The Evolution of the Community of the Chinese Nation and Its Rejuvenation

Throughout history, the people of all ethnic groups in China have jointly created the splendid Chinese civilization and forged the great Chinese nation. The Chinese nation has a unique trajectory of formation and development, moving from the past to the future, from tradition to modernity, and coalescing from diversity into unity.

I

As early as the prehistoric period, the Chinese civilization exhibited a pattern of “six major regional systems*.” Around 6,000 years ago, an early Chinese cultural sphere characterized by painted pottery and jade cultures took shape. During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties (c. 2070-256 BC), vast territorial kingship states gradually emerged, giving rise to the Huaxia community—a historical and cultural concept denoting the ancestral identity and shared heritage of the tribes along the Yellow River. It integrated the Xia, Shang, and Zhou peoples with the non-Han Man, Yi, Rong, and Di peoples. During the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC-AD 220), the Huaxia community further integrated with the surrounding ethnic groups such as the Xiongnu, Wuhuan, and Xianbei. Molded by the unified political systems of the Qin and Han dynasties, a Han group with a shared political and cultural identity transcending mere blood relations was formed.

Ancient peoples from different regions, diverse origins, and various customs and cultures became more deeply integrated, and the Chinese nation as one community began to take form. For over a millennium thereafter, the Chinese nation continued to develop amidst extensive interactions, exchanges, and integration; its cultural identity constantly expanded, and its cohesion progressively strengthened. During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties (1206-1911), the basic pattern of unity in diversity was established on the foundation of unprecedented territorial unification.

The history of the formation and development of the Chinese nation as one community embodies the development trend and fundamental laws of diverse ethnic groups coalescing into a community. It reflects the objective reality of the continuous growth of commonalities among different ethnic groups across political, economic, cultural, and social dimensions, and highlights the essence of the Chinese as a national entity.

Politically, the Chinese nation adheres to the conviction of great unity—that the territory must not be divided, the state must not fall into disorder, the nation must not be disunited, and the civilization must not be interrupted, viewing great unity as “the eternal principle of heaven and earth and the constant norm applicable equally to past and present.” In terms of political systems, the dynasties of great unity implemented the system of prefectures and counties, household registration of commoners, and unified laws, ensuring that “while affairs occur across the four quarters, the key lies with the central authority.”

The Chinese nation has a unique trajectory of formation and development, moving from the past to the future, from tradition to modernity, and coalescing from diversity into unity.
1. A jade dragon, merging a pig’s head with the coiled body of a dragon, unearthed from the Niuheliang site, Liaoning Province. This totemic image of dragon-shaped jade from Hongshan Culture is an important origin of later Chinese dragon culture. XINHUA / PHOTO BY PANG LEI AND XU HONGYAN
2. A dragon-shaped turquoise artifact unearthed from the Erlitou site in Yanshi District, Luoyang City, Henan Province. It further demonstrates the height of kingship at Erlitou. XINHUA / PHOTO BY PANG LEI AND XU HONGYAN
3. He Zun (ritual wine vessel), in the collection of the Baoji Bronzeware Museum, Shaanxi Province. Its inscription, Zhai Zi Zhong Guo (dwelling in the center of the country), is the earliest written record of the term Zhong Guo (China) ever discovered to date. BAOJI BRONZEWARE MUSEUM
4. A Han Dynasty brocade armguard woven with the Chinese characters “five stars rise in the East, benefiting China,” in the collection of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum. XINHUA / PHOTO BY PANG LEI AND XU HONGYAN

Regarding border governance, successive dynasties governed with due consideration for local customs: “We should teach them the ways of proper conduct, but not change their customs; we should unify their government, but not change their ways of life.” Great unity was by no means the sole invention of the Han people, but a joint creation of all ethnic groups through interactions, exchanges, and integration.

Economically, the Chinese nation upholds the economic ethic of enriching the people and fostering their wellbeing, while balancing righteousness and interests. This is a necessary principle to meet the complementary demands of various ethnic groups and the coordinated development of regional economies. Historically, the nomadic regions required grain, silk, porcelain, ironware, tea, and salt from the agricultural regions, while the latter needed horses, leather, and other livestock products from the nomadic regions. These reciprocal needs gave rise to crucial transportation and trade corridors for ethnic interactions, exchanges, and integration—such as the Hexi, Nanling, Wuling, Liaoxi, and Tianshan corridors.

Over time, these connections between different regions and ethnic groups became increasingly close. In their pursuit and defense of great unity, successive dynasties and regimes implemented unified weights, measures, and taxation systems, constructed large-scale transportation infrastructure, and broke down previously isolated economic and cultural barriers. These efforts advanced the development of border regions, regional economic integration, and the process of national economic integration.

