Origin of the Chinese Part 2

The classification 'Han' has officially been imposed on a group of heterogeneous people within the domain of the Han Empire. By the same token, all peoples outside of the empire have become identified as barbarians or 'manyi'. As history of China moves forward, the definition of Han continued its metamorphosis.

In 200 AD, the Han Empire collapsed under the weight of corruption and rising warlordism. After the period of the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty was established over all of the territories of the previous Kingdoms. The China of the time comprised only of what we call China Proper - an area limited by the Great Wall to the north, and the Tibetan Plateau to the west and southwest. Numerous ethnic groups inhabited the fringe of the Chinese empire, and just as the Roman Empire succumbed to the combination of internal strife and external barbarian pressure, so too would the Han Chinese Jin Empire.

Barely 100 years after its founding, the Jin Empire, severely weakened by the Rebellion of the Eight Princes, and a series of incompetent rulers was invaded by northern nomadic Xiongnu - the old nemesis of the Han Dynasty. It should be noted that the Xiongnu of this period has already become much sinicized; their customs, way of life and even their names have taken on Chinese characteristics, and they were identified as separate solely by Han discrimination.

In the ensuing 200 hundred years of chaos, two separate processes of mixing occurred. In the area north of the Yangtze, the Proto-Turkic/Mongolic groups invaded one after another, each committing terrible atrocities on its predecessors and the local Han groups. The Xiongnu were soon replaced by their subordinates the Qiang; the Qiang in turn by the Tiele, and so forth. Each nomadic barbarian group established their dominance briefly after entering China and were replaced just as quickly by the next group. Finally, some semblance of stability appeared in the North of China with the emergence of the Xianbei. The Tuoba Xianbei group established the Wei Dynasty over Northern China, ending periodically the incessant fragmentation and bloodshed. Emperor Wen of Wei decreed official requirements of sinicization of his subjects, and moved the capital to Luoyang, a center of Han Chinese civilization and learning. He also ordered several barbarian last names to be sinicized; for example, the imperial name Tuoba was changed to 'Yuan'. In the process, the former barbarians have fully sinicized in all but physical appearance.

In the area south of the Yangtze, the refugee Jin Dynasty was usurped by military strongmen, who were then usurped themselves, and dynasties changed frequently. The refugee Han managed to assimilate much of the local Yue (ancestors of the Thai, Hmong, and Vietnamese) groups and introduce advanced agriculture to the productive Yangtze watershed, setting in motion the gradual shift of China's economic engine from North to South, and from West to East.

The assimilation of this time period was further consolidated by the unification of China by the Sui and the Tang dynasties. Already sinicized in manner, language, religion and customs, the only vestige of the barbarians was the physical appearance. It was noted by the emissaries from Japan and Baekje (a relatively unbiased first hand account) that the fifth emperor of the Tang, Xuanzong, had reddish hair. Also, historical accounts describe Tang Taizong, the most valiant of Tang emperors, as having greenish eyes and golden hair, obvious Turkic features. In addition, the names of the founders of the Tang reveal barbarian lineages, such as the name Zhangsun, from Taizong's chancellor, Zhangsun Wuji.

In time, the larger population of the ethnic Han would dilute these physical differences to render them invisible. Genetics however still show that the of contemporary Chinese, those from the North show greater genetic similarities to the Mongolians, Koreans and other Central Asian groups than to Southern Chinese groups. Southern Chinese groups share more genetic similarities to Southeast Asian ethnic groups than to Northern Chinese.

Chaos returned to peace and another 300 years of prosperity and consolidation and a new Han Chinese identity emerged stronger than before. However, the emergence of new nomadic powers and the decline of Han military strengths would usher in a new period of challenges and opportunities for the Chinese civilization. See Part 3 of Origin of the Chinese.