-2 |last=Liddell |first=Jill |year=1989 |publisher=E.P. Dutton |access-date=21 May 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803014911/https://books.google.com/books?id=DaTpAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Stevens|first=Rebecca|title=The kimono inspiration: art and art-to-wear in America |publisher=Pomegranate|pages=131–42|year=1996|isbn=978-0-87654-598-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dalby |first=Liza |author-link=Liza Dalby |title= Kimono: Fashioning Culture |publisher=University of Washington Press |pages=25–32 |year=2001 |location=Washington |isbn=978-0-295-98155-0}}</ref><ref name="Evenson">{{cite encyclopedia|editor1=Annette Lynch|editor2=Mitchell D. Strauss|author=Sandra Lee Evenson|title=Hanfu Chinese robes|encyclopedia=Ethnic Dress in the United States A Cultural Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiEvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA135|date=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-7591-2150-8|pages=135–36|access-date=14 September 2018|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803020933/https://books.google.com/books?id=tiEvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA135|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Family ===
[[Chinese kinship|Han Chinese families]] throughout China have had certain traditionally prescribed roles, such as the family head ({{lang|zh-Hant|家長}}, ''jiāzhǎng''), who represents the family to the outside world and the family manager ({{lang|zh-Hant|當家}}, ''dāngjiā''), who is in charge of the revenues. Because farmland was commonly bought, sold or [[mortgage]]d, families were run like enterprises, with set rules for the allocation ({{lang|zh|分家}}, ''fēnjiā'') of pooled earnings and assets.<ref name="Cohen" />

Han Chinese houses differ from place to place. In Beijing, the whole family traditionally lived together in a large rectangle-shaped house called a ''[[siheyuan]]''. Such houses had four rooms at the front – guest room, [[kitchen]], [[Toilet (room)|lavatory]] and [[servants' quarters]]. Across large double doors was a wing for the elderly in the family. This wing consisted of three rooms: a central room where the four tablets – heaven, earth, ancestor and teacher – were worshipped and two rooms attached to the left and right, which were [[bedrooms]] for the grandparents. The east wing of the house was inhabited by the eldest son and his family, while the west wing sheltered the second son and his family. Each wing had a [[veranda]]; some had a "sunroom" made with surrounding fabric and supported by a wooden or [[bamboo]] frame. Every wing was also built around a central courtyard that was used for study, exercise or nature viewing.<ref>{{cite conference|author = Montgomery County Public Schools Foreign Language Department|title = Si-he-yuan|pages = 1–8|publisher = Montgomery County Public Schools|date = August 2006|url = http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/|conference = |access-date = 15 April 2007|archive-date = 22 March 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070322214622/http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/|url-status = live}}</ref>

Ancestry and lineage are an important part of Han Chinese cultural practice and self-identity, and there have been strict naming conventions since the time of the Song dynasty that have been preserved until this day. Elaborate and detailed genealogies and family registers are maintained, and most lineage branches of all surname groups will maintain a hall containing the memorial tablets (also known as spirit tablets) of deceased family members in clan halls. Extended family groupings have been very important to the Han Chinese, and there are strict conventions as how one may refer to aunts, uncles, and cousins and the spouses of the same, depending on their birth order as well as whether these blood relatives share the same surname.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}<gallery mode="packed" widths="200">
File:Genealogy of Ma Family WDL4661.jpg|<small>Ma (马) family genealogy</small>
File:Spirit tablets in Tainan Confucius Temple 03.jpg|<small>Name tablets or spirit tablets in Tainan, Taiwan</small>
File:Khoo Kongsi Penang Dec 2006 012.jpg|<small>Memorial tablets of the Khoo (許) family in Penang</small>
File:Genealogy and Portraits of the Li Family.jpg|<small>Painting of the ancestors of the Li (李) family</small>
File:Chinese painting Ancestors gallery 19th century.jpg|<small>Painting of ancestors</small>
</gallery>Ancestral halls and academies, as well as tombs were of great import to the Chinese. Ancestral halls were used for the veneration or commemoration of ancestors and other large family events. Family members preferred to be buried near one another. Academies were also set up to benefit those of the same surname.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} <gallery mode="nolines" widths="200">
File:Ancestral Shrine at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.JPG|<small>Imperial Ancestral Hall</small>
File:Ming Xiaoling (Emperor Hongwu Tomb) (10150982304).jpg|<small>Ming tombs in Nanjing</small>
File:Chen Clan Academy 3.jpg|<small>Chen (陳) clan academy</small>
File:Zhou Clan Ancestral Hall, Xinzhuang Village, 2017-12-31 05.jpg|<small>Zhou (周) clan ancestral hall, Xinzhuang village</small>
</gallery>

=== Food ===
{{Main|Chinese cuisine}}

There is no one specific uniform [[Chinese cuisine|cuisine]] of the Han Chinese since the culinary traditions and food consumed varies from [[Sichuan]]'s famously [[Sichuan cuisine|spicy food]] to Guangdong's [[dim sum]] and [[Cantonese cuisine#Seafood|fresh seafood]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=18 November 2014|title=十大经典川菜 你吃过哪些？|url=https://www.aboluowang.com/2014/1118/473944.html|access-date=5 November 2020|website=阿波罗新闻网|language=zh-cn|archive-date=4 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204001215/https://www.aboluowang.com/2014/1118/473944.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Analyses throughout the reaches of [[northern and southern China|Northern and Southern China]] have revealed their main staple to be rice (more likely to consumed by southerners) as well as noodles and other wheat-based food items (which are more likely to be eaten by northerners).<ref name="eberhard">{{cite journal |last=Eberhard |first=Wolfram |date=December 1965 |title=Chinese Regional Stereotypes |journal=Asian Survey |publisher=University of California Press |volume=5 |issue=12 |pages=596–608 |doi=10.2307/2642652 |jstor=2642652}}</ref> During China's Neolithic period, southwestern rice growers transitioned to millet from the northwest, when they could not find a suitable northwestern ecology – which was typically dry and cold – to sustain the generous yields of their staple as well as it did in other areas, such as along the eastern Chinese coast.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sagart |first1=Laurent |chapter=The expansion of Setaria farmers in East Asia: a linguistic and archaeological model |pages=133–157 |doi=10.4324/9780203926789 |title=Past Human Migrations in East Asia |date=2008 |isbn=978-1-134-14963-6 |editor-last1=Sanchez-Mazas |editor-last2=Blench |editor-last3=Ross |editor-last4=Peiros |editor-last5=Lin |editor-first1=Alicia |editor-first2=Roger |editor-first3=Malcolm D. |editor-first4=Ilia |editor-first5=Marie }}</ref>

=== Literature ===
{{Main|Chinese literature}}

[[File:鲁迅五十三岁生辰.jpg|140px|thumb|[[Lu Xun]] is one of the founding figures of modern Chinese literature.<ref>{{cite web|author=[[Julia Lovell]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/books/review/the-big-red-book-of-modern-chinese-literature-edited-by-yunte-huang.html|title='The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature,' Edited by Yunte Huang|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=5 February 2016|access-date=28 March 2024|archive-date=28 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328065423/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/books/review/the-big-red-book-of-modern-chinese-literature-edited-by-yunte-huang.html|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Jin Yong, July 2007.jpg|140px|thumb|Louis Cha, better known as the ''[[wuxia]]'' writer [[Jin Yong]], is one of the most popular Chinese writers of all time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/obituary-jin-yong-fused-martial-arts-fantasy-history-and-romance-into-must-read-novels|title=Obituary: Jin Yong fused martial arts fantasy, history and romance into must-read novels|last=Foong|first=Woei Wan|date=30 October 2018|website=The Straits Times|access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref>.]]
[[File:Dufu.jpg|140px|left|thumb|[[Du Fu]] is often considered one of the greatest Chinese poets.<ref name="ebrey2006">{{cite book |last1=Ebrey |first1=Patricia Buckley |title=East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History |last2=Walthall |first2=Anne |last3=Palais |first3=James |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-618-13384-0 |location=Boston |page=103}}</ref>]]
With a rich historical literary heritage spanning over three thousand years, the Han Chinese have continued to push the boundaries that have circumscribed the standards of literary excellence by showcasing an unwaveringly exceptional caliber and extensive wealth of literary accomplishments throughout the ages. The Han Chinese possess a vast catalogue of [[Chinese classic texts|classical literature]] that can be traced back as far as three millennia, with a body of literature encompassing significant early works such as the ''[[Shijing|Classic of Poetry]]'', ''[[Analects of Confucius]]'', ''[[I Ching]]'', ''[[Tao Te Ching]]'' and the ''[[The Art of War|Art of War]]''. Canonical works of [[Chinese Buddhism|Buddhism]], Confucianism, and [[Taoism]] alongside historical writings, philosophical works, treatises, poetry, drama, and fiction have been revered and immortalized as timeless cultural masterpieces within the vast expanse of Chinese literature. Historically, ambitious individuals who aspired to seek top [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|government positions]] of distinguished authority, importance, and power were mandated to demonstrate their proficiency in the Confucian classics assessed through rigorous [[imperial examination|examinations]] in Imperial China.<ref name="McKnight1983" /><ref name="TC" /> Such comprehensive examinations were not only employed as the prevailing universal standards to evaluate a candidate's ethical behavior and virtuous conduct, but were also deployed as a measure of academic aptitude that determined a candidate's caliber, credibility, and eligibility for such esteemed roles of great influence and responsibility, extending beyond their prevailing entrance as a gateway into the imperial bureaucracy. Han literature itself has a rich tradition dating back thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature vernacular fiction novels that arose during the Ming dynasty which were employed as a source of cultural pleasure to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. Some of the most important Han Chinese poets in the pre-modern era were [[Li Bai]], [[Du Fu]] and [[Su Shi|Su Dongpo]]. The most esteemed and noteworthy novels of great literary significance in Chinese literature, otherwise known as the Four Great Classical Novels are: ''[[Dream of the Red Chamber]]'', ''[[Water Margin]]'', ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'' and ''[[Journey to the West]]''.