Culturally, the Chinese nation has never sought to replace diverse cultures with a single one. Instead, it has converged diverse cultures into a shared culture to resolve conflicts and build consensus. This has shaped a generative cultural model in which “local cultures jointly shape the Chinese culture, and the Chinese culture in turn nourishes and enriches local cultures.”

For instance, the culture of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) was a fusion of the cultures of multiple warring states (475-221 BC); the culture of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) was a blend of the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589); the culture of the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368) was a mixture of the cultures of the Liao, Song, Xixia (Western Xia), and Jin dynasties (907-1279), along with various cultures from the Eurasian continent; and the culture of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was a synthesis of the cultures of the Han, Mongol, Tibetan, Hui, and other ethnic groups.

The Chinese nation excels at accommodating diametrically opposed contradictions, achieving dialectical unity and harmonious coexistence of elements that might appear mutually exclusive. Even exclusive religions and cultures can be assimilated and transformed through their immersion in Chinese culture. Through the use and promotion of the Chinese writing system, different ethnic groups have communicated with one another, co-created and shared symbols of Chinese culture, and drawn nourishment from the characteristics of Chinese civilization and traditional ethics, thereby enhancing their sense of identity with Chinese culture. Consequently, all ethnic groups have transcended the boundaries of regional localities, bloodlines, and religious beliefs, coalescing from a vast and highly diverse community with extreme internal differences into a diverse yet united Chinese nation.

Socially, through intermarriage, economic and trade ties, population migrations, and even wars, the Chinese nation has gradually formed a distribution pattern of “extensive mixed habitation, small concentrated settlements, and interwoven residence.” History has witnessed a continuous stream of large-scale population movements across regions. During the Spring and Autumn (770-476 BC) and Warring States periods, groups such as the Western Qiang, Northern Di, Miao-Man, and Eastern Yi entered the Central Plains and integrated into the Huaxia. During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), the Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan submitted to the imperial court and were resettled within the borders. During the Sui (581-618) and Tang dynasties, the Tujue (Turks), Huihu (Uyghurs), Sogdians, Shatuo, Khitans, and Mohe migrated to inland areas on a large scale. In the early Ming Dynasty, there was a massive influx of people from the hinterland to the northern and southwestern frontiers—they comprised soldiers garrisoning the borders, settlers strengthening the frontiers, and officials serving in remote areas, involving a total of over 13 million people. In the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911), people from the hinterland “trekked westward,” “ventured beyond the Great Wall,” and “braved the journey to the Northeast,” entering Mongolia and the northeastern frontiers. Through multi-directional migration and flows, the lifestyles of various ethnic groups converged, customs intermingled, and ethnic boundaries gradually blurred.

Underlying this population mobility was the profound social ethic of “all under heaven as one family.” The Chinese nation has long been accustomed to using kinship ties to analogize relationships between different regions and ethnic groups, regarding one another as brothers. This concept of community transcending individualism is fundamentally different from the pagan consciousness and “us-versus-them” dichotomy of the Western Christian world. Whether living in peace or engaging in armed conflict, numerous regimes and ethnic groups on the Chinese land coexisted “under heaven” and were all regarded as “one family.” Even conflicts and competitions were viewed as internal disputes “among brothers bickering at home.”

The historical process of the development of the Chinese nation as one community bears witness to the joint efforts of all ethnic groups in opening up the vast territory of the motherland, forging a unified multi-ethnic country, writing the glorious history of China, creating the brilliant Chinese culture, and fostering the great national spirit. During periods of unity, the great integration of the Chinese nation deepened continuously; during periods of division, the scope of interactions, exchanges, and integration among the Chinese nation became even broader: each reunification following a division always achieved deeper integration on a broader foundation. The commonality of the Chinese nation has thus been continuously enhanced through the alternating cycles of deepening and broadening, constantly testifying that the formation and development of the Chinese nation represent the will of the people, the prevailing trend of the times, and a historical inevitability.

II

After the advent of modern times, China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The country endured intense humiliation, the people were subjected to great pain, and the Chinese civilization was plunged into darkness. Since its founding in 1921, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has dedicated itself to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Combining the democratic revolution with the national revolution, and integrating the building of a modern state with the building of the community of the Chinese nation, the CPC led the Chinese nation in achieving a historic transformation from a “nation-in-itself” to a “nation-for-itself,” demonstrating unique characteristics of state-nation modernization.

