Huaxia (Traditional Chinese: 華夏; Simplified Chinese: 华夏; pinyin: Huáxià) is a name often used to represent China or Chinese civilization. Traditional Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 正體字/繁體字, Simplified Chinese: 正体字/繁体字) refers to one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), commonly called Pinyin, is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ...

Etymology

According to the historical record, Zuo Zhuan, the ancient Xia Dynasty of central China was a state that held propriety and justice in high esteem, thus the word xia (夏), which has the meaning of "great" or "grand", was used by subsequent dynasties to refer to the entire country as a mark of refined culture. The word hua (華) was also used in reference to the beautiful clothing that people in ancient China wore, as the word means "illustrious" and "splendid". (中國有禮儀之大，故稱夏；有服章之美，謂之華。) The Zuo Zhuan (Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Tso Chuan) is the earliest Chinese work of narrative history and covers the period from 722 BCE to 468 BCE. It was traditionally attributed to Zuo Qiuming, as a commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals, although many scholars believe it was an independent... This article is about the extremely ancient Chinese dynasty whose existence has yet to be thoroughly confirmed by archaeology. ...

It is also possible that xia referred to Xiashui (夏水), another name for the Han River, and hua referred to Mount Hua. Both the river and the mountain were historically and culturally significant to ancient China. The Han River (漢江; pinyin: Han Jiang) in China, was often referred to as Hanshui (漢水) in antiquity. ... Mount Hua, known in Chinese as Huashan, is one of the five Sacred Mountains of China. Mount Hua is located in Shaanxi Province. ...

Historical development

In the narrow, original sense, Huaxia refers to a group (or confederation of tribes) of ancient people living along the Yellow River who formed the nucleus of what later became the Han ethnic group in China. In this sense, the term did not originally represent China or Chinese civilisation as a whole, but referred instead to a specific ethno-cultural group (the Huaxia tribe or confederacy 華夏族) that was distinct from other Chinese peoples at the time, such as the Miao and the Dongyi. Subsequently, with the spread of Han culture over most of China, the term came to be used as a generic term for the Chinese nation itself, as well as for Chinese culture in general (including that shared by the overseas Chinese). The Yellow River or Golden River (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Hanyu Pinyin:  ; Wade-Giles: Hwang-ho, sometimes simply called the River in ancient Chinese) is the second longest river in China (after Yangtze River) and the seventh longest in the world, at 5464 km long [1]. Originating in the Bayankala... Languages Chinese languages, Indian languages, Hebrew Religions Predominantly Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, traditional Chinese religions, and atheism. ... The Hmong, also known as Miao (Chinese: 苗: Miáo; Vietnamese: Mẹo or Hmông; Thai: ม้ง (mong) or แม้ว (maew)), are an Asian ethnic group whose homeland is in the mountainous regions of southern China (especially Guizhou) that cross into northern Southeast... Dongyi (東夷) was a collective term for people in the east of China. ... Peoples Republic of China (PRC), which governs mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau; or Republic of China (ROC), which governs Taiwan, the Pescadores, the Matsu Islands, and Kinmen. ... Languages various Religions Predominantly Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, traditional Chinese religions, and atheism. ...

Modern references

Although still used in conjunction, Hua (華) and Xia (夏) are more often used separately to represent things Chinese. Hua, in particular, has become almost synonymous with Chinese civilization.

The official Chinese names of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China refer to Huaxia in using the term Zhonghua (中華) to refer to China as a country. The PRC's Chinese name is "中華人民共和國" and the ROC's Chinese name is "中華民國". Today, the Republic of China is commonly known as Taiwan or Chinese Taipei. Not to be confused with the Peoples Republic of China. ...

The character hua is also often used, in the terms Huaqiao (華僑) and Huaren (華人), by the Overseas Chinese to refer to themselves. The term does not denote citizenship, but makes a reference to their ancestral origins. Languages various Religions Predominantly Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, traditional Chinese religions, and atheism. ...

The Chinese calendar is also known as the "Xia Li" (夏曆). The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, akin to the Hebrew calendar & Hindu Calendar, incorporating elements of a lunar calendar with those of a solar calendar. ...

The Dynasty business class service on China Airlines is called "Huaxia Class" in Chinese. Not to be confused with Air China. ...

See also

• Jiuzhou
• History of China