Ancient History
The modern Han ethnicity was originally known as the Huaxia as it developed around the Wei and Yellow Rivers. The differences they saw between themselves and the other peoples and cultures around them around them is now known as the Hua-Yi distinction.
Historical groups once considered "barbarous" and occasionally still referenced pejoratively in Chinese include:
- "Nanman"—A pejorative reference to Yue and other ethnic groups in southern and southwestern China and Indochina. Like the Yue, many of these are now considered Han Chinese, following centuries or millennia of Sinification. The term was used in Japanese (as Nanban) to refer to European traders in Japan.
- "Xirong"—Originally an ancient ethnic group, it became used to refer to all non-Han ethnic groups in northwestern China, such as the Uyghurs.
- "Beidi"—Originally an ancient ethnic group, this term was later used to refer to all non-Han ethnic groups in northern China beyond the Great Wall, including Mongolians and the Manchu.
- "Dongyi"—Originally ancient ethnic groups who lived east of the Huaxia along the coast of modern China.
Read more about this topic: Han Chauvinism
Famous quotes related to ancient history:
“My companion and I, having a minute’s discussion on some point of ancient history, were amused by the attitude which the Indian, who could not tell what we were talking about, assumed. He constituted himself umpire, and, judging by our air and gesture, he very seriously remarked from time to time, ‘you beat,’ or ‘he beat.’”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)