China is called Huaxia for the following reasons:
The word "Huaxia" first appeared in Shangshu Zhoushu Wucheng, and "Huaxia is too arrogant to give anything", which means that all ethnic groups in the Central Plains and those in remote areas are obedient to Zhou Wuwang.
among them, "Huaxia" refers to the nationalities in the Central Plains, that is, the later Han nationality. Confucius thought that "Xia" and "Hua" were synonyms. At the same time, in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the word "Hua" has a very lofty position. From about the Spring and Autumn Period, China ancient books began to use "Hua" and "Xia" together, collectively called "Huaxia".
When the concept of "Huaxia nationality" first came into being, people didn't have a strong sense of racial identity. It was not until the Zhou Dynasty that Huaxia became synonymous with China. ?
After the defeat of Shang Zhouwang and the unification of the Central Plains in the Zhou Dynasty, the material civilization was much more developed than that of the surrounding Yi people. Later, the Duke of Zhou formulated a system of rites and music, which made the Yi people even more barbaric and vulgar. Gradually, people developed a sense of superiority, and then a sense of ethnic identity, and the concept of "Huaxia nationality" began to take root in people's hearts.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the State of Qin in the western region originally belonged to Xirong, and by the Warring States Period, it became the most powerful vassal state among the Chinese states. Chu State in the south was originally regarded as a "barbarian" country by the Central Plains countries, and the poet Qu Yuan was distressed by his "barbarian" identity. However, by the Warring States period, the State of Chu had stood tall and claimed to be "Huaxia". ?
In fact, throughout the Spring and Autumn Period, the Sinicization of Siyi was one of the basic melodies of the whole era. In the later dynasties, whenever the Han people expanded their territory to the land of barbarians, they would assimilate barbarians, or barbarians moved to the residential areas of Han people and were assimilated, all of which made other ethnic groups feel a sense of identity with "Huaxia". Therefore, it can be said that the Huaxia nationality is formed by the continuous integration of the Central Plains nationality and the surrounding Yi nationality. ?
after the prosperity of the Han dynasty, people called the Chinese nation the Han nationality. However, in the early ancient literature, "Huaxia" was often used to refer to "China", so people in later generations often referred to China as Huaxia.
the development of China?
Huaxia in the pre-Qin period was only used to refer to the countries such as Lu, Jin, Qi, Zheng, Cai, Wei, and so on, plus the princes with different surnames, such as Song and Chen, who performed rites and surrendered to the Zhou Dynasty.
in the warring States period, the six countries of Chu, Zhao, Wei, Han, qi, Yan and the state of Qin were all regarded as parts of "Zhu Xia" and Kyushu (Huaxia). On the basis of pre-Qin countries, the concept of Kyushu of later Han nationality sprouted in Han Dynasty. Since the Han Dynasty, "Huaxia" has become another name of the Han nationality, and it is also another name of the Han land, and the word "Chinese" refers to the Han nationality in a narrow sense.