Under the leadership of the CPC, China has achieved a non-Westernized transformation into a modern state. The nation-state is the fundamental unit of modern politics and international law, representing a modern form of statehood that integrates sovereignty, territory, and citizenship. Most Western nation-states emerged from repeated fragmentation of empires, reflecting the practical projection of the “one nation, one state” construct. Modern China’s transformation did not follow the Western path of “one nation, one state”; rather, rooted in the tradition of great unity, it transcended “establishing separate states for separate ethnic groups” by “unifying the many into one.”

In 1902, reformist intellectual Liang Qichao first put forward the concept of the “Chinese nation” (Zhonghua Minzu), explaining that the Chinese nation is a composite forged from multiple ethnic groups. In 1912, Dr. Sun Yat-sen declared: “The foundation of the country lies in the people, and the unification of lands inhabited by the Han, Manchu, Mongol, Hui, and Tibetan peoples into one country means the unification of the Han, Manchu, Mongol, Hui, and Tibetan into one people. This is what is called national unity.” In 1917, Li Dazhao, a pioneer of the CPC, first proposed the concept of “New Chinese Nationalism,” taking the lead in calling for the remaking of the Chinese state and the rebirth of the Chinese nation. This heralded the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. In the struggle against imperialist aggression, a holistic sense of the “Chinese nation” awakened among people of all ethnic groups as never before.

Chinese lawmakers vote to adopt the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress at the fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress, March 12, 2026. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER JIN LIWANG

Focusing on the central task of resolving ethnic issues, the CPC united and led the people of all ethnic groups across the country in freeing the Chinese nation from imperialist aggression and oppression externally to secure its independence and liberation, while eliminating ethnic oppression and discrimination to achieve equality, solidarity, and progress among all ethnic groups. Over the past century and more, under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese nation has achieved the great leap from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong, fundamentally transforming the overall landscape of modern China, restructuring the institutional framework of the modern state, and realizing the “refashioning of an ancient state” and the “re-illumination of civilization” through the ever-evolving form of a unified multi-ethnic state.

The CPC has become the most reliable mainstay for the community of the Chinese nation. In modern times, various political forces and their efforts to save and build the nation ended in failure. A key reason for this was the absence of a core political force capable of organizing the Chinese people. In 1939, Mao Zedong systematically expounded the CPC’s view of the Chinese nation in The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party, stating that the Chinese nation constitutes a shared national identity among all Chinese people and emphasizing the CPC’s irreplaceable leading role in the Chinese revolution. By “organizing the people,” the CPC ended the state of total disunity. Uniting and leading the people of various ethnic groups across the country in unremitting struggle, the CPC achieved momentous success in the stages of new-democratic revolution, socialist revolution and construction, reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, and building socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, thereby writing the most magnificent epic in the millennia-long history of the Chinese nation.

Under the leadership of the CPC, a new type of socialist ethnic relations has been built. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the CPC advanced democratic reforms and socialist transformation, removing the economic roots of ethnic oppression, and eradicating the hierarchical, discriminatory, and oppressive elements historically embedded in ethnic relations. These efforts inspired a sense of shared identity among the masses of all ethnic groups as “the people” and safeguarded through institutions and laws the political rights of all ethnic groups as masters of the country. A policy and theoretical framework was established in ethnic affairs, with ethnic equality, ethnic unity, regional ethnic autonomy, and common prosperity for all ethnic groups at its core.

Over the past 70-plus years since the founding of the PRC, China has steadily promoted ethnic unity and progress, gradually establishing and strengthening a new type of socialist ethnic relations based on equality, unity, mutual assistance, and harmony. Tremendous historic changes have taken place in the lives and outlook of all ethnic groups, in ethnic minority areas, in relations among ethnic groups, and in the Chinese nation as a whole.

Under the leadership of the CPC, China has been promoting the common prosperity and development of all ethnic groups. Development is the key factor in addressing ethnic issues. Since the founding of the PRC, and particularly since reform and opening up started in 1978, the lives of ethnic minority groups and the economic and social development of ethnic minority areas have made unprecedented progress. The CPC has thoroughly implemented a series of strategic measures, elevating development support programs into major national strategies such as development-driven poverty alleviation, revitalizing border areas and enriching their residents, and the development of China’s western region. These initiatives have facilitated a large-scale flow of factors of production—including personnel, resources, technology, and information—between the eastern and western regions, and promoted the development of a unified national market, reinforcing the economic and social foundations for building the community of the Chinese nation.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the Party has vigorously supported economic and social development in ethnic minority areas, implementing targeted and sustainable paired-up assistance and regional cooperation, advancing equitable access to basic infrastructure and public services, and eliminating absolute poverty. Consequently, ethnic minority areas, alongside the rest of the country, have completed the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. From jointly entering a socialist society to achieving moderate prosperity and advancing toward modernization together, the Chinese nation has continuously strengthened the material foundations and intellectual strength for shared development across economic, political, cultural, social, and eco-environmental dimensions, reinforcing its unity and cohesion.