Drawing upon their extensive literary heritage rooted in a historical legacy spanning over three thousand years, the Han Chinese have continued to demonstrate a uniformly high level of literary achievement throughout the modern era as the reputation of contemporary Chinese literature continues to be internationally recognized. Erudite literary scholars who are well-versed in Chinese literature continue to remain highly esteemed in contemporary Chinese society. [[Liu Cixin]]'s ''[[San Ti]]'' series won the [[Hugo Award]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/2015/08/2014-hugo-award-winners-announced/|title=2015 Hugo Award Winners Announced|last=Kevin|date=23 August 2015|website=The Hugo Awards|access-date=6 August 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150824063329/http://www.thehugoawards.org/2015/08/2014-hugo-award-winners-announced/|archive-date=24 August 2015 }}</ref> [[Gao Xingjian]] became the first Chinese novelist to receive the [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize for Literature]] in 2000. In 2012, the novelist and short story writer [[Mo Yan]] also received the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2015, children's writer [[Cao Wenxuan]] was bestowed with the [[Hans Christian Andersen Award]], the first Chinese recipient of the esteemed international children's book prize.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibby.org/1568.0.html |title=HCAA 2016 Winners |access-date=22 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022044619/http://www.ibby.org/1568.0.html |archive-date=22 October 2016 }}</ref>

=== Science and technology ===
{{Main|List of Chinese inventions|List of Chinese discoveries}}

[[File:徐光啟.jpg|left|thumb|140px|[[Xu Guangqi]], was an agronomist, astronomer and mathematician. He wrote ''[[Complete Treatise on Agriculture]]'' and was one of the main editors of [[Chongzhen calendar|''Chongzhen Calendar'']].]]
The Han Chinese have made significant contributions to various fields in the advancement and progress of human civilization, including business and economy, culture and society, governance, and [[Science and technology in China|science and technology]], both historically and in the modern era. They have also played a pivotal role in being at the forefront of shaping the evolutionary trajectory of Chinese civilization and significantly influenced the advancement of East Asian civilization in concurrence with the broader region of East Asia as a whole. The invention of paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder are celebrated in Chinese society as the [[Four Great Inventions]].<ref name="Yigitcanlar 2016 19">{{Cite book |title=Technology and the City: Systems, Applications and Implications |last=Yigitcanlar |first=Tan |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-138-82670-0 |publication-date=10 May 2016 |page=19}}</ref> The innovations of [[Yi Xing]] (683–727), a polymathic Buddhist monk, mathematician, and mechanical engineer of the Tang dynasty is acknowledged for applying the earliest-known escapement mechanism to a [[Armillary sphere|water-powered celestial globe]].<ref name="fry 10" /><ref name="Needham volume 3 351">Needham, Volume 3, 351.</ref><ref name="Needham volume 4 470">Needham, Volume 4, 470.</ref><ref>Joseph Needham, ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2: Mechanical Engineering'' (Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. 1986) pp. 470–475.</ref> The accomplishments and advancements of the Song dynasty polymath [[Su Song]] (1020–1101) is recognized for inventing a [[Hydraulics|hydro-mechanical]] [[Astronomical clock|astronomical]] [[clock tower]] in medieval [[Kaifeng]], which employed an early [[escapement]] mechanism.<ref name="Needham volume 4 445">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 445.</ref><ref name="Needham volume 4 448">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 448.</ref><ref name="bodde 140">Bodde, 140.</ref><ref name="fry 10">Fry, 10.</ref> The work of medieval Chinese polymath [[Shen Kuo]] (1031–1095) of the Song dynasty theorized that the sun and moon were spherical and wrote of planetary motions such as retrogradation as well as postulating theories for the processes of geological land formation.<ref name="O'Doherty 57" /> Medieval Han Chinese astronomers were also among the first peoples to record observations of a cosmic [[SN 1054|supernova]] in 1054 AD, the remnants of which would form the [[Crab Nebula]].<ref name="O'Doherty 57">{{Cite book |title=Let There be Peace - Ascension to Ivisimara |last=O'Doherty |first=Mark |isbn=978-1-291-20891-7 |date=24 November 2012 |page=57 |publisher=Lulu.com}}</ref>

In the contemporary era, Han Chinese have continued to contribute to the development and growth of modern science and technology. Among such prominently illustrious names that have been honored, recognized, remembered, and respected for their historical groundbreaking achievements include [[Nobel Prize]] laureates [[Tu Youyou]], [[Steven Chu]], [[Samuel C.C. Ting]], [[Chen Ning Yang]], [[Tsung-Dao Lee]], [[Yuan T. Lee]], [[Daniel C. Tsui]], [[Roger Y. Tsien]] and [[Charles K. Kao]] (known as the "Godfather of Broadband" and "Father of Fiber Optics");<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/master-of-light-awarded-nobel-prize-1798723.html |title='Master of Light' awarded Nobel Prize |work=The Independent |last=Ferguson |first=Ben |date=7 October 2009 |access-date=22 August 2017 |archive-date=7 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307234016/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/master-of-light-awarded-nobel-prize-1798723.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Fields Medal#List of Fields medalists|Fields Medalist]]s [[Terence Tao]] and [[Shing-Tung Yau]] as well as [[Turing Award]] winner [[Andrew Yao]]. [[Tsien Hsue-shen]] was a prominent aerospace engineer who helped to establish [[NASA]]'s [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/technology-obituaries/6630578/Qian-Xuesen.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/technology-obituaries/6630578/Qian-Xuesen.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Qian Xuesen |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=22 November 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Chen Jingrun]] was a noted mathematician recognized for his contributions to number theory, where he demonstrated that any sufficiently large even number can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers or a [[prime number]] and a [[semiprime]], a concept now known as [[Chen's theorem]].<ref>{{Cite journal |first=J. R. |last=Chen |year=1973 |title=On the representation of a larger even integer as the sum of a prime and the product of at most two primes |journal=Scientia Sinica |volume=16 |pages=157–176}}</ref>

The 1978 Wolf Prize in Physics inaugural recipient and physicist [[Chien-Shiung Wu]], nicknamed the "First Lady of Physics" contributed to the development of the [[Manhattan Project]] and radically altered modern physical theory and changed the conventionally accepted view of the structure of the universe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greatwomen.org/women-of-the-hall/search-the-hall-results/details/2/173-Wu |title=Chien-Shiung Wu |publisher=National Women's Hall of Fame |access-date=4 November 2012 |archive-date=22 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522214806/http://www.greatwomen.org/women-of-the-hall/search-the-hall-results/details/2/173-Wu }}</ref> The geometer [[Shiing-Shen Chern]] has been regarded as the "father of modern differential geometry" and has also been recognized as one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century. Chern was awarded the 1984 Wolf Prize in mathematics in recognition for his fundamental contributions to the development and growth of [[differential geometry]] and [[topology]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Chern.html|title=Chern biography: Shiing-shen Chern |first1=J J |last1=O'Connor |first2=E F |last2=Robertson |website=MacTutor History of Mathematics archive|access-date=16 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505191038/http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Chern.html |archive-date=5 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/12/06_chern.shtml |first1=Robert |last1=Sanders |title=Renowned mathematician Shiing-Shen Chern, who revitalized the study of geometry, has died at 93 in Tianjin, China |date=6 December 2004 |website=Berkeley News |access-date=16 January 2017 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608220726/https://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/12/06_chern.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/world/asia/shiingshen-chern-93-innovator-in-new-geometry-dies.html|url-access=subscription|title=Shiing-Shen Chern, 93, Innovator in New Geometry, Dies|last=Chang|first=Kenneth|date=7 December 2004|newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=16 January 2017|archive-date=25 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725154918/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/world/asia/shiingshen-chern-93-innovator-in-new-geometry-dies.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.ams.org/notices/199807/chern.pdf|title=Interview with Shiing Shen Chern |journal=Notices of the AMS |volume=45 |issue=7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120070054/http://www.ams.org/notices/199807/chern.pdf |archive-date= 20 January 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simon |first1=Udo |last2=Tjaden |first2=Ekkehard-H. |last3=Wefelscheid |first3=Heinrich |title=Shiing-Shen Chern's Centenary |journal=Results in Mathematics |date=October 2011 |volume=60 |issue=1–4 |pages=13–51 |doi=10.1007/s00025-011-0196-8 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://zalafilms.com/takingthelongviewfilm/synopsis.html|title=Taking the Long View: The Life of Shiing-shen Chern|website=zalafilms.com|access-date=8 May 2019|archive-date=16 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216121956/http://zalafilms.com/takingthelongviewfilm/synopsis.html|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=September 2024}} The botanist [[Shang Fa Yang]] was well-noted for his research that unlocked the key to prolonging freshness in fruits and flowers and "for his remarkable contributions to the understanding of the mechanism of biosynthesis, mode of action and applications of the plant hormone, [[Ethylene]]."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wolffund.org.il/cat.asp?id=14&cat_title=AGRICULTURE |title=The Wolf Prize in Agriculture |access-date=23 August 2023 |archive-date=5 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305182526/http://www.wolffund.org.il/cat.asp?id=14&cat_title=AGRICULTURE |url-status=live }}</ref> The agronomist [[Yuan Longping]], regarded as the "Father of Hybrid Rice" was famous for developing the world's first set of [[hybrid rice]] varieties in the 1970s, which was then part of the [[Green Revolution]] that marked a major scientific breakthrough within the field of modern agricultural research.<ref name="Economist-obit">{{Cite news|date=29 May 2021|title=Obituary Yuan Longping|url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/2021/05/29/yuan-longping-died-on-may-22nd|newspaper=The Economist|volume=439 Number 9247|page=86|access-date=23 August 2023|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624184507/https://www.economist.com/obituary/2021/05/29/yuan-longping-died-on-may-22nd|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/world/asia/yuan-longping-dead.html|title= Yuan Longping, Plant Scientist Who Helped Curb Famine, Dies at 90|newspaper= The New York Times|date= 23 May 2021|access-date= 26 May 2021|last1= Bradsher|first1= Keith|last2= Buckley|first2= Chris|archive-date= 26 May 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210526013958/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/world/asia/yuan-longping-dead.html|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|year=2004|title=Dr. Monty Jones and Yuan Longping|url=https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/20002009_laureates/2004_jones_and_yuan/|access-date=24 October 2017|publisher=[[World Food Prize]]|archive-date=25 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625025623/https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/20002009_laureates/2004_jones_and_yuan/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=CCTV-"杂交水稻之父"袁隆平|trans-title="Father of hybrid rice" Yuan Longping|url=http://news.cctv.com/special/C18407//index.shtml|access-date=24 October 2017|publisher=[[China Central Television]]|archive-date=9 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200909013119/http://news.cctv.com/special/C18407//index.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> The physical chemist [[Ching W. Tang]], was the inventor of the [[organic light-emitting diode]] (OLED) and hetero-junction [[organic photovoltaic cell]] (OPV) and is widely considered the "Father of [[Organic electronics|Organic Electronics]]".<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1557/mrs.2012.125 |title=Energy efficiency with organic electronics: Ching W. Tang revisits his days at Kodak |year=2012 |last1=Forrest |first1=Stephen |journal=MRS Bulletin |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=552–53|bibcode=2012MRSBu..37..552F |doi-access=free }}</ref> Biochemist [[Chi-Huey Wong]] is well known for his pioneering research in glycoscience research and developing the first enzymatic method for the large-scale synthesis of oligosaccharides and the first programmable automated synthesis of oligosaccharides. The chemical biologist [[Chuan He]] is notable for his work in discovering and deciphering reversible [[RNA]] methylation in post-transcriptional gene expression regulation.<ref name="Grand Challenge">{{cite journal | vauthors = He C | title = Grand Challenge Commentary: RNA epigenetics? | journal = Nat. Chem. Biol. | volume = 6 | issue = 12 | pages = 863–865 | date = November 2010 | doi = 10.1038/nchembio.482 | pmid = 21079590}}</ref> Chuan is also noteworthy for having invented TAB-seq, a biochemical method that can map 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) at base-resolution genome-wide, as well as hmC-Seal, a method that covalently labels 5hmC for its detection and profiling.<ref name="Yu 2012">{{cite journal | vauthors = Yu M, Hon GC, Szulwach KE, Song CX, Zhang L, Kim A, Li XK, Dai Q, Shen Y, Park B, Min JH, Jin P, Ren B, He C | title = Base-resolution analysis of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in the mammalian genome. | journal = Cell | volume = 149 | issue = 6 | pages = 1368–1380 | date = June 2012 | doi = 10.1016/j.cell.2012.04.027 | pmc = 3589129 | pmid=22608086}}</ref><ref name="Song 2011">{{cite journal | vauthors = Song CX, Szulwach KE, Fu Y, Dai Q, Yi C, Li X, Li Y, Chen CH, Zhang W, Jian X, Wang J, Zhang L, Looney TJ, Zhang B, Godley LA, Hicks LM, Lahn BT, Jin P, He C | title = Selective chemical labeling reveals the genome-wide distribution of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine | journal = Nat. Biotechnol. | volume = 29 | issue = 1 | pages = 68–72 | date = 2011 | doi = 10.1038/nbt.1732 | pmid=21151123 | pmc=3107705}}</ref>

