On the Chinese Nation and Nationalism

All ethnic groups are equal. This is the fundamental principle of Marxism-Leninism in addressing ethnic issues. This principle applies both to resolving ethnic issues today and to those of the past. Throughout the long history of class society, relations between ethnic groups have been unequal. This fact fills the histories of the world and of China alike. Even today, discussions of ethnic history still see people raising the question of the national identity of ethnic groups in Chinese history. Some argue that all ancient ethnic groups active within the borders of present-day China should be considered Chinese. Others argue that whether a historical ethnic group was Chinese should be determined by the extent of the political rule exercised at the time by dynasties led primarily by the Han. They maintain that the Xiongnu, Khitan, Jurchen, Mongols, and other peoples should not be considered Chinese, but foreigners, as long as they had not yet come under the political rule of a Han-led dynasty. The historian Jian Bozan refuted the second view and offered detailed answers to several questions, including “ethnic assimilation and integration,” “war and peace between ethnic groups,” and “national heroes.” His views remain instructive to this day. Also included are essays such as “Ethnic Armies in the Civil Wars of the Three Kingdoms,” “A Study of the Origins of the Tubo People,” “From the Western Han's Marriage Alliance Policy to Wang Zhaojun's Journey Beyond the Pass,” and “The Struggle of the Central Plains People Against the Mongol Rulers of the Yuan Dynasty.”