III

The CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core creatively proposed “forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation,” establishing it as the focus of CPC’s work on ethnic affairs and of all endeavors in ethnic minority areas in the new era. Building on the sense of belonging to a single national community that grew strong in modern times, this has strengthened the Chinese people’s shared identity, providing a powerful source of strength and a common ideological and cultural foundation for realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

New guidelines for CPC’s ethnic work have been established. General Secretary Xi Jinping integrated the Marxist discourse on the historical process of ethnic development with the structure of unity in diversity of the Chinese nation. He articulated the view of Chinese national history in five statements: together, all ethnic groups have charted a vast territory, built a unified multi-ethnic country, created a glorious history, shaped a brilliant culture, and cultivated a great national spirit, which define the basic premise for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.

He stated that “the Chinese nation was forged through interactions, exchanges, and integration among all ethnic groups,” pointing out the path to fostering this sense of community. He put forward the concept of a community where all ethnic groups stand together in times of weal and woe, glory and adversity, and life and death, and share a common future, clarifying the ultimate purpose of fostering this sense of community. Furthermore, he emphasized the need to properly balance the four relationships: commonality and diversity, the sense of community for the Chinese nation and the awareness of individual ethnic groups, Chinese culture as a whole and individual ethnic cultures, and material and intellectual dimensions, thereby setting out the fundamental approach to fostering this sense of community. These major theoretical innovations reveal that the Chinese nation is a state nation formed through the integration of all ethnic groups, a solid national entity with profound historical roots spanning thousands of years. They refute the fallacy of viewing the Chinese nation as a mere “imagined community” or political construct, thus broadening the correct path for dealing with ethnic issues with Chinese characteristics.

Launch ceremony of “Cultural Activities for Building a Shared Cultural Homeland of the Chinese Nation: In Henan,” held in Anyang City, Henan Province, May 12, 2026. PHOTO BY CHINA ETHNIC PICTORIAL REPORTER TENG JUN

New progress in building the community of the Chinese nation has been achieved. The CPC has fully integrated forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and building the Chinese nation as one community into the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan. Economically, the Party has promoted greater shared prosperity and development, and worked to ensure that ethnic minority regions integrate into the unified national market and the broader national development framework, forging a community of shared interests through deep economic interdependence; politically, it has fostered greater unity and solidarity, upheld and strengthened its overall leadership, incorporated ethnic affairs into a social governance framework based on collaboration, participation, and shared benefits, and protected the lawful rights and interests of people of all ethnic groups in accordance with the law; culturally, it has promoted greater innovation and integration, guided people of all ethnic groups in firmly adopting correct views on the state, history, ethnicity, culture, and religion, and reinforced political identity through identification with Chinese culture; socially, it has promoted deeper social cohesion and harmony, and advanced all-round integrated development of all ethnic groups so that they remain as closely united as the seeds of a pomegranate; in ecological conservation, it has positioned ethnic minority regions as vital safeguards for ecological security and promoted harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

New institutions to promote ethnic unity and progress have been established. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the institutions and mechanisms for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation have been continuously improved. The concept of the “Chinese nation” has been enshrined in the Constitution, and fostering a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation as well as building the community of the Chinese nation have been written into the Constitution of the CPC, its regulations, or major national laws and regulations, strengthening legal guarantees for modernizing ethnic affairs governance.

In March 2026, the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, voted to adopt the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress, which came into force on July 1, 2026. The law has made adjustments to ethnic relations nationwide by giving top priority to enhancing the commonality of the Chinese nation and forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation while taking safeguarding the fundamental and overall interests of the Chinese nation as the starting point and ultimate goal. This marks a new stage in the law-based governance of ethnic affairs.

China has also refined a series of policies and measures concerning the vital interests of people of all ethnic groups, further solidifying the institutional support for building the community of the Chinese nation.

A strong sense of community for the Chinese nation represents the highest level of identification among people of all ethnic groups with the Chinese nation, encompassing a shared sense of belonging, identity, and pride. Only by forging such a strong sense and guiding people of all ethnic groups in identifying with and remaining loyal to the community of the Chinese nation can we build an impregnable “Great Wall” to safeguard national unity and ethnic solidarity, providing a crucial guarantee for achieving the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

* They refer to the distinct Neolithic cultures of the Northern, Eastern, Central Plains, Southeastern, Southwestern, and Southern areas of China.

Pan Yue is Deputy Director of the Committee on Culture, Historical Data and Studies of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 16, 2026)