Other prominent Han Chinese who have made notable contributions the development and growth of modern science and technology include the medical researcher, physician, and virologist [[David Ho (scientist)|David Ho]], who was one of the first scientists to propose that AIDS was caused by a virus, thus subsequently developing combination antiretroviral therapy to combat it. In recognition of his medical contributions, Ho was named [[Time Person of the Year|''Time'' magazine Person of the Year]] in 1996.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19961230,00.html |title=Dr David Ho, Man of the Year |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=30 December 1996 |access-date=17 October 2012 |archive-date=30 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230124354/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19961230,00.html }}</ref> The medical researcher and transplant surgeon [[Patrick Soon-Shiong]] is the inventor of the drug [[Abraxane]], which became known for its efficacy against lung, breast, and pancreatic cancer.<ref name="Forb 2020/08/27">{{Cite magazine|last=Knapp|first=Alex|date=27 August 2020|title=The Inside Story Of Biotech's Barnum And His Covid Cures|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2020/08/27/the-inside-story-of-biotechs-barnum-and-his-covid-cures/|access-date=27 August 2020|magazine=Forbes|language=en|archive-date=25 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231125040411/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2020/08/27/the-inside-story-of-biotechs-barnum-and-his-covid-cures/|url-status=live}}</ref> Soon-Shiong is also well known for performing the first whole-pancreas transplant<ref name="UMagUCLA15">{{cite journal | author = Light, Leti McNeill | date = 2015 | issue = Spring | title = Visions of Progress and Courage [Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong — Medical Visionary Award] | journal = U Magazine | format = print and online | pages = 42f | url = http://magazine.uclahealth.org/workfiles/UMagazine_Spring_2015.pdf | access-date = 20 November 2016 | archive-date = 11 September 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150911073242/http://magazine.uclahealth.org/workfiles/UMagazine_Spring_2015.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>Whole [[pancreas transplantation]] began as a part of multi-organ transplants, in the mid-to-late 1960s, at the [[University of Minnesota]]. See {{cite journal |author1=Squifflet, J.P. |author2=Gruessner, R.W. |author3=Sutherland, D.E. | date = 2008 | title = The History of Pancreas Transplantation: Past, Present and Future | journal = Acta Chir. Belg. | volume = 108 | issue = 3, May–June | pages = 367–378 |doi=10.1080/00015458.2008.11680243 | quote = The first attempt to cure type 1 diabetes by pancreas transplantation was done at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, on December 17, 1966... [This] opened the door to a period, between the mid-[1970s] to mid-[1980s] where only segmental pancreatic grafts were used... In the late [1970s] – early [1980s], three major events... boosted the development of pancreas transplantation... [At] the Spitzingsee meetings, participants had the idea to renew the urinary drainage technique of the exocrine secretion of the pancreatic graft with segmental graft and eventually with whole pancreaticoduodenal transplant. That was clinically achieved during the mid-[1980s] and remained the mainstay technique during the next decade. In parallel, the Swedish group developed the whole pancreas transplantation technique with enteric diversion. It was the onset of the whole pancreas reign. The enthusiasm for the technique was rather moderated in its early phase due to the rapid development of liver transplantation and the need for sharing vascular structures between both organs, liver and pancreas. During the modern era of immunosuppression, the whole pancreas transplantation technique with enteric diversion became the gold standard... [for SPK, PAK, PTA]. | pmid=18710120 }}</ref> and he developed and first performed the experimental [[Type 1 diabetes]]-treatment known as encapsulated-human-[[Islet transplantation|islet transplant]], and the "first pig-to-man islet-cell transplant in diabetic patients."<ref name="UMagUCLA15" /> The physician and physiologist [[Thomas Ming Swi Chang]] is the inventor of the world's first [[artificial cell]] made from a permeable plastic sack that would effectively carry hemoglobin around the human circulatory system.<ref name="pioneer">[https://www.mcgill.ca/about/history/mcgill-pioneers/chang Thomas Chang, Professor of Physiology | About McGill – McGill University] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727222720/http://www.mcgill.ca/about/history/mcgill-pioneers/chang |date=27 July 2017 }}. Mcgill.ca. Retrieved on 25 May 2012.</ref> Chang is also noteworthy for his development of charcoal-filled cells to treat drug poisoning in addition to the discovery of enzymes carried by artificial cells as a medical tool to correct the faults within some metabolic disorders.<ref>[https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-13530 The Governor General of Canada > Honours > Recipients > Thomas Ming Swi Chang] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906235442/https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-13530 |date=6 September 2023 }}. Gg.ca. Retrieved on 3 March 2020.</ref> [[Min Chueh Chang]] was the co-inventor of the [[combined oral contraceptive pill]] and is known for his pioneering work and significant contributions to the development of [[in vitro fertilization]] at the [[Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Min Chueh Chang |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]] |url=http://www.nap.edu/html/biomems/mchang.html |access-date=15 September 2012 |archive-date=12 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512031801/http://www.nap.edu/html/biomems/mchang.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Chang Min-Chueh |encyclopedia=Britannica Online for Kids |url=http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9319254/Chang-Min-Chueh |access-date=6 January 2013 |archive-date=14 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514203948/http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-9319254/Chang-Min-Chueh |url-status=live }}</ref> Biochemist [[Choh Hao Li]] discovered [[Growth hormone|human growth hormone]] (and subsequently used it to treat a form of [[dwarfism]] caused by [[growth hormone deficiency]]), [[beta-endorphin]] (the most powerful of the body's natural painkillers), [[follicle-stimulating hormone]] and [[luteinizing hormone]] (the key hormone used in [[fertility testing]], an example is the [[ovulation]] home test).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-02-mn-17142-story.html |title=Discovered Human Growth Hormone: Choh Hao Li, 74; Endocrinologist at UC |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |last=Maugh II |first=Thomas |date=2 December 1987 |access-date=26 November 2012 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005001756/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-12-02/news/mn-17142_1_human-growth-hormone |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CHL">{{cite web |title=Choh Hao Li |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]] |url=http://www.nap.edu/readingroom.php?book=biomems&page=cli.html |access-date=15 September 2012 |archive-date=2 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002123345/http://www.nap.edu/readingroom.php?book=biomems&page=cli.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Joe Hin Tjio]] was a cytogeneticist renowned as the first person to recognize the normal number of human chromosomes, a breakthrough in [[karyotype]] [[cytogenetics|genetics]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/dec/11/guardianobituaries.medicalscience |title=Joe Hin Tjio The man who cracked the chromosome count |work=[[The Guardian]] |last=Wright |first=Pearce |date=11 December 2001 |access-date=14 December 2016 |archive-date=25 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825151411/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/dec/11/guardianobituaries.medicalscience |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/07/us/joe-hin-tjio-82-research-biologist-counted-chromosomes.html |title=Joe Hin Tjio, 82; Research Biologist Counted Chromosomes |work=[[The New York Times]] |last=Saxon |first=Wolfgang |date=7 December 2001 |access-date=19 February 2017 |archive-date=12 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512193836/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/07/us/joe-hin-tjio-82-research-biologist-counted-chromosomes.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The bio-engineer [[Yuan-Cheng Fung]], was regarded as the "Father of modern [[biomechanics]]" for pioneering the application of quantitative and analytical engineering principles to the study of the human body and disease.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=01042007 |title=News from the National Academies |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]] |date=4 January 2007 |access-date=8 November 2012 |archive-date=12 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512151122/http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=01042007 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nae.edu/Activities/Projects/Awards/RussPrize/RussWinners/page20079101/55231.aspx |title=Dr. Yuan-Cheng 'Bert' Fung |publisher=National Academy of Engineering |year=2007 |access-date=8 November 2012 |archive-date=15 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615064155/http://www.nae.edu/Activities/Projects/Awards/RussPrize/RussWinners/page20079101/55231.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> China's system of "[[barefoot doctors]]" was among the most important inspirations for the [[World Health Organization]] conference in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan in 1978, and was hailed as a revolutionary breakthrough in international health ideology emphasizing [[primary health care]] and [[preventive medicine]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fleck |first1=Fiona |title=Consensus during the Cold War: back to Alma-Ata |journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization |date=October 2008 |volume=86 |issue=10 |pages=745–746 |id={{Gale|A188738637}} {{ProQuest|229653110}} |doi=10.2471/blt.08.031008 |pmid=18949208 |pmc=2649520 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weiyuan |first1=Cui |title=China's village doctors take great strides. |journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization |date=December 2008 |volume=86 |issue=12 |pages=914–915 |id={{Gale|A19230921}} {{ProQuest|229652120}} |doi=10.2471/blt.08.021208 |pmid=19142288 |pmc=2649581 }}</ref>

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Chinese folk religion|Three teachings|Chinese folk religion in Southeast Asia|Religion in China}}

[[File:Wudang Mountain (54131067531).jpg|thumb|[[Taoism|Taoist]] temple on top of [[Wudang Mountains]] in [[Hubei]], [[China]].]]
[[File:Confucius_Laozi_Buddha.jpg|thumb|[[Confucius]] handing over an infant [[Gautama Buddha]] to an elderly [[Laozi]].]]

[[Confucianism]], [[Taoism]], and [[Chinese Buddhism]], as well as other various traditional homegrown Chinese philosophies, have influenced not only Han Chinese culture, but also the [[East Asian religions|neighboring cultures in East Asia]]. Chinese spiritual culture has been long characterized by [[religious pluralism]] and [[Chinese folk religion]] has always maintained a profound influence within the confines of Chinese civilization both historically and in the modern era. Indigenous Confucianism and Taoism share aspects of being a philosophy or a religion and neither demand exclusive adherence, resulting in a culture of tolerance and [[syncretism]], where multiple religions or belief systems are often practiced in conjunction with local customs and traditions. Han culture has for long been influenced by [[Mahayana Buddhism]], while in recent centuries [[Christianity in China|Christianity]] has also gained a foothold among the population.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Anderlini|first=Jamil|date=7 November 2014|title=The rise of Christianity in China|url=https://www.ft.com/content/a6d2a690-6545-11e4-91b1-00144feabdc0|access-date=4 January 2021|website=www.ft.com|language=en-GB|archive-date=15 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215031743/https://www.ft.com/content/a6d2a690-6545-11e4-91b1-00144feabdc0|url-status=live}}</ref>

Chinese folk religion is a set of worship traditions of the [[Shen (Chinese religion)|ethnic deities]] of the Han people. It involves the worship of various extraordinary figures in [[Chinese mythology]] and [[History of China|history]], heroic personnel such as [[Guan Yu]] and [[Qu Yuan]], mythological creatures such as the [[Chinese dragon]] or family, clan and national ancestors. These practices vary from region to region and do not characterize an organized religion, though many [[List of observances set by the Chinese calendar|traditional Chinese holidays]] such as the [[Dragon Boat Festival|Duanwu (or Dragon Boat) Festival]], [[Qingming Festival]], [[Ghost Festival|Zhongyuan Festival]] and the [[Mid-Autumn Festival]] come from the most popular of these traditions.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

