Han Chinese

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Images

A woman and man model traditional Han Chinese clothing on a runway, the woman in a red robe with ornate floral headpiece, the man in a blue robe with an elaborate black and red hat.

Principal sites of prehistoric and Shang China

Oracle bone script

Shang dynasty oracle bone

Dan, the duke of Zhou

Confucius and Laozi

Historic book-burner

Map showing the Han Empire's territory around 100 BCE, shaded in orange, covering much of eastern China and extending westward. The map also marks the boundary of modern China and highlights the Great Wall running along the northern frontier, built for protection against the Huns. Major rivers and the capital, Chang'an (Xi'an), are labeled.

Map of China showing the regional distribution of Sinitic language groups. Most of northern and western China is shaded orange for Mandarin dialects, while southern and southeastern provinces display other dialect groups: Gan (blue), Hakka (aqua), Min (purple), Wu (green), Xiang (red), and Yue (pink). Non-Sinitic language areas and uninhabited regions are marked in white. Major provinces and cities are labeled for reference.

Han Chinese: Media

ethnic group

Images

A woman and man model traditional Han Chinese clothing on a runway, the woman in a red robe with ornate floral headpiece, the man in a blue robe with an elaborate black and red hat.

Chinese man and woman wearing hanfu

A Chinese man and woman in traditional Chinese clothing, or hanfu.

© Quan Yajun—VCG/Getty Images

Principal sites of prehistoric and Shang China

Principal sites of prehistoric and Shang China

Adapted from A. Herrmann, An Historical Atlas of China (1966); Aldine Publishing Company

Oracle bone script

Oracle bone script

These ancient forms of Chinese characters date to the Shang dynasty and were used...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Shang dynasty oracle bone

Shang dynasty oracle bone

A fragment of bone used in a Shang dynasty divination ritual.

© IMAGO/piemags/Reuters

Dan, the duke of Zhou

Dan, the duke of Zhou

The duke of Zhou was an influential political reformer and philosopher who expanded...

Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Creative Commons by 4.0)

Confucius and Laozi

Confucius and Laozi

Painting depicting the legendary meeting between Confucius (left) and Laozi (right),...

Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Creative Commons by 4.0)

Historic book-burner

Historic book-burner

Qin Shi Huang (Shihuangdi), illustration from a 19th-century Korean album, in the...

© World History Archive/Alamy

Qin Shi Huang

Qin Shi Huang

Statue of the Qin emperor Qin Shi Huang, near his tomb in Xi'an, Shaanxi province,...

Nat Krause

Map showing the Han Empire's territory around 100 BCE, shaded in orange, covering much of eastern China and extending westward. The map also marks the boundary of modern China and highlights the Great Wall running along the northern frontier, built for protection against the Huns. Major rivers and the capital, Chang'an (Xi'an), are labeled.

China: Han dynasty

Map showing the extent of the Han empire c. 100 bce.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of China showing the regional distribution of Sinitic language groups. Most of northern and western China is shaded orange for Mandarin dialects, while southern and southeastern provinces display other dialect groups: Gan (blue), Hakka (aqua), Min (purple), Wu (green), Xiang (red), and Yue (pink). Non-Sinitic language areas and uninhabited regions are marked in white. Major provinces and cities are labeled for reference.

Distribution of Chinese dialects

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A Taoist ritual

A Taoist ritual

Taoist monks taking part in a ritual at the Temple of the City God, also called Old...

© Shawn McCullars

Chinese manuscript showing acupuncture points

Chinese manuscript showing acupuncture points

Acupuncture points, drawing from a Chinese manuscript; in the Bibliothèque Nationale...

Courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

Wang Meng: Thatched Cottage in Autumnal Mountains

Wang Meng: Thatched Cottage in Autumnal Mountains

Thatched Cottage in Autumnal Mountains, painting by Wang Meng, 14th century;...

Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Open Government Data License, version 1.0)

Large red-walled palace buildings with golden roofs in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China, with crowds of visitors and a stone bridge crossing a curved moat in the foreground.

Beijing, China: Forbidden City

The Forbidden City, the Chinese imperial palace complex in Beijing, was built in...

© Hung Chung Chih/Shutterstock.com

Ping vase

Ping vase

Octagonal Ping vase, blue-and-white porcelain, from Baoding, Yuan (Mongol) dynasty,...

Giraudon/Art Resource, New York

Sandalwood lute

Sandalwood lute

Red sandalwood lute inlaid with mother-of-pearl, 8th century, Tang dynasty; in the...

Courtesy of the Shôsô-In Treasure House

Thematic map of China showing the general distribution of major ethnic groups using different colors and patterns. The Han Chinese population dominates the eastern and central regions, while areas in the west and south are marked for Uighur, Tibetan, Mongolian, Hui, Miao, and other ethnic groups. A legend in the lower left identifies each group and also marks sparsely populated and uninhabited regions. Major cities and provincial boundaries are labeled for reference.

General ethnic composition of China

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of China and surrounding regions with the province of Yunnan highlighted in orange in the southwest, bordering Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. Major international boundaries, disputed borders, and lines of control are shown, with the provincial capital Kunming labeled. An inset map at lower left shows Yunnan's location within China.

Yunnan province, China

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.