ETHNIC GROUPS IN CHINESE HISTORY

(Redirected from List of past Chinese ethnic groups)
The following are the 'ethnic groups in Chinese history'. Any non clear-cut connection is denoted by a question mark beside the equivalences. As so many ethnic groups have appeared in history, this table is certainly not complete. The purpose of this page is to stimulate conversation and constructive arguments on connecting Eastern and Western knowledge of those ethnic groups.
4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >

Pinyin Romanization	Names in Chinese characters and Pronunciation	Approximate residence according to Chinese texts	Time of appearance in the history of China	Equivalence(s) of non-chinese names	Time of appearance outside China	Possible Descendant(s)
Miao	苗 (miao2)	Various areas stretching from provinces (Hebei, Shanxi) north of the Huang He to Yunnan province	As early as 25th century B.C. to present	Hmong	see Miao	Laotians, ethnic groups in China, America and Europe
Yuezhi	月氏 (Yue4 Zhi1)	Gansu, Xinjiang	6th century B.C. '?' to 162 B.C., then driven out by Xiongnu.	Kushans, Tocharians?	mid 2nd century B.C. in Central Asia	No known descendants, but possibly absorbed into Uygurs
Wuhuan	烏桓 (wu1 huan2)	Western portions of Manchuria (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning provinces) and Inner Mongolia	4th century B.C. to late 3rd century, assimilated into Hans >No known equivalence	N/A	N/A	Xianbei
Xianbei	鮮卑 (xian1 bei1)	Manchuria (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning provinces), Mongolia and Inner Mongolia. Moved into areas north of the Huang He as they founded a dynasty there.	4th century B.C. '?' to mid 6th century, assimilated into Hans	N/A	N/A	Mongols
Qiang	羌 (qiang1)	Gansu, Qinghai, western portion of Sichuan, eastern portion of Xinjiang and northeastern portion of Tibet	Mentioned in oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty circa 14th century B.C. to circa 1050 B.C.4th century B.C. '?' to late 5th century, assimilated into Hans	No known equivalence	N/A	as minorities in Sichuan
Di	氐 (di1)	Areas of neighboring borders of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Shaanxi	8th century B.C. '?' to mid 6th century, assimilated into Hans	No known equivalence	N/A	as minorities in Sichuan
Jie	羯 (jie2)	Shanxi province	late 2nd century to mid 4th century, assimilated into Hans	No known equivalence	N/A	No known descendants
Dingling, Gaoche, Shule	丁零 (ding1 ling2), 高車 (gao1 che1), 疏勒 (shu1 le4)	Banks of Lake Baikal and on the borders of present-day Mongolia and Russia then migrated to Shanxi province and Xinjiang region	1st century BC to late 5th century, assimilated into Hans	'?'	'?'	some descendants still living by the lake '?'
Rouran, Ruru,	柔然 (rou2 ran2), 蠕蠕 (ruan2 ruan2), 茹茹 (ru2 ru2)	Present-day Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, northern portions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and eastern portion of Xinjiang	early 3rd century to early 6th century	Avars'?'	late 6th century to early 9th century	Mongols
Tujue	突厥 (tu2 jue2)	Present-day Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, northern portions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Xinjiang, eastern portion of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan	late 5th century to mid 10th century	Göktürks	mid 6th century to early 9th century	The western Turks partly migrated to Transoxiana, Persia, and Anatolia, while the eastern Turks assimilated mainly to the Uyghurs in Xinjiang; mostly nowadays Turkmen and Uyghur in Central Asia along with other Turkic peoples, and to a lesser degree the Turkish-speaking population of modern-day Turkey share that ancestry.
Huihu	回紇 (hui2 he2)	Present-day Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, northern portions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia	early 7th century to mid 10th century	Uyghurs	early 9th century to present	Uyghurs - largest ethnic group in Xinjiang region, and Yugurs	Tubo	吐蕃(tu3 fan1) sometimes pronounced as 吐播 (tu3 bo1)	Present-day Tibet, Qinghai, western border of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi and Southern border of Xinjiang	mid 6th century to present	Tibetans	early 6th century to present	Tibetans
Qidan	契丹 (qi4 dan1)	Present-day Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Liaoning, northern border of Shanxi and Hebei and later in Xinjiang and eastern border of Kazakhstan	late 5th century to mid 13th century	Khitan	early 6th century to present	Daur and Khamnigan people
Xi	奚 (xi1)	More or less the same residence of the Khitans since regarded as two ethnic groups with one unique ancestry	mid 6th century to mid 12th century	No known equivalence	N/A	No known descendants
Shiwei	室韋 (shi4 wei2)	Present-day Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, western Manchuria and southern Siberia	late 6th century - late 10th century	No known equivalence	N/A	conquered by Khitans, splinter groups and remnants re-emerged as Mongols
Menggu	蒙古 (meng2 gu3)	Present-day Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, western Manchuria, southern Siberia, eastern and central Xinjiang before Genghis Khan	since late 8th century ('?')	Mongol	late 12th century to present	Mongol
Dangxiang	党項 (dang3 xiang4)	Ningxia, Gansu, northern portions of Shanxi, southwestern portion of Mongolia, Southeastern portion of Xinjiang	mid 8th century to early 13th century	Tanguts	''	Part of Hui nationality (Dungan), Ersu, part of Amdo Tibetans
Mohe	靺鞨 (mo4 he2)	Manchuria and northern portion of Inner Mongolia, helped to establish Bohai	early 7th century to early 10th century.	Malgal	N/A	Jurchen (see entry below)
Nüzhen or Manzuren	女真 (nü3 zhen1), 滿族人 (man3 zu2 ren2), 滿人 (man3 ren2)	Manchuria and northern portion of Inner Mongolia	early 10th century to present, established Jin Dynasty and Qing Dynasty	Jurchen, Mancho, Manchus or Manchurian	Since mid 17th century, first encountered by Russians	Largest minority ethnic group in Dongbei region or Manchuria. Their culture has very much assimilated with the Han but some distinctive aspects still remain.

Contents

See also

See also

★ China

★ History of China

★ Chinese sovereign

★ Turkic peoples

★ Wu Hu

★ List of ethnic groups in China

★ Ethnic minorities in China

★ Languages of China