[[Taoism]], another [[indigenous religion|indigenous Han philosophy and religion]], is also widely practiced by the Han in both its folk forms and as an organized religion with its traditions having been a source of vestigial perennial influence on Chinese art, poetry, philosophy, [[Taoist music|music]], [[Traditional Chinese medicine|medicine]], [[Chinese astronomy|astronomy]], [[Neidan]] and [[Chinese alchemy|alchemy]], [[Taoist diet|dietary habits]], [[Neijia]] and other [[Chinese martial arts|martial arts]] and [[Chinese architecture|architecture]]. Taoism was the state religion during the Han and Tang eras where it also often enjoyed state patronage under subsequent emperors and successive ruling dynasties.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

Confucianism, although sometimes described as a religion, is another indigenous governing philosophy and moral code with some religious elements like ancestor worship. It continues to be deeply ingrained in modern Chinese culture and was the official state philosophy in ancient China during the [[Han dynasty]] and until the [[Fall of the Qing dynasty|fall of imperial China in the 20th century]] (though it is worth noting that there is a [[New Confucianism|movement in China today advocating that the culture be "re-Confucianized")]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Yi-Huah | title=Confucian Political Theory in Contemporary China |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |year=2018 |volume=21 |pages=155–173 |doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-041916-020230 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

During the Han dynasty, [[Confucian]] ideals were the dominant ideology. Near the end of the dynasty, Buddhism entered China, later gaining popularity. Historically, Buddhism alternated between periods of state tolerance (and even patronage) and [[Four Buddhist Persecutions in China|persecution]]. In its original form, certain ideas in [[Pre-sectarian Buddhism|Buddhism]] was not quite compatible with traditional Chinese cultural values, especially with the Confucian sociopolitical elite, as certain Buddhist values conflicted with Chinese sensibilities. However, through centuries of mutual tolerance, assimilation, adaptation, and syncretism, [[Chinese Buddhism]] gained a respectable place in the culture. Chinese Buddhism was also influenced by Confucianism and Taoism and exerted influence in turn – such as in the form of [[Neo-Confucianism]] and Buddhist influences in Chinese folk religion, such as the cult of Guanyin, who is treated as a Bodhisattva, immortal, goddess or exemplar of Confucian virtue, depending on the tradition. The four largest schools of Han Buddhism (Chan, Jingtu, Tiantai and Huayan) were all developed in China and later spread throughout the Chinese sphere of influence.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

Though [[Christianity in China|Christian influence in China]] existed as early as the 7th century, Christianity did not gain a significant foothold in China until the [[Europeans in Medieval China|establishment of contact with European]]s during the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing dynasty|Qing dynasties]]. Christian beliefs often had conflicts with traditional Chinese values and customs which eventually resulted in the [[Chinese Rites controversy]] and a subsequent reduction in Christian influence in the country. Christianity grew considerably following the [[First Opium War]], after which foreign missionaries in China enjoyed the protection of the Western powers and engaged in widespread proselytizing.<ref>{{cite book|first = Alvyn|last = Austin|year = 2007|title = China's Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late Qing Society|publisher = Eerdmans|location = Grand Rapids, Michigan|isbn =978-0-8028-2975-7}}</ref>

The People's Republic of China government defined Chinese-speaking Muslims as a separate ethnic group, the "[[Hui people|Hui People]]". This was opposed by the Republic of China government and Muslim celebrities such as [[Bai Chongxi]], the founder of the [[Chinese Muslim Association]]. Han Chinese Muslims were categorised as "[[:zh:第一屆中華民國國民大會代表#內地生活習慣特殊國民代表|inland nationals with special living customs]]" under the Republic of China government.<ref>Muslim Chinese : ethnic nationalism in the People's Republic. Gladney, Dru C. Cambridge, Mass,1996</ref> Bai Chongxi believed that "Hui" is an alternative name for [[Islam in China|Islam]] as a religion in the Chinese language instead of the name for any ethnic group, and that Chinese-speaking Muslims should not be considered as a separate ethnic group apart from other Han Chinese.<ref>白崇禧先生访问纪录（下册）第五七四章</ref>

== Genetics ==
{{Main|Genetic history of East Asians#Han Chinese|Peopling of China}}

=== Internal genetic structure ===
The reference population for the Han Chinese used in [[Genographic Project#Geno 2.0 Next Generation|Geno 2.0 Next Generation]] is 81% Eastern Asia, 2% Finland and Northern Siberia, 8% Central Asia, and 7% Southeast Asia & Oceania.<ref>[[Genographic Project#Geno 2.0 Next Generation|Reference Populations - Geno 2.0 Next Generation]] . (2017). [[Genographic Project|The Genographic Project]]. Retrieved 15 May 2017, from [https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/reference-populations-next-gen/ link.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031612/https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/reference-populations-next-gen// |date=7 February 2017 }}</ref> The internal genetic structure of the Han Chinese is consistent with the vast geographical expanse of China. The recorded history of large [[Northern and Southern dynasties#Demographics|migratory waves]] over the past several millennia have also engendered the emergence of diverse [[Han Chinese subgroups|Han subgroups]], who display slight but discernible physical and physiological differences. Although genetically similar, Han Chinese subgroups exhibit a north–south stratification in their genetics,<ref name="GS">{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Jieming |last2=Zheng |first2=Houfeng |last3=Bei |first3=Jin-Xin |last4=Sun |first4=Liangdan |last5=Jia |first5=Wei-hua |last6=Li |first6=Tao |last7=Zhang |first7=Furen |last8=Seielstad |first8=Mark |last9=Zeng |first9=Yi-Xin |last10=Zhang |first10=X |last11=Liu |first11=J |display-authors=9 |year=2009 |title=Genetic Structure of the Han Chinese Population Revealed by Genome-wide SNP Variation |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=85 |issue=6 |pages=775–85 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2009.10.016 |pmc=2790583 |pmid=19944401}}</ref><ref name="HC">{{cite journal |last1=Zhao |first1=Yong-Bin |last2=Zhang |first2=Ye |last3=Zhang |first3=Quan-Chao |last4=Li |first4=Hong-Jie |last5=Cui |first5=Ying-Qiu |last6=Xu |first6=Zhi |last7=Jin |first7=Li |last8=Zhou |first8=Hui |last9=Zhu |first9=Hong |date=4 May 2015 |editor1-last=Hofreiter |editor1-first=Michael |title=Ancient DNA Reveals That the Genetic Structure of the Northern Han Chinese Was Shaped Prior to 3,000 Years Ago |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=5 |article-number=e0125676 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1025676Z |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0125676 |pmc=4418768 |pmid=25938511 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Genetic evidence supports demic dif">{{cite journal |year=2004 |title=Genetic evidence supports demic diffusion of Han culture |journal=Nature |volume=431 |issue=7006 |pages=302–305 |bibcode=2004Natur.431..302W |doi=10.1038/nature02878 |pmid=15372031 |given1=Bo |surname1=Wen |given2=Hui |surname2=Li |given3=Daru |surname3=Lu |given4=Xiufeng |surname4=Song |given5=Feng |surname5=Zhang |given6=Yungang |surname6=He |given7=Feng |surname7=Li |given8=Yang |surname8=Gao |given9=Xianyun |surname9=Mao |given10=Liang |surname10=Zhang |given11=Ji |surname11=Qian |given12=Jingze |surname12=Tan |given13=Jianzhong |surname13=Jin |given14=Wei |surname14=Huang |given15=Ranjan |surname15=Deka |given16=Bing |surname16=Su |given17=Ranajit |surname17=Chakraborty |given18=Li |surname18=Jin}}</ref><ref name="PP">{{Cite journal |last1=Gan |first1=Rui-Jing |last2=Pan |first2=Shang-Ling |last3=Mustavich |first3=Laura F. |last4=Qin |first4=Zhen-Dong |last5=Cai |first5=Xiao-Yun |last6=Qian |first6=Ji |last7=Liu |first7=Cheng-Wu |last8=Peng |first8=Jun-Hua |last9=Li |first9=Shi-Lin |last10=Xu |first10=Jie-Shun |last11=Jin |first11=Li |last12=Li |first12=Hui |year=2008 |title=Pinghua population as an exception of Han Chinese's coherent genetic structure |journal=Journal of Human Genetics |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=303–13 |doi=10.1007/s10038-008-0250-x |pmid=18270655 |doi-access=free}}</ref> with centrally placed populations acting as conduits for outlying ones.<ref name="GS" /> Despite no clear genetic divide between the north and south due to the Han Chinese being a clinal population, many studies simply categorize the Han Chinese into two subgroups out of convenience: Northern and Southern Han Chinese.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhao |first1=Yong-Bin |last2=Zhang |first2=Ye |last3=Zhang |first3=Quan-Chao |last4=Li |first4=Hong-Jie |last5=Cui |first5=Ying-Qiu |last6=Xu |first6=Zhi |last7=Jin |first7=Li |last8=Zhou |first8=Hui |last9=Zhu |first9=Hong |date=2015 |title=Ancient DNA Reveals That the Genetic Structure of the Northern Han Chinese Was Shaped Prior to three-thousand Years Ago |journal=[[PLoS ONE]] |volume=10 |issue=5 |article-number=e0125676 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1025676Z |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0125676 |pmc=4418768 |pmid=25938511 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Several genetic studies show that both Northern and Southern Han Chinese share ancestry with [[Peopling of China#Archaeogenetic studies in the Central Plains|Neolithic Chinese populations from the Central Plains]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ning |first1=Chao |last2=Li |first2=Tianjiao |last3=Wang |first3=Ke |last4=Zhang |first4=Fan |last5=Li |first5=Tao |last6=Wu |first6=Xiyan |last7=Gao |first7=Shizhu |last8=Zhang |first8=Quanchao |last9=Zhang |first9=Hai |last10=Hudson |first10=Mark J. |last11=Dong |first11=Guanghui |last12=Wu |first12=Sihao |last13=Fang |first13=Yanming |last14=Liu |first14=Chen |last15=Feng |first15=Chunyan |last16=Li |first16=Wei |last17=Han |first17=Tao |last18=Li |first18=Ruo |last19=Wei |first19=Jian |last20=Zhu |first20=Yonggang |last21=Zhou |first21=Yawei |last22=Wang |first22=Chuan-Chao |last23=Fan |first23=Shengying |last24=Xiong |first24=Zenglong |last25=Sun |first25=Zhouyong |last26=Ye |first26=Maolin |last27=Sun |first27=Lei |last28=Wu |first28=Xiaohong |last29=Liang |first29=Fawei |last30=Cao |first30=Yanpeng |last31=Wei |first31=Xingtao |last32=Zhu |first32=Hong |last33=Zhou |first33=Hui |last34=Krause |first34=Johannes |last35=Robbeets |first35=Martine |last36=Jeong |first36=Choongwon |last37=Cui |first37=Yinqiu |title=Ancient genomes from northern China suggest links between subsistence changes and human migration |journal=Nature Communications |date=June 2020 |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=2700 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-16557-2 |pmid=32483115 |pmc=7264253 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.2700N }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gao |first1=Shizhu |last2=Cui |first2=Yinqiu |title=Ancient genomes reveal the origin and evolutionary history of Chinese populations |journal=Frontiers in Earth Science |date=10 January 2023 |volume=10 |article-number=1059196 |doi=10.3389/feart.2022.1059196 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023FrEaS..1059196G }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Xiyan |last2=Ding |first2=Baoxu |last3=Nie |first3=Linyi |last4=Zhong |first4=Canshuo |last5=Liu |first5=Pengxiang |last6=Liang |first6=Jingteng |last7=Wang |first7=Lin |last8=Gao |first8=Xiangping |last9=Wei |first9=Jiyin |last10=Zhou |first10=Yawei |title=Genomic insights into the complex demographic history and inbreeding phenomena during Zhou Dynasty on the Central Plains of China |journal=Frontiers in Microbiology |date=13 September 2024 |volume=15 |article-number=1471740 |doi=10.3389/fmicb.2024.1471740 |doi-access=free |pmid=39345259 |pmc=11427373 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gao |first1=Xing |title=Explore the ancient roots of the Huaxia people and Chinese civilization |journal=International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology |date=17 June 2024 |volume=8 |issue=1 |article-number=10 |doi=10.1186/s41257-024-00111-9 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Northern Han Chinese and Southern Han Chinese can be modeled as having Neolithic Yellow River ([[Sino-Tibetan peoples|Sino-Tibetan]]) and [[Kra–Dai-speaking peoples|Kra-Dai]] ancestries, although Kra-Dai ancestry is more common in Southern Han.<ref name=":0">{{cite report |type=Preprint |doi=10.1101/2020.11.08.373225 |title=Genomic Insights into the Demographic History of Southern Chinese |date=2020 |last1=Huang |first1=Xiufeng |last2=Xia |first2=Zi-Yang |last3=Bin |first3=Xiaoyun |last4=He |first4=Guanglin |last5=Guo |first5=Jianxin |last6=Lin |first6=Chaowen |last7=Yin |first7=Lianfei |last8=Zhao |first8=Jing |last9=Ma |first9=Zhuofei |last10=Ma |first10=Fuwei |last11=Li |first11=Yingxiang |last12=Hu |first12=Rong |last13=Wei |first13=Lan-Hai |last14=Wang |first14=Chuan-Chao |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":422">{{Cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Xiufeng |last2=Xia |first2=Zi-Yang |last3=Bin |first3=Xiaoyun |last4=He |first4=Guanglin |display-authors=3 |date=2022 |title=Genomic Insights Into the Demographic History of the Southern Chinese |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=10 |article-number=853391 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2022.853391 |doi-access=free }}</ref> According to a 2025 study, modern Han Chinese are the most related to lower Yellow River populations from the Middle Neolithic period.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Xong |first=Jianxue |last2=Xu |first2=Yu |last3=Chen |first3=Guoke |last4=Jin |first4=Li |display-authors=3 |date=2025 |title=The genomic history of East Asian Middle Neolithic millet- and rice-agricultural populations |url=https://www.cell.com/cell-genomics/fulltext/S2666-979X(25)00232-0 |journal=Cell Genomics |volume=5 |issue=10 |via=Cell}}</ref>Despite shared Neolithic Yellow River ancestry, Han sub-groups slightly differ in their ancestral components, reflective of their vast demographic history. Specifically, they tend to share some maternal ancestry with geographically close minority groups. For example, Southern Han show evidence of being admixed with populations of Tai-Kadai and Austronesian ancestry. Southwestern Han show admixture with [[Hmong people|Hmong-Mien]] speakers, whilst Northwestern Han have very minor West Eurasian ancestral components, dating 4,500–1,200/1,300 years ago. Northeastern Han have more Yellow River Basin and Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry than Southern Han Chinese.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Jingbin |last2=Zhang |first2=Xianpeng |last3=Li |first3=Xin |last4=Sui |first4=Jie |date=2022 |title=Genetic structure and demographic history of Northern Han people in Liaoning Province inferred from genome-wide array data |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=10 |article-number=1014024 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2022.1014024 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2022FrEEv..1014024Z }}</ref>  

