History
During the Qing Dynasty, the Han Chinese formed the majority of the population but the rulers were the Manchus. The Qing government initially used hanjian to refer to Han Chinese who rebelled against them. During the late Qing period, hanjian became a common term used by anti-Manchu nationalists to refer to Han Chinese who collaborated with the Qing government. Hanjian was often used retroactively for historical Han traitors, such as Qin Hui and Wu Sangui.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the National Revolutionary Army was defeated in various battles by the Imperial Japanese Army. Chiang Kai-shek explained that hanjian espionage helped the Japanese and ordered CC Clique commander Chen Lifu to arrest the hanjians. 4,000 were arrested in Shanghai and 2,000 in Nanjing. Because martial law was enforced, formal trials were not necessary, and the condemned were executed swiftly, while thousands of men, women and children watched with evident approval.
Wang Jingwei, who led the pro-Japan collaborationist government in Nanjing during the war, as well as his supporters, are regarded as hanjians in China, as are Taiwanese soldiers who fought in the Japanese military against Chinese forces and the Allies. The word also came to be used in the legal systems of modern China and Taiwan: the Republic of China (ROC) enacted Regulations Regarding Punishment of Hanjian (1938) and Regulations Dealing with Hanjian (1945). The People's Republic of China (PRC) ratified a Direction for the Confiscation of Properties of War Criminals, Hanjian, Bureaucratic Capitalists and Anti-Revolutionaries.
After the Sook Ching Massacre took place in Singapore and Malaya in February-March 1942, Tan Kah Kee -- a prominent Chinese industrialist and philanthropist in Southeast Asia -- proposed to the provisional ROC government to treat all Chinese who attempted to negotiate with the Japanese as hanjians. His proposal was adopted by the Second Legislative Yuan, and was praised by Chinese resistance fighters.
During the Cold War, the Chinese government classified citizens who collaborated with a hostile foreign power as hanjians.
Read more about this topic: Hanjian
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