Footnote #4
There can be some confusion over the use of the term Han. Han is commonly used to refer to the 'ethnic group' which makes up the majority of the population of China, who speak a variety of languages. The idea that Han is a single ethnic group has come under fire from various sources as ethnic group refers to a group a people who share a language, history, religion, etc. It is clear that the Han of China certainly don't share the same langugae, but also have widely varying cultural practices and history.
Han is also used to refer to the time period during which China was ruled by one of two dynasties using the name Han (206 B.C. - A.D. 220): The Earlier Han, known in Chinese as the Western Han (��~), and the Later Han, otherwise known as the Eastern Han (�F�~).
In this paper, I will use Han to refer to the majority 'ethnic group', and Han Dynasty (era) to refer to the period of time.
There is further confusion over the term 'Chinese'. Zhongguoren (����H) clearly refers to being a citizen of the Chinese state. One can be a citizen of China, and therefore Chinese, and not be Han (something commonly thought of in Western countries as Chinese.) Huaren (�ؤH) is a more amorphous term and relates to being culturally and 'racially' Chinese.
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