Variation notwithstanding, Han Chinese subgroups are genetically closer to each other than they each are to their Korean and Yamato neighbors,<ref name="pmid 29636655">{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Yuchen |last2=Lu |first2=Dongsheng |last3=Chung |first3=Yeun-Jun |last4=Xu |first4=Shuhua |year=2018 |title=Genetic structure, divergence and admixture of Han Chinese, Japanese and Korean populations |journal=Hereditas |publication-date=6 April 2018 |volume=155 |article-number=19 |doi=10.1186/s41065-018-0057-5 |pmc=5889524 |pmid=29636655 |doi-access=free}}</ref> to whom they are also genetically close in general. The close genetic relationship between the Han across the entirety of China has led to their characterization as having a "coherent genetic structure".<ref name="HC" /><ref name="PP" />

The two notable exceptions to this structure are [[Pinghua]] and [[Tanka people]],<ref>{{cite journal |author=McFadzean A.J.S., Todd D. |year=1971 |title=Cooley's anaemia among the tanka of South China |journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=59–62 |doi=10.1016/0035-9203(71)90185-4 |pmid=5092429}}</ref> who on their patrilines, bear a closer genetic resemblance to aboriginal peoples, but have Han matrilines. The Tanka are a group of boat-dwellers who speak a Sinitic language and who claim Han ancestry, but who have traditionally faced severe discrimination from the other Southern Han subgroups. Unlike the Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan Han (whose dominant Y-chromosome haplotype is the Han patriline O2-M122), the Tanka have been shown instead to have a predominantly non-Han patriline similar to Daic peoples from Guizhou.<ref name="UG">{{Cite journal |last1=Luo |first1=Xiao-Qin |last2=Du |first2=Pan-Xin |last3=Wang |first3=Ling-Xiang |last4=Zhou |first4=Bo-Yan |last5=Li |first5=Yu-Chun |last6=Zheng |first6=Hong-Xiang |last7=Wei |first7=Lan-Hai |last8=Liu |first8=Jun-Jian |last9=Sun |first9=Chang |last10=Meng |first10=Hai-Liang |last11=Tan |first11=Jing-Ze |last12=Su |first12=Wen-Jing |last13=Wen |first13=Shao-Qing |last14=Li |first14=Hui |date=2019 |title=Uniparental Genetic Analyses Reveal the Major Origin of Fujian Tanka from Ancient Indigenous Daic Populations |journal=Human Biology |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=257–277 |doi=10.13110/humanbiology.91.4.05 |pmid=32767896 }}</ref><ref name="GF">{{Cite journal |last=He |first=Guanglin |date=16 November 2021 |title=The genomic formation of the Tanka people, an isolated "gypsies in the water" in the coastal region of southeast China |journal=Wiley, American Journal of Biological Anthropology}}</ref> However, matrilineally, the Tanka are closely clustered with the Hakka Han and Teochew Han, rather than with Austronesian or Austroasiatic populations, thus supporting an admixture hypothesis and validating, even if only partially, their own claims to Han ancestry.<ref name="UG" /><ref name="GF" />[[File:Han chinese genetic 0.png|thumb|upright=1.45|A PCA graph illustrates the genetic differences among Han Chinese subgroups.<ref>{{cite journal |display-authors=6 |vauthors=Cao Y, Li L, Xu M, Feng Z, Sun X, Lu J, Xu Y, Du P, Wang T, Hu R, Ye Z, Shi L, Tang X, Yan L, Gao Z, Chen G, Zhang Y, Chen L, Ning G, Bi Y, Wang W |date=September 2020 |title=The ChinaMAP analytics of deep whole genome sequences in 10,588 individuals |journal=Cell Research |volume=30 |issue=9 |pages=717–731 |doi=10.1038/s41422-020-0322-9 |pmc=7609296 |pmid=32355288}}</ref>]]

=== Demic diffusion and north–south differences ===
The estimated genetic contribution of Northern Han to Southern Han is substantial in the ancestral patrilineage in addition to a geographic [[cline (biology)|cline]] that exists for the corresponding matrilineage. These genetic findings align with the historic trend of Northern Han migrants settling in Southern China due to dynastic changes, geopolitical upheavals, instability, warfare and famine.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gernet |first=Jacques |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchinese00gern_0 |title=A History of Chinese Civilization |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-521-49781-7 |edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name="Genetic evidence supports demic dif" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Crawford |first1=Dorothy H. |title=Cancer Virus: The story of Epstein-Barr Virus |last2=Rickinson |first2=Alan |last3=Johannessen |first3=Ingolfur |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |publication-date=14 March 2014 |page=98}}</ref><ref name="Springer" /><ref name="Six Dynasties" /><ref name="MS" /><ref name="QC" /><ref name="China: A New Cultural History" /><ref name="The History of China" /><ref name="books.google.com" /><ref name="Hunter Publishing, Inc" /><ref name="China: An Environmental History" /><ref name="Lexington Books" /><ref name="Cambridge University Press" /><ref name="Newspaper Enterprise Limited" /><ref name="Rowman Altamira" />{{Excessive citations inline|date=September 2024}} The subsequent intermarriages between Northern Han migrants and southern aborigines over the past few thousand years gave rise to modern Chinese demographics—a Han Chinese super-majority and minority non-Han Chinese indigenous peoples.<ref name="Genetic evidence supports demic dif" />

