54
SOME OF CHINA'S THIRTY-FIVE MILLION NON-CHINESE
A lecture delivered on January 15, 1962
HEROLD J. WIENS, M.A., PH.D.*
The title of this paper indicates the existence in China of enough people, fundamentally of non-Chinese origin, to be equal to the population of Korea, Poland, or Mexico. Before discussing them, however, it is necessary to define the term Chinese. At least two definitions may be acceptable: one is that Chinese are citizens of the territory constituting China as a state; the other is more restricted and applies to that unique cultural group known as the "Sons of Han" which evolved the ideographic Chinese writing, which has a recorded history and literature of several thousand years, and whose ethical character has been epitomized in the teachings of Confucius. They constitute ninety-five per cent of the people of China, but there remain five per cent who do not derive from the cultural heritage of the Han, but whose ancestors occupied areas north, west and south of the Yellow river heartland of the Han people. These speak different languages, practice different customs, wear different habits and often make their livelihood in different manners from those of the Han. Recent classifications show at least fifty different such ethnic groups in China. This talk, however, is concerned with only the groups in south and southwest China where about twenty-five of the approximately thirty-five million people in the non-Han classification dwell.
If we examine the historical ethnography of China at the time of Confucius, we find that the Yangtze valley and China south of it belonged not to the Han but to the non-Han peoples. By this time, however, many of the occupants of the Yangtze valley had to a greater or lesser degree become acculturated to Han-Chinese ways. A fief holder of the Chou emperor who was "barbarian" whose descendant became the king of the state of Ch'u in the central Yangtze valley was proud to declare:
* Dr. Wiens has spent many years in China. He is Associate Professor of Geography, Yale University, and has specialized in geographic studies of Southern China. Author of China's March Towards the Tropics. He spent the academic year 1961-62 as a visiting lecturer at the University of Hong Kong.
54
SOME OF CHINA'S THIRTY-FIVE MILLION
NON-CHINESE
A lecture delivered on January 15, 1962
HEROLD J. WIENS, M.A., PH.D.*
The title of this paper indicates the existence in China of enough people, fundamentally of non-Chinese origin, to be equal to the population of Korea, Poland, or Mexico. Before discussing them, however, it is necessary to define the term Chinese. At least two definitions may be acceptable: one is that Chinese are citizens of the territory constituting China as a state; the other is more restricted and applies to that unique cultural group known as the "Sons of Han" which evolved the ideographic Chinese writing, which has a recorded history and literature of several thousand years, and whose ethical character has been epitomized in the teachings of Confucius. They constitute ninety-five per cent of the people of China, but there remain five per cent who do not derive from the cultural heritage of the Han, but whose ancestors occupied areas north, west and south of the Yellow river heartland of the Han people. These speak different lan- guages, practice different customs, wear different habits and often make their livelihood in different manners from those of the Han. Recent classifications show at least fifty different such ethnic groups in China. This talk, however, is concerned with only the groups in south and southwest China where about twenty-five of the approximately thirty-five million people in the non-Han classification dwell,
If we examine the historical ethnography of China at the time of Confucius, we find that the Yangtze valley and China south of it belonged not to the Han but to the non-Han peoples. By this time, however, many of the occupants of the Yangtze valley had to a greater or lesser degree become acculturated to Han-Chinese ways. A fief holder of the Chou emperor who was "barbarian " whose descendant became the king of the statc of Ch'u in the central Yangtze valley was proud to declare :
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* Dr. Wiens has spent many years in China. He is Associate Professor of Geography, Yale University, and has specialized in geographic studies of Southern China. Author of China's March Towards the Tropics. He spent the academic year 1961-62 as a visiting lecturer at the University of Hong Kong.
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