Geographic and ethnic diversity of China
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Background Information
- Geographic diversity in China
- Ethnic diversity in China
- What determines an ethnic group?
- Journey to the West and diversity in China
Geographic diversity in China
China not only has the world’s largest population (over 1.3 billion), but it also is an extremely large country (more than 9.5 million square kilometers) with immense geographic and cultural diversity. In fact, China should be viewed as an assemblage of pieces much like Europe.
To teach about China and Chinese culture, it is essential to understand the geographic and ethnic diversity in China in order to avoid creating or strengthening the stereotypes of China. It is important to understand that not all Chinese are alike or eat the same foods or talk the same way, or even think the same.
Ancient China was an isolated land because of the numerous mountains, dangerous deserts, and vast seas. In fact, thousands of years passed before overland and sea routes to the West gradually connected China to Central Asia, India, and Europe. The Pacific Ocean to the east of China also prevented foreigners from reaching China.
The Gobi Desert in ancient China is one of the driest deserts in the world. The Taklamankan Desert, the name of which means "enter and you shall never return," is in the northwest.
China also has some of the highest mountain ranges in the world. One of these mountain ranges is known as the Himalayas. Mountains occupy about forty-three percent of China's land area.
Only about twelve percent of China's land is plains and most of that is in the eastern part of China.
Ancient China had two major river systems that generally flowed in a western to eastern direction:
- the Huang He, which is also known as the Yellow River
- the Yangtze, which is also known as the Chang Jiang
The Huang He river system is about 3,000 miles long. This is about the distance from California to New York. The river empties into the Yellow Sea. This river system provided fertile soil, and farmers were able to grow plenty of food. The civilization of ancient China developed along this river. This river has also caused much heartache because when it floods the land, it kills many people and destroys crops.
The Yangtze river is the longest in China, and the third longest river in the world. It is about 3, 964 miles long. It also empties into the Yellow Sea. The river passes through some of China's best farmland and many of its towns and villages. At its lowest point, during the winter or early spring, the Yangtze is about 25 feet deep. After the snow melts, it can rise to 160 feet. The ancient Chinese built their homes and towns high above the river.
Ethnic diversity in China
From the hinterlands of the north to the lush jungles in the south, from the mountains of Taiwan in the east to the top of the world in the west, China serves as home to 56 official ethnic groups. The largest group, the Han, make up over 92% of China's vast population, and it is the elements of Han civilization that the world considers "Chinese culture." Yet, the 55 ethnic minorities, nestled away on China's vast frontiers, maintain their own rich traditions and customs, and all are part of Chinese culture.
General History
From the dawn of time, China's history is a story of an immense land with several diverse tribes. It is also one of migrations and conflict, and separation and fusion of cultures. The product of the intermingling of many tribes, the Han people were among the first to settle down and develop an agrarian society. As their culture flourished, the more contempt they felt for the migrant hunter-gatherers that lay just beyond the horizon. Even though the modern concept of 56 ethnic groups is often considered an arbitrary and conservative summary of the hundreds of diverse peoples in China, it pales in comparison to the simplicity by which the ancient Han people distinguished their nomadic neighbors. For them-- the tribe occupying the Center of the World-- the only distinction was direction, and non-Han were called "Di" (northern), "Rong" (west), "Yi" (east), and "Man" (south).
As the Han prospered, they became the envy of the hearty horsemen of the north. Over a 2,000 year period, waves of invaders breached the Great Wall and poured into the Chinese heartland. The Huns, the Mongols, and Manchurians all came. Unlike the plunder and destruction characterized by the barbarian invasions of Rome, these peoples admired what they saw, leading them to stay and assimilate. At the same time, the Han were also following migratory patterns. Seeking to avoid the invasions, or simply moving as burgeoning populations strained resources, the Chinese moved southward. And here, they met with an enormous diversity of cultures. Some would be pushed further south, others would stay and assimilate. No matter what the story, one enduring theme of Chinese history remains the stability of Han Chinese Culture.
In 1911, the last Imperial Dynasty, established 300 years before by the Manchu minority, was unseated by the Nationalist Party of Sun Yat-sen. Dr. Sun himself saw China as a "Republic of Five Nationalities" (indeed, the five stars on the national flag of the People's Republic of China reflect this idea), though after his death, the Nationalists denied the existence of different ethnic groups. However, after the Communist Party came to power in 1949, an earnest effort to investigate and categorize minorities began. Although over 400 minority groups answered a call to register, studies found that there was a lot of overlapping, and a significant number of groups that claimed to be separate were actually the same with different names. After four years of detailed research and field work, 54 ethnic groups were officially recognized as independent nationalities. A 55th was added in 1979.
What determines an ethnic group?
- Distinct language - While hundreds of Chinese dialects are spoken across China, a minority language is not simply a dialect. Rather, it is a language with distinct grammatical and phonological differences from Chinese. Language families include Sino-Tibetan, Altaic, Indo-European, Austro-Asiatic, and Austronesian. Twenty-one ethnic minority groups have unique writing systems.
- A Recognized Indigenous Homeland - A territory within the national boundaries of China, from which the group originated. Native history and mythologies are interwoven into this native land.
- Distinctive Customs – These include dress, marriage rituals, cuisine, religion, and so forth.
- A Strong Sense of Identity – The sense of relatedness to other members of the group, along with historically perceived friends and enemies among other groups.
More information and details of the 56 distinct ethnic groups in China can be found in some of the useful links.
