The Han dynasty and the northern “barbarians”

Myths were used to explain or construct the ethnic origins of Chinese and surrounding peoples, dating back to the Han dynasty and continuing to today. Before written records to prove genealogy Chinese historians constructed ethnic origins for political purposes with mainly two different approaches. The first approach was to manipulate perceptions of foreign peoples by attributing their ancestry to the supernatural such as the myths of the origins of the Xiongnu and Tujue, which said that they had descended from a wolf. Although this seems to give the two foreign peoples a sense of strength and ferocity to the Chinese the wolf was a mark of contempt and harshness. This approach made foreign peoples seem different and exotic from the Chinese justifying their treatment of them as inferior for conquest, exploitation and expansion. The second approach was to enhance the ethnicity of outsiders by asserting that their ancestry was strong and Chinese to inherit the positive attributes of foreigners as there own. Although these myths were political, as illustrated above, they were also psychological allowing Chinese governments as well as historians devalue the autonomy and identity of foreigners by demonizing them or by means of assimilation.

Now you may reflect on why the word ‘barbarians’ are in quotations in the title of this entry. The word is sometimes defined as uncultured or brutish people. How much of the word is perception from people with political gains?

‘Til next time!