Modern Chinese Nationalism and the Han Nation: An Analysis based on the Hanfu Movement

Research Article
Open access

Modern Chinese Nationalism and the Han Nation: An Analysis based on the Hanfu Movement

Ying Dai 1*
  • 1 School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff, United Kingdom    
  • *corresponding author DaiY29@cardiff.ac.uk
LNEP Vol.5
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-35-5
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-36-2

Abstract

The development of the Hanfu movement in modern China reflects the Chinese people’s quest for national identity. Hanfu is the traditional dress of the Han nation. Initially, some Hanfu activists attempted to use Hanfu to restore the core status of the Han nation in China. Later, Hanfu became more popular among the Chinese public and represented increasing Chinese cultural influence abroad. However, the association of the Hanfu movement with nationalism has not been widely studied. It is introduced