Journey to the West and diversity in China
The Chinese Buddhist monk and translator Xuanzang, who traveled to India in the 7th century to seek Buddhist scriptures, was traveling across the Tarim basin via the northern route of the Silk Road (see map below), Turfan, Kucha, Tashkent, Samarkand, Bactria, then over the Hindu Kush to India. He returned via the southern route of the Silk Road. He spent his remaining life translating sutras into Chinese. His travel and story became fantastic legends, which were used in plays and novels, such as Wu Ch'eng-en's famous novel of the 16th century, Journey to the West (please refer to the strand Journey to the West: The Monkey King).
The Journey to the West was full of challenges and dangers. Xuanzang went across several deserts and mountain ranges. He also passed a lot of ancient countries that have become parts of modern China, and all of them have their very different and rich cultures. In the novel Journey to the West, stories took place in various cultural settings, and by reading some of the stories, people may have the chance to see a bit of the geographic and cultural diversity in China.
Here are two regions visited in The Monkey King: Journey to the West:
1. Iron Fan Princess in Xinjiang (now Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region)
In Journey to the West, the story of Iron Fan Princess happened in Flaming Mountains, Xinjiang. The Flaming Mountains run 100 kilometers (62 miles) along the northern edge of Turpan Depression (Basin) from east to west with its extreme width of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). Its highest peak is 40 kilometers (248 miles) east of the city of Turpan and 831.7 meters (2728 feet) above sea level. In the story, Xuanzang and his disciples could not penetrate the flames and Monkey procured a magical palm-leaf fan from Princess Iron Fan, wife of the Ox Demon King (two fiction figures in the novel) and waved it 49 times, causing heavy rains to extinguish the fire. More anecdotes tell that to cross the Flaming Mountains, Monkey burnt his tail, and ever since then all monkeys have had red bottoms.
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region lies in the west inland of China and covers an area of 1.6 million square kilometers. It is the largest administrative region in China. Xinjiang is famous for its folk dances, fruits, gems, and carpets. Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital city, is the political, economic and cultural center of the region. Xinjiang was known as the western region in ancient times and didn't acquire its current name until Qing Dynasty. Xinjiang was the hub on the ancient Silk Road, a place where ancient Chinese culture met Indian, Persian, Arab, Greek and Roman cultures, leaving behind large amounts of cultural relics, including the ancient cities of Gaochang, Jiaohe and Loulan. In Xinjiang, people can find snowy mountains and glaciers, rivers and lakes, deserts and oasis, and vast grasslands. Its unblemished natural beauty and its varied and colorful minority customs attract tourists from all over the world.
Situated in northwest China and center of the Eurasian continent, Xinjiang covers an area of over 1,600,000 square kilometers, equivalent of one-sixth of China's territory. Xinjiang neighbors Gansu Province and Qinghai province in the southeast and Tibet in the south. It borders eight countries, namely, Mongolia in the northeast, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the northwest and Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in the southwest.
Xinjiang is in the temperate zone and the Mountain of Tian divides Xinjiang into two parts: south and north Xinjiang. The north part is relatively dry and the south humid due to the mountain's obstruction of water vapor. The average temperature of Xinjiang of the whole year is around 11C.
2. Dunhuang- desert and Mogao grottoes
Desert is one of the most severe areas that monk Xuanzang and his disciples had to go across. And Dunhuang is a very important hub on the Silk Road.
Dunhuang has a long history. As early as the New Stone Age there had been human beings living on this land. Dunhuang County, which was built in the 6th year of Yuanding of Wu Enterer (111 BC), Han Dynasty, owns a history of over 2,000 years. In the 2nd year of Yuanding (115BC), Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian visited the Western Regions as an envoy for the second time and opened up the Silk Road. So Dunhuang enter its thriving stage for the first time and developed stop by step into the northwestern military and political center, Besides, it was also an important place for trade and culture, becoming a large metropolis, which connected the people of Han Nationalities with the tribes in the Western China.
In 366 AD, Monk Yue Seng opened up the Mogao Grottoes for the first time. And in Northern Wei, they had become very prosperous, then China was unified in Sui Dynasty and as a result the Silk Road was ensured unblocked and the Buddhism in Dunhuang entered a period of great prosperity. A lot of caves, murals and sculptures which were made in Tang Dynasty had reached to a very high artistic level. In the 19 th year of Zhenguan (645 AD), after getting Buddhist scriptures from the Western Regions, Monk Xuan Zang got back to Chang'an via Dunhuang.
Lesson Plans
| Title | Standard met in curriculum / Concepts and themes |
| Treasure Hunt- Geography and cultural diversity along Journey to the West |
Social Studies
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Helpful Links
- http://www.silk-road.com/toc/index.html
studies, articles, culture, painting, folklores, travels, maps, and more about Silk Road. - http://www.china.org.cn/e-groups/shaoshu/
a complete list of the minority ethnic groups in China, with photos, population, major area of distribution, language and religion information. - http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/nationality/56list.htm
another complete list of the minority ethnic groups in China, with more information and their traditional festivals. - http://www.aasianst.org/EAA/mccoll.htm
Understanding the Geographies of China, An Assemblage of Pieces, by Robert McColl (1999), an useful and informational article about teaching the geographies of China. - http://www.silk-road.com/artl/hsuantsang.shtml
Travels of Hsuan-Tsang -- Buddhist Pilgrim of the Seventh Century, by Irma Marx - http://idp.bl.uk/
International Dunhuang Project, an international collaboration to digitalize the precious manuscripts and other arts.