Faculty Publications

Chinese Identity During The Age Of Division, Sui, And Tang

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Chinese identity, Han people, Huaxia, Identity formation, Northern and Southern dynasties

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of Chinese History

Volume

4

Issue

1

First Page

31

Last Page

53

Abstract

During the centuries after the fall of the Han dynasty, dozens of states rose and fell in geographic China, which was not only politically divided but also home to multiple separately named population groups, some of which were speakers of languages unrelated to Chinese. Yet, a single written language was used throughout the region, broadly common institutions were everywhere in place, and there was a widely shared collective historical memory. This memory included an assumed single line of legitimate sovereigns stretching back to the Sage Kings of legendary antiquity. Differently named population groups could adopt that written language, institutions, and historical memory, and their rulers could potentially even join that line of legitimate sovereigns. It was therefore relatively easy for the Sui and Tang dynasties, having militarily unified the geographic space of the old Han empire, to successfully depict themselves as heirs to a unitary China rooted in ancient memory.

Department

Department of History

Original Publication Date

1-1-2020

DOI of published version

10.1017/jch.2019.37

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

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