Han Chinese from Fujian and Guangdong show excessive ancestries from [[Peopling of China#Archaeogenetic studies in southern China|Late Neolithic Fujianese]]-related sources (35.0–40.3%), which are more significant in modern [[Amis people|Ami]], [[Atayal people|Atayal]] and [[Kankanaey people|Kankanaey]] (66.9–74.3%), and less significant in Han Chinese from Zhejiang (22%), Jiangsu (17%) and Shandong (8%). This suggests significant genetic contribution from Kra-Dai-related peoples. They also have ancestry from [[Austroasiatic languages#Austroasiatic migrations and archaeogenetics|Neolithic Mekong]]-related sources but this is less significant (21.8–23.6%). Among the Han subgroups, Han Chinese from Guangxi exhibit the lowest northern East Asian ancestry (33.8 ± 4.8%)<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Xiufeng |last2=Xia |first2=Zi-Yang |last3=Bin |first3=Xiaoyun |last4=He |first4=Guanglin |display-authors=3 |date=2022 |title=Genomic Insights Into the Demographic History of the Southern Chinese |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=10 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2022.853391 |doi-access=free |article-number=853391}}</ref> although other studies suggest Cantonese, Fujianese and Taiwanese Han.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Jieming |last2=Zheng |first2=Houfeng |last3=Bei |first3=Jin-Xin |last4=Sun |first4=Liangdan |last5=Jia |first5=Wei-hua |last6=Li |first6=Tao |last7=Zhang |first7=Furen |last8=Seielstad |first8=Mark |last9=Zeng |first9=Yi-Xin |last10=Zhang |first10=Xuejun |last11=Liu |first11=Jianjun |date=December 2009 |title=Genetic Structure of the Han Chinese Population Revealed by Genome-wide SNP Variation |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=85 |issue=6 |pages=775–785 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2009.10.016 |pmc=2790583 |pmid=19944401}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |title=Fine-scale Population Structure and Demographic History of Han Chinese Inferred from Haplotype Network of 111,000 Genomes |last1=Lan |first1=Ao |last2=Kang |first2=Kang |last3=Tang |first3=Senwei |last4=Wu |first4=Xiaoli |last5=Wang |first5=Lizhong |last6=Li |first6=Teng |last7=Weng |first7=Haoyi |last8=Deng |first8=Junjie |last9=Zheng |first9=Qiang |last10=Yao |first10=Xiaotian |last11=Chen |first11=Gang |date=2020 |doi=10.1101/2020.07.03.166413 |doi-access=free |type=Preprint}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=He |first1=Guanglin |last2=Li |first2=Yinxiang |last3=Zou |first3=Xing |last4=Yeh |first4=Hui-Yuan |display-authors=3 |date=2021 |title=The northern gene flow into southeastern East Asians inferred from genome wide array genotyping |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.25.453681v1.full |journal=bioRxiv |doi=10.1101/2021.07.25.453681 |url-access=subscription |quote=Fujian and Taiwan populations were localized at the southmost end of the Han Chinese cline and showed a close relationship with modern Tai-Kadai-speaking populations and ancient southern East Asians (Liangdao, Hanben, Tanshishan, Xitoucun and so on).}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lo |first1=Yun-Hua |last2=Cheng |first2=Hsueh-Chien |last3=Hsiung |first3=Chia-Ni |last4=Yang |first4=Show-Ling |last5=Wang |first5=Han-Yu |last6=Peng |first6=Chia-Wei |last7=Chen |first7=Chun-Yu |last8=Lin |first8=Kung-Ping |last9=Kang |first9=Mei-Ling |last10=Chen |first10=Chien-Hsiun |last11=Chu |first11=Hou-Wei |last12=Lin |first12=Chiao-Feng |last13=Lee |first13=Mei-Hsuan |last14=Liu |first14=Quintin |last15=Satta |first15=Yoko |date=27 September 2021 |title=Detecting Genetic Ancestry and Adaptation in the Taiwanese Han People |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=38 |issue=10 |pages=4149–4165 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msaa276 |pmc=8476137 |pmid=33170928 |last16=Lin |first16=Cheng-Jui |last17=Lin |first17=Marie |last18=Chaw |first18=Shu-Miaw |last19=Loo |first19=Jun-Hun |last20=Shen |first20=Chen-Yang |last21=Ko |first21=Wen-Ya}}</ref> Han Chinese from Guangxi and Hainan cluster with Han Chinese from Guangdong but exhibit admixture with minority groups from their respective provinces.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cong |first1=Pei-Kuan |last2=Bai |first2=Wei-Yang |last3=Li |first3=Jin-Chen |last4=Yang |first4=Meng-Yuan |last5=Khederzadeh |first5=Saber |last6=Gai |first6=Si-Rui |last7=Li |first7=Nan |last8=Liu |first8=Yu-Heng |last9=Yu |first9=Shi-Hui |last10=Zhao |first10=Wei-Wei |last11=Liu |first11=Jun-Quan |last12=Sun |first12=Yi |last13=Zhu |first13=Xiao-Wei |last14=Zhao |first14=Pian-Pian |last15=Xia |first15=Jiang-Wei |date=26 May 2022 |title=Genomic analyses of 10,376 individuals in the Westlake BioBank for Chinese (WBBC) pilot project |journal=Nature Communications |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=2939 |bibcode=2022NatCo..13.2939C |doi=10.1038/s41467-022-30526-x |pmc=9135724 |pmid=35618720 |last16=Guan |first16=Peng-Lin |last17=Qian |first17=Yu |last18=Tao |first18=Jian-Guo |last19=Xu |first19=Lin |last20=Tian |first20=Geng |last21=Wang |first21=Ping-Yu |last22=Xie |first22=Shu-Yang |last23=Qiu |first23=Mo-Chang |last24=Liu |first24=Ke-Qi |last25=Tang |first25=Bei-Sha |last26=Zheng |first26=Hou-Feng}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zou |first1=Xing |last2=Nie |first2=Qianyun |last3=Li |first3=Wenhui |last4=Chen |first4=Yinyu |last5=Song |first5=Tao |last6=Zhang |first6=Peng |date=31 May 2024 |title=Genetic variation and phylogenetic analysis of 23 STR in Chinese Han population from Hainan, Southern China |journal=Medicine |volume=103 |issue=22 |article-number=e38428 |doi=10.1097/MD.0000000000038428 |pmc=11142786 |pmid=39259071}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Sun |first1=Qiuxia |last2=Wang |first2=Mengge |last3=Lu |first3=Tao |last4=Duan |first4=Shuhan |last5=Liu |first5=Yan |last6=Chen |first6=Jing |last7=Wang |first7=Zhiyong |last8=Sun |first8=Yuntao |last9=Li |first9=Xiangping |last10=Wang |first10=Shaomei |last11=Lu |first11=Liuyi |last12=Hu |first12=Liping |last13=Yun |first13=Libing |last14=Yang |first14=Junbao |last15=Yan |first15=Jiangwei |date=6 March 2024 |title=Differentiated adaptative genetic architecture and language-related demographical history in South China inferred from 619 genomes from 56 populations |journal=BMC Biology |volume=22 |issue=1 |page=55 |doi=10.1186/s12915-024-01854-9 |pmc=10918984 |pmid=38448908 |doi-access=free |last16=Nie |first16=Shengjie |last17=Zhu |first17=Yanfeng |last18=Chen |first18=Gang |last19=Wang |first19=Chuan-Chao |last20=Liu |first20=Chao |last21=He |first21=Guanglin |last22=Tang |first22=Renkuan}}</ref> One study shows higher affinities between Han Chinese from Northern Guangxi and local Austronesian, Kra-Dai and Austroasiatic groups compared to Han Chinese from Southern Guangxi.<ref name=":1" /> Another study shows stronger affinities between Han Chinese from Hainan and [[Tujia people|Tujia]], [[Bai people|Bai]], [[She people|She]], [[Yunnan]] [[Yi people|Yi]] and Sinitic-speaking populations compared to indigenous Hlai peoples, who show more Kra-Dai affinities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Jing |last2=Ye |first2=Ziwei |last3=Wang |first3=Zheng |last4=Zou |first4=Xing |display-authors=3 |date=2019 |title=Genetic diversity and phylogenetic analysis of Chinese Han and Li ethnic populations from Hainan Island by 30 autosomal insertion/deletion polymorphisms |journal=Forensic Sciences Research |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=189–195 |doi=10.1080/20961790.2019.1672933 |pmid=35784419 |pmc=9245983 }}</ref> [[Lingnan]] Han Chinese also share affinities with the Kinh Vietnamese,<ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last1=Cong |first1=Pei-Kuan |last2=Bai |first2=Wei-Yang |last3=Li |first3=Jin-Chen |last4=Yang |first4=Meng-Yuan |last5=Khederzadeh |first5=Saber |last6=Gai |first6=Si-Rui |last7=Li |first7=Nan |last8=Liu |first8=Yu-Heng |last9=Yu |first9=Shi-Hui |last10=Zhao |first10=Wei-Wei |last11=Liu |first11=Jun-Quan |last12=Sun |first12=Yi |last13=Zhu |first13=Xiao-Wei |last14=Zhao |first14=Pian-Pian |last15=Xia |first15=Jiang-Wei |date=26 May 2022 |title=Genomic analyses of 10,376 individuals in the Westlake BioBank for Chinese (WBBC) pilot project |journal=Nature Communications |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=2939 |bibcode=2022NatCo..13.2939C |doi=10.1038/s41467-022-30526-x |pmc=9135724 |pmid=35618720 |last16=Guan |first16=Peng-Lin |last17=Qian |first17=Yu |last18=Tao |first18=Jian-Guo |last19=Xu |first19=Lin |last20=Tian |first20=Geng |last21=Wang |first21=Ping-Yu |last22=Xie |first22=Shu-Yang |last23=Qiu |first23=Mo-Chang |last24=Liu |first24=Ke-Qi |last25=Tang |first25=Bei-Sha |last26=Zheng |first26=Hou-Feng}}</ref> although other studies show stronger affinities between [[Dai people]] and Kinh Vietnamese.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Yuchen |last2=Lu |first2=Dongsheng |last3=Chung |first3=Yeun-Jun |last4=Xu |first4=Shuhua |date=2018 |title=Genetic structure, divergence and admixture of Han Chinese, Japanese and Korean populations |journal=Hereditas |volume=155 |issue=19 |article-number=19 |doi=10.1186/s41065-018-0057-5 |pmid=29636655 |pmc=5889524 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=Yujing |last2=Dai |first2=Run |last3=Chen |first3=Wanlu |last4=Li |first4=Qi |date=2020 |title=Genetic polymorphisms of pharmacogenomic VIP variants in the Dai population from Yunnan province |journal=Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine |volume=8 |issue=7 |article-number=e1231 |doi=10.1002/mgg3.1231 |pmid=32347657 |pmc=7336744 }}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Hsin-Chou |last2=Chen |first2=Chia-Wen |last3=Lin |first3=Yu-Ting |last4=Chu |first4=Shih-Kai |date=2021 |title=Genetic ancestry plays a central role in population pharmacogenomics |journal=Communications Biology |volume=4 |issue=171 |page=171 |doi=10.1038/s42003-021-01681-6 |pmid=33547344 |pmc=7864978 }}</ref> Ancient population admixture with Ami and Atayal exists for Han Chinese from Guangdong and [[Sichuan]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chiang |first1=Charleston W K |last2=Mangul |first2=Serghei |last3=Robles |first3=Christopher |last4=Sankararaman |first4=Sriram |date=November 2018 |title=A Comprehensive Map of Genetic Variation in the World's Largest Ethnic Group—Han Chinese |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=35 |issue=11 |pages=2736–2750 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msy170 |pmc=6693441 |pmid=30169787}}</ref><ref name="Detecting Genetic Ancestry and Adap">{{cite journal |last1=Lo |first1=Yun-Hua |last2=Cheng |first2=Hsueh-Chien |last3=Hsiung |first3=Chia-Ni |last4=Yang |first4=Show-Ling |last5=Wang |first5=Han-Yu |last6=Peng |first6=Chia-Wei |last7=Chen |first7=Chun-Yu |last8=Lin |first8=Kung-Ping |last9=Kang |first9=Mei-Ling |last10=Chen |first10=Chien-Hsiun |last11=Chu |first11=Hou-Wei |last12=Lin |first12=Chiao-Feng |last13=Lee |first13=Mei-Hsuan |last14=Liu |first14=Quintin |last15=Satta |first15=Yoko |date=27 September 2021 |title=Detecting Genetic Ancestry and Adaptation in the Taiwanese Han People |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=38 |issue=10 |pages=4149–4165 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msaa276 |pmc=8476137 |pmid=33170928 |last16=Lin |first16=Cheng-Jui |last17=Lin |first17=Marie |last18=Chaw |first18=Shu-Miaw |last19=Loo |first19=Jun-Hun |last20=Shen |first20=Chen-Yang |last21=Ko |first21=Wen-Ya}}</ref> and the ancestors of [[Taiwanese Han]].<ref name="Detecting Genetic Ancestry and Adap" />  

