For every generation of China's 4,000-year-long dynastic history, its inhabitants set out to define their cultural identity. Whether by drawing from the past or looking into the future, Chinese culture evolved throughout the ages, often expanding into neighboring territories. Even in modern times, Chinese Head of State Xi Jinping has called for increased sinicization of China; but what does sinicization mean? What does sinicization mean to the history of Medieval Imperial China?
Sinicization Meaning
Sinicization, at its core, is the process of strengthening Han Chinese culture within and without mainland China. In sinicization, people of non-traditional Chinese descent in China and its neighboring countries become exposed to and adopt Han Chinese culture, including moral values, language, education systems, philosophy, religion, technology, diet, etc. In that sense, sinicization can be viewed as a process of imperialism.
Art depicting 9th century Tang Dynasty General Zhang Yichao battling Tibetans for control of a province in northwestern China. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
When defining sinicization, however, it begs another question: what is Han Chinese culture? And what were the means of its spread of influence throughout Medieval East Asia?
Han Chinese / Hanzu / 汉族:
A term used to describe the majority ethnic group of China deriving their history and cultural identity from the ancient agricultural Huaxia people of mainland China.
To this day, Han Chinese is an enduring ethnic concept used to describe the majority of the Chinese populace (and nearly a fifth of the global world population). Indeed, Han Chinese is often mistakenly identified as the sole ethnic or cultural identity of China. Throughout history, Han Chinese has represented the dominant or primary cultural identity of China; its particular influence spread through the process of sinicization.
Sinicization Etymology:
The term Sinicization includes the prefix sino-, of the latin word sinae used to reference the Chinese. Sino- reoccurs in terms such as sinofaction or sinosphere, both terms in reference to the spread of Han Dynasty culture in East Asia. The term "Han" (汉 in simplified Mandarin Chinese, 漢 in traditional Mandarin), originates with the Han Dynasty of Classical China, considered to be a golden age among the descendants of the Huaxia people; they began describing themselves as the Han people shortly after.
Sinicization Policy
Sinicization, like other historical policies of imperialism, takes the form of either diplomacy or armed conflict. Every Chinese dynasty implemented sinicization, either through foreign expansionism like the Yuan Dynasty or through inward centralization indicative of the Ming Dynasty.
It is important to note that Medieval sinicization was not an outwardly intentional process, like many European forms of imperialism (Consider Kipling's poem "The White Man's Burden"). The spread of Han culture was a result of Eurasian migration, cultural influence, and administrative dominance.
Inward Sinicization Policies
Since the 3rd century CE fall of the Han Dynasty, China's principal Classical Era civilization, Chinese dynasties continually rose and fractured into warring states. Invasions from steppe nomads and neighboring states further stoked the fires of chaos in early Medieval China's history. The warring Three Kingdoms period was followed by the Sixteen Kingdoms period, and then the turbulent Northern and Southern Dynasties era from 420 to 589 CE.
"The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus his person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved."
-Confucius
The Sui Dynasty finally unified China in the late 6th century, but its reign would be short-lived. Despite, or because of the chaos of internal conflict and foreign invasion in China, the descendants of the Huaxia people recognized a need to preserve their cultural identity as Han people. The term "huaxia" itself is not a term created by historians and assigned to an East Asian ethnic group; it was a term created by the early agriculturalists of China to describe themselves as civilized in contrast to their neighbors.
Medieval Tang Dynasty portrait of Confucius by Chinese artist Wu Daozi. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
This preservation of culture often became pressure on neighboring ethnic groups to conform or assimilate to the Han way of life. Migrants soon found themselves sinicized to Han customs. At the highest level, Medieval Chinese administrators were often chosen through rigorous examinations based on Confucian education, an education familiar to the elite of the Han Chinese. This pressure alone forced non-Han Chinese people to assimilate to Han customs, if only to gain some governmental representation.
Aspects of Han Chinese culture spread through sinicization. Non-ethnic Han Chinese people began wearing hanfu style clothing, and began writing in the hanyu Chinese writing system (the traditional Chinese writing system that lasted until the 20th century).
Outward Sinicization Policies
China continued to expand outwards during the Medieval Era. Modern-day Chinese provinces to the west and south fell under Han Chinese influence. The land around the Gulf of Tonkin became progressively sinicized; the Guizhou region to the southwest became inhabited by Chinese soldiers who intermarried with local women, ingrained their Han culture within families in unfamiliar lands.
Portrait depicting Kublai Khan, creator of the Yuan Dynasty. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
In 1271, Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, led his Mongolian horde in conquering the Song Dynasty of China. Surprisingly, this did not slow down the sinicization of Han culture into foreign lands. Kublai Khan was a Buddhist who respected and encouraged the spread of other religions, namely Confucianism. Furthermore, Kublai Khan greatly opened Chinese borders to traders, travelers, and immigrants from across Eurasia.
Kublai Khan did not seek to destroy Han culture or ingratiate himself with it; he simply clarified the separation between the two parties during his reign. His conquests in Japan, Vietnam, Korea, and the Asian Steppe all actually promoted the spread of Han culture into foreign lands.
Sinicization of Religion
The three primary religions of the Medieval Han Chinese were Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Each religion was intertwined with the identity of the Han Chinese, and each was not exclusive to one another. Beyond the fundamental Han belief of ancestor worship, a Han Chinese person could practice a mix of Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism in their daily lives, or devote themselves entirely to one practice. As part of Han culture, these three religions spread within and without China through sinicization, often complementing or replacing the religions of impacted territories.
Sinicization of Islam:
One consequence of the Yuan Dynasty was the integration of Islam with Han tradition. The Ming Dynasty, replacing the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, turned toward a reactionary policy of isolationism. Islamic merchants and travelers remained in China, adopting Han Chinese customs, dress, and writing to navigate the East Asian world. Their faith did not diminish. During the Ming Dynasty, Islam became a well-regarded religion among Han Chinese peoples within China and among Han administrators in foreign Muslim lands. Famous Medieval Chinese explorer Zheng He was a Ming Dynasty Muslim who even visited Mecca before the Ming Dynasty turned to its excessive isolationism.
Sinicization of Southeast Asia
Sinicization of Southeast Asia began as early as the Han Dynasty of the Classical Era, and the process only continued into the Medieval Era, albeit with resistance. Imperial China repeatedly attempted to invade Vietnam during multiple dynasties, but the Han Chinese could never gain a strong foothold in the Southeastern country. Even the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty were repelled, but some sinicization did occur as a result of Chinese interest in Vietnam.
Art depicting the Vietnamese victory over the Chinese in 938 CE at the Battle of Bạch Đằng. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Agricultural methods, technological innovations, and Buddhism all spread into Vietnam, sinicizing the resistant Vietnamese. The Khmer Empire of modern-day Cambodia was more open to sinicization, accepting thousands of Song Dynasty immigrants during the Medieval Era.
Sinicization - Key Takeaways
- Sinicization is defined as the spread of Han Chinese culture within and without China.
- Han Chinese refers to an East Asian ethnic group of Chinese people who descend from the ancient Huaxia agricultural tribes; their culture dominates within China and in many lands abroad, influencing Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
- Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism were the three primary religions within Han Chinese culture and were promoted through sinicization.
- The Mongolian Yuan Dynasty of China did not hinder sinicization but rather promoted the process through opening China's borders and through foreign conquest.
- Imperial China did not successfully invade Southeast Asia, but cultural sinification still took place.
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