In contrast, Southwestern Han Chinese exhibit admixture with neighboring Hmong-Mien-speaking and lowland [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]]-speaking populations<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Yicheng |last2=Zou |first2=Xing |last3=Wang |first3=Mengge |last4=Yuan |first4=Didi |display-authors=3 |date=2022 |title=The genomic history of southwestern Chinese populations demonstrated massive population migration and admixture among proto-Hmong–Mien speakers and incoming migrants |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00438-021-01837-3 |journal=Molecular Genetics and Genomics |volume=297 |issue=1 |pages=241–262 |doi=10.1007/s00438-021-01837-3 |pmid=35031862 |via=Springer Nature Link|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and have higher northern East Asian affinities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Yan |last2=Xie |first2=Jie |last3=Wang |first3=Mengge |last4=Liu |first4=Changhui |display-authors=3 |date=2022 |title=Genomic Insights Into the Population History and Biological Adaptation of Southwestern Chinese Hmong–Mien People |journal=Frontiers in Genetics |volume=12 |issue=815160 |article-number=815160 |doi=10.3389/fgene.2021.815160 |doi-access=free |pmid=35047024 |pmc=8762323 }}</ref> Highland Tibetan-related ancestry is also detected in Northern and Central Han Chinese.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=He |first1=Guanglin |last2=Yao |first2=Hongbing |last3=Duan |first3=Shuhan |last4=Luo |first4=Lintao |display-authors=3 |date=2024 |title=Pilot work of the 10K Chinese People Genomic Diversity Project along the Silk Road suggests a complex east‒west admixture landscape and biological adaptations |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384370591 |journal=Science China Life Sciences |via=ResearchGate}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Song |first=Wenqian |last2=Zhou |first2=Shihang |last3=Yu |first3=Weijian |last4=Fan |first4=Yaxin |display-authors=3 |date=2023 |title=Genetic analysis of 42 Y-STR loci in Han and Manchu populations from the three northeastern provinces in China |url=https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-023-09636-3#Sec6 |journal=BMC Genomics |volume=24 |issue=578 |via=BMC}}</ref> Eastern Han Chinese from provinces like Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Shandong have Yellow River ancestry and to a lesser extent, southern East Asian-related ancestry. However, Han Chinese from Shandong derive their ancestries from populations with higher northern East Asian affinities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=He |first1=Haifeng |last2=Kong |first2=Xinyuan |last3=Tao |first3=Le |last4=Zhu |first4=Liangsai |display-authors=3 |date=2025 |title=Genetic stability in the lower Yangtze River basin from Song to Qing Dynasty |journal=BMC Biology |volume=23 |issue=270 |article-number=270 |doi=10.1186/s12915-025-02343-3 |pmid=40877851 |pmc=12395641 |doi-access=free }}</ref>  

==== Patrilineal DNA ====
Typical Y-DNA haplogroups of present-day Han Chinese include Haplogroup O-M95, [[Haplogroup O-M122]], [[Haplogroup O-M175]], [[Haplogroup C|C]], [[Haplogroup N-M231]] and [[Haplogroup Q-M120]].<ref name="AD">{{cite journal |last1=Zhao |first1=Yong-Bin |last2=Zhang |first2=Ye |last3=Zhang |first3=Quan-Chao |last4=Li |first4=Hong-Jie |last5=Cui |first5=Ying-Qiu |last6=Xu |first6=Zhi |last7=Jin |first7=Li |last8=Zhou |first8=Hui |last9=Zhu |first9=Hong |date=4 May 2015 |title=Ancient DNA Reveals That the Genetic Structure of the Northern Han Chinese Was Shaped Prior to 3,000 Years Ago |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=5 |article-number=e0125676 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1025676Z |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0125676 |pmc=4418768 |pmid=25938511 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The Y-chromosome haplogroup distribution between Southern Han Chinese and Northern Han Chinese populations and principal core component analysis indicates that almost all modern Han Chinese populations form a tight cluster in their Y chromosome:
* Haplogroups prevalent in non-Han southern natives such as O1b-M110, O2a1-M88 and O3d-M7, which are prevalent in non-Han southern natives, were observed in 4% of Southern Han Chinese and not at all in the Northern Han.<ref name="table">{{cite journal |last1=Wen |first1=Bo |last2=Li |first2=Hui |last3=Lu |first3=Daru |last4=Song |first4=Xiufeng |last5=Zhang |first5=Feng |last6=He |first6=Yungang |last7=Li |first7=Feng |last8=Gao |first8=Yang |last9=Mao |first9=Xianyun |last10=Zhang |first10=Liang |last11=Qian |first11=Ji |last12=Tan |first12=Jingze |last13=Jin |first13=Jianzhong |last14=Huang |first14=Wei |last15=Deka |first15=Ranjan |last16=Su |first16=Bing |last17=Chakraborty |first17=Ranajit |last18=Jin |first18=Li |title=Genetic evidence supports demic diffusion of Han culture |journal=Nature |date=September 2004 |volume=431 |issue=7006 |pages=302–305 |bibcode=2004Natur.431..302W |doi=10.1038/nature02878 |pmid=15372031 }}</ref><ref name="EJH">{{cite journal |last1=Xue |first1=Fuzhong |last2=Wang |first2=Yi |last3=Xu |first3=Shuhua |last4=Zhang |first4=Feng |last5=Wen |first5=Bo |last6=Wu |first6=Xuesen |last7=Lu |first7=Ming |last8=Deka |first8=Ranjan |last9=Qian |first9=Ji |last10=Jin |first10=L |display-authors=9 |year=2008 |title=A spatial analysis of genetic structure of human populations in China reveals distinct difference between maternal and paternal lineages |journal=European Journal of Human Genetics |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=705–17 |doi=10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201998 |pmid=18212820 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* Biological research findings have also demonstrated that the paternal lineages Y-DNA O-M119,<ref name="Li et al (2008)">{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Hui |year=2008 |title=Paternal genetic affinity between western Austronesians and Daic populations |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=146 |bibcode=2008BMCEE...8..146L |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-8-146 |pmc=2408594 |pmid=18482451 |doi-access=free}}</ref> O-P201,<ref name="Karafet et al (2010)">{{cite journal |last1=Karafet |first1=Tatiana |last2=Hallmark |first2=B |last3=Cox |first3=M.P. |last4=Sudoyo |first4=H |last5=Downey |first5=S |last6=Lansing |first6=J.S. |last7=Hammer |first7=M.F. |date=August 2010 |title=Major East–West Division Underlies Y Chromosome Stratification across Indonesia |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=27 |issue=8 |pages=1833–44 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msq063 |pmid=20207712 |doi-access=free}}</ref> O-P203<ref name="Karafet et al (2010)" /> and O-M95<ref name="Karafet et al 2005">{{cite book |last1=Karafet |first1=Tatiana |last2=Hagberg |first2=L |last3=Hanson |first3=L. A. |last4=Korhonen |first4=T |last5=Leffler |first5=H |last6=Olling |first6=S |year=1981 |chapter=Balinese Y-chromosome perspective on the peopling of Indonesia: genetic contributions from pre-Neolithic hunter-gatherers, Austronesian farmers, and Indian traders |title=Ciba Foundation Symposium 80 - Adhesion and Microorganism Pathogenicity |series=Novartis Foundation Symposia |volume=80 |pages=161–87 |doi=10.1002/9780470720639.ch11 |pmid=6114819|isbn=978-0-470-72063-9 }}</ref> are found in commonly Southern non-Han minorities, less commonly in Southern Han, and even less frequently in Northern Han Chinese.<ref name="Yan et al (2011)">{{cite journal |last1=Yan |first1=Shi |last2=Wang |first2=C.C. |last3=Li |first3=H |last4=Li |first4=S.L. |last5=Jin |first5=L |year=2011 |title=An updated tree of Y-chromosome Haplogroup O and revised phylogenetic positions of mutations P164 and PK4 |journal=European Journal of Human Genetics |volume=19 |issue=9 |pages=1013–15 |doi=10.1038/ejhg.2011.64 |pmc=3179364 |pmid=21505448}}</ref>
* Haplogroups O1 and O2 significantly peak in the southeastern coastlines and eastern regions of China respectively, according to one study.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Jienan |last2=Song |first2=Feng |last3=Lang |first3=Min |last4=Xie |first4=Mingkun |title=Comprehensive insights into the genetic background of Chinese populations using Y chromosome markers |journal=Royal Society Open Science |date=September 2023 |volume=10 |issue=9 |article-number=230814 |doi=10.1098/rsos.230814 |pmid=37736526 |pmc=10509572 |bibcode=2023RSOS...1030814L }}</ref>

Patrilineal DNA indicates the Northern Han Chinese were the primary contributors to the paternal gene pool of modern southern Han Chinese.<ref name="AD" /><ref name="table" /><ref name="EJH" /><ref name="Yan et al (2011)" /> The data also indicates that the contribution of southern non-Han aboriginals to the southern Han Chinese genetics is limited. In short, male Han Chinese were the primary drivers of Han Chinese expansion in successive migratory waves from the north into what is now modern Southern China as is shown by a greater contribution to the Y-chromosome than the mtDNA from northern to Southern Han.<ref name="Genetic evidence supports demic dif" />

During the Zhou dynasty, or earlier, peoples with haplogroup Q-M120 also contributed to the ethnogenesis of Han Chinese people. This haplogroup is implied to be spread across in the Eurasian steppe and north Asia since it is found among [[Cimmerians]] in [[Moldova]] and Bronze Age natives of [[Khövsgöl Province|Khövsgöl]]. But it is currently near-absent in these regions except for East Asia. In modern China, haplogroup Q-M120 can be found in the northern and eastern regions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sun |first1=Na |last2=Ma |first2=Peng-Cheng |last3=Yan |first3=Shi |last4=Wen |first4=Shao-Qing |last5=Sun |first5=Chang |last6=Du |first6=Pan-Xin |last7=Cheng |first7=Hui-Zhen |last8=Deng |first8=Xiao-Hua |last9=Wang |first9=Chuan-Chao |last10=Wei |first10=Lan-Hai |title=Phylogeography of Y-chromosome haplogroup Q1a1a-M120, a paternal lineage connecting populations in Siberia and East Asia |journal=Annals of Human Biology |date=3 April 2019 |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=261–266 |doi=10.1080/03014460.2019.1632930 |pmid=31208219 }}</ref>

Sub-lineages of haplogroups C2b, O2a2a and O1b-M268 are common for populations from Eastern China. In particular, many individuals from Eastern China have haplogroups related to O1b1a2. This haplogroup is quite rare in East Asia but is mostly found in the southeastern part of Northeastern China and Vietnam, especially among [[Hoa people|Han Chinese individuals]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Mengge |last2=Huang |first2=Yuguo |last3=Liu |first3=Kaijun |last4=Wang |first4=Zhiyong |display-authors=3 |date=2024 |title=Multiple Human Population Movements and Cultural Dispersal Events Shaped the Landscape of Chinese Paternal Heritage |url=https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/41/7/msae122/7695223 |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=41 |issue=7 |article-number=msae122 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msae122 |pmid=38885310 |pmc=11232699 |via=Oxford Academic}}</ref>

'''Matrilineal DNA'''

MtDNA of Han Chinese increases in diversity as one looks from northern to Southern China, which suggests that the influx of male Han Chinese migrants intermarried with the local female non-Han aborigines after arriving in what is now modern-day Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and other regions of Southern China.<ref name="table" /><ref name="EJH" /> In these populations, the contribution to mtDNA from Han Chinese and indigenous tribes is evenly matched, representing a substantial mtDNA contribution from non-Han groups, collectively known as the Bai Yue or Hundred Yue.<ref name="table" /><ref name="EJH" />

A study by the Chinese Academy of Sciences into the gene frequency data of Han sub-populations and ethnic minorities in China, showed that Han sub-populations in different regions are also genetically quite close to the local ethnic non-Han minorities, meaning that in many cases, the blood of ethnic minorities had mixed into Han genetic substrate through varying degrees of intermarriage, while at the same time, the blood of the Han had also mixed into the genetic substrates of the local ethnic non-Han minorities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Du |first1=R |last2=Xiao |first2=C |last3=Cavalli-Sforza |first3=LL |year=1997 |title=Genetic distances between Chinese populations calculated on gene frequencies of 38 loci |journal=Science China Life Sciences |volume=40 |issue=6 |pages=613–21 |doi=10.1007/BF02882691 |pmid=18726285 }}</ref>

=== Genetic continuity between ancient and modern Han Chinese ===
The Hengbei archaeological site in Jiang County, southern Shanxi was part of the suburbs of the capital during the Zhou dynasty. Genetic material from human remains in Hengbei have been used to examine the genetic continuity between ancient and modern Han Chinese.<ref name="HC" />

Comparisons of Y chromosome [[single-nucleotide polymorphism]]s (SNPs) and [[mitochondrial DNA]] (mtDNA) between modern Northern Han Chinese and 3,000-year-old Hengbei samples reveal extreme similarity, confirming genetic continuity between ancient Hengbei inhabitants to present-day Northern Han Chinese. This shows that the core genetic structure of Northern Han Chinese was established more than three thousand years ago in the Central Plains Area.<ref name="HC" /><ref>[[Genographic Project#Geno 2.0 Next Generation|Reference Populations - Geno 2.0 Next Generation]]. (2017). [[Genographic Project|The Genographic Project]]. Retrieved 15 May 2017, from [https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/reference-populations-next-gen/ link.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031612/https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/reference-populations-next-gen//|date=7 February 2017}}</ref> Additionally, these studies indicate that contemporary northern and southern Han Chinese populations exhibit an almost identical Y-DNA genetic structure, indicating a common paternal descent, corroborating the historical record of Han Chinese migration to the south.<ref name="HC" /> However, a study of [[mitochondrial DNA]] from Yinxu commoner graves in the [[Shang dynasty]] showed similarity with modern Northern Han Chinese, but significant differences from southern Han Chinese, indicating admixture on the matriline.<ref>{{Cite conference |last1=Zeng |first1=Wen |last2=Li |first2=Jiawei |last3=Yue |first3=Hongbin |last4=Zhou |first4=Hui |last5=Zhu |first5=Hong |year=2013 |title=Poster: Preliminary Research on Hereditary Features of Yinxu Population |url=https://www.academia.edu/5297877 |conference=82nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists}}</ref>

About 2,000 years ago, between the Warring States period and Eastern Han dynasty, the northeast coastlines of China faced an eastward migration from the Central Plains, shaping the genetic structure of local populations to the present. These populations also have more southern East Asian ancestry compared to their predecessors.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Baitong |last2=Hao |first2=Daohua |last3=Xu |first3=Yu |last4=Jin |first4=Li |date=2024 |title=Population expansion from central plain to northern coastal China inferred from ancient human genomes |journal=iScience |volume=27 |issue=12 |article-number=111405 |doi=10.1016/j.isci.2024.111405 |pmid=39697594 |pmc=11652891 |bibcode=2024iSci...27k1405W }}</ref>

=== Closely related East Asian groups ===
The Han Chinese show a close yet distinguishable genetic relationship with other East Asian populations such as the [[Koreans]] and [[Yamato people|Yamato]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Horai |first1=Satoshi |last2=Murayama |first2=Kumiko |date=1996 |title=mtDNA Polymorphism in East Asian Populations, with Special Reference to the Peopling of Japan |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=[[Cell Press]] |publication-date=1996 |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=579–590 |pmc=1914908 |pmid=8751859}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shi |first1=Cheng-Min |last2=Liu |first2=Qi |last3=Zhao |first3=Shilei |last4=Chen |first4=Hua |title=Ancestry informative SNP panels for discriminating the major East Asian populations: Han Chinese, Japanese and Korean |journal=Annals of Human Genetics |date=September 2019 |volume=83 |issue=5 |pages=348–354 |doi=10.1111/ahg.12320 |pmid=31025319 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pan |first1=Ziqing |last2=Xu |first2=Shuhua |date=2019 |title=Population genomics of East Asian ethnic groups |journal=[[Hereditas]] |location=Berlin |publisher=[[BioMed Central]] |publication-date=2020 |volume=157 |issue=49 |page=49 |doi=10.1186/s41065-020-00162-w |pmc=7724877 |pmid=33292737 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shi |first1=Cheng-Min |last2=Liu |first2=Qi |last3=Zhao |first3=Shilei |last4=Chen |first4=Hua |title=Ancestry informative SNP panels for discriminating the major East Asian populations: Han Chinese, Japanese and Korean |journal=Annals of Human Genetics |date=September 2019 |volume=83 |issue=5 |pages=348–354 |doi=10.1111/ahg.12320 |pmid=31025319 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="sciencemag2017">{{cite journal |last1=Siska |first1=Veronika |last2=Jones |first2=Eppie Ruth |last3=Jeon |first3=Sungwon |last4=Bhak |first4=Youngjune |last5=Kim |first5=Hak-Min |last6=Cho |first6=Yun Sung |last7=Kim |first7=Hyunho |last8=Lee |first8=Kyusang |last9=Veselovskaya |first9=Elizaveta |last10=Balueva |first10=Tatiana |last11=Gallego-Llorente |first11=Marcos |last12=Hofreiter |first12=Michael |last13=Bradley |first13=Daniel G. |last14=Eriksson |first14=Anders |last15=Pinhasi |first15=Ron |date=1 February 2017 |title=Genome-wide data from two early Neolithic East Asian individuals dating to 7700 years ago |journal=Science Advances |volume=3 |issue=2 |article-number=e1601877 |bibcode=2017SciA....3E1877S |doi=10.1126/sciadv.1601877 |pmc=5287702 |pmid=28164156 |last16=Bhak |first16=Jong |last17=Manica |first17=Andrea}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Wang, Yuchen |author2=Lu Dongsheng |author3=Chung Yeun-Jun |author4=Xu Shuhua |year=2018 |title=Genetic structure, divergence and admixture of Han Chinese, Japanese and Korean populations |journal=Hereditas |volume=155 |article-number=19 |doi=10.1186/s41065-018-0057-5 |pmc=5889524 |pmid=29636655 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="pmid 29636655" />{{Excessive citations inline|date=September 2024}} Although the genetic relationship is close, the various Han Chinese subgroups are genetically closer to each other than to their Korean and Japanese counterparts.<ref name="pmid 29636655" />

Other research suggests a significant overlap between Yamato Japanese and the Northern Han Chinese in particular.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cao |first1=Yanan |last2=Li |first2=Lin |last3=Xu |first3=Min |display-authors=etal |date=2020 |title=The ChinaMAP analytics of deep whole genome sequences in 10,588 individuals |journal=Cell Research |volume=30 |issue=9 |pages=717–731 |doi=10.1038/s41422-020-0322-9 |pmc=7609296 |pmid=32355288 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Criticisms of the term ==

=== Taxonomic qualification ===

The classification of Han Chinese has gone through numerous historical permutations. This, coupled with the loose terms of Han qualification, has lead some modern academics to question its use both historically and modernly. It has been critiqued by some as being used similarly to the concept of "whiteness" in the Western tradition,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lams |first=Lutgard |date=September 2013 |title=Critical Han studies: the history, representation, and identity of China's majority, edited by T.S. Mullaney, J. Leibold, S. Gros, and E. VandenBussche |journal=Asian Ethnicity |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=551–557 |doi=10.1080/14631369.2013.803804 |issn=1463-1369}}</ref> expanding and contrasting to include whoever is politically useful.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davenport |first=Lauren |date=11 May 2020 |title=The Fluidity of Racial Classifications |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |language=en |volume=23 |issue= |pages=221–240 |doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-060418-042801 |issn=1094-2939|doi-access=free }}</ref> This has lead to a relatively recent resurgence in viewing the concept of Han Chinese through a critical lense.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Critical Han Studies: The History, Representation, and Identity of China's Majority |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/07s1h1rf |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Leibold |first=James |date=September 2010 |title=More Than a Category: Han Supremacism on the Chinese Internet |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0305741010000585/type/journal_article |journal=The China Quarterly |language=en |volume=203 |pages=539–559 |doi=10.1017/S0305741010000585 |issn=0305-7410|url-access=subscription }}</ref> <blockquote>"Han Chinese, as a category, holds considerable commonality with the category of whiteness. Both are comparatively recent social constructions that fused together large subgroups of people, who themselves possessed their own distinct cultures and languages. Although Han Chinese as a defined ethno-racial category did not exist prior to the 20th century, 'the modern ethnonym builds on a much older historical formulation, one that informs the "cultural stuff" which defines the boundaries, symbols and sentiment of Han today'." - The operations of contemporary Han Chinese privilege, Reza Hasmath<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hasmath |first=Reza |date=March 2024 |title=The operations of contemporary Han Chinese privilege |journal=China Information = Zhongguo Qing Bao |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=3–23 |doi=10.1177/0920203X231193086 |issn=1741-590X |pmc=10906100 |pmid=38434490}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Nationalism ===
Some critics argue that term has been particularly used as a tool of [[Chinese nationalism#Populist nationalism|Chinese populist nationalism]] at the end of the Qing dynasty.<ref name=":3" /> This phenomenon is called [[Han nationalism|Han Nationalism]]. The [[Xinhai revolution]] of 1911 saw the rise of Chinese nationalism as a primary competing ideology of the 20th century after its use in establishing the Republic as a populist, [[Anti-Qing sentiment|anti-Qing]]{{Efn|By virtue of being an ethnic supremacist ideology, it naturally positions itself against the Manchu's, the ethnic rulers of the Qing dynasty.}} rallying cry. Though after the Republic was established there were policies to progressively ease racial tensions, such as the doctrine of [[Five Races Under One Union]] (五族共和; wǔ zú gònghé; literally "five-race republic"), Han Nationalism as a movement has remained to the modern day.<ref name=":3" />

==Notes==
{{Notelist|refs=
{{Efn|name=Han people|{{Lang-zh|t=漢族|s=汉族|p=Hànzú|l=[[Han dynasty|Han]] ethnic group}} ''or'' <br /> {{Lang-zh|t=漢人|s=汉人|p=Hànrén|l=[[Han dynasty|Han]] people}}}}
}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{Library resources box}}
* {{cite book |title=The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese |first=Haiwang |last=Yuan |publisher=Libraries Unlimited |location=Westport, Conn. |year= 2006 |isbn = 978-1-59158-294-6 |oclc = 65820295 }}
* {{cite book |title= Critical Han Studies: The History, Representation, and Identity of China's Majority |first= Thomas Shawn |last=[[Thomas Shawn Mullaney|Mullaney]] |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location= [[Berkeley, California]] |year= 2012 |isbn = 978-0-9845909-8-8 }}
* Joniak-Lüthi, Agnieszka (2015). ''The Han: China's Diverse Majority''. Washington, DC: University of Washington Press. {{ISBN|978-0-295-99467-3}} (hardcover). {{ISBN|978-0295741789}} (paperback: 2017).

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Han subgroups}}
{{East Asian topics}}
{{Ethnic groups in China}}
{{Ethnic groups in Taiwan}}
{{Singaporeans}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Han Chinese| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups officially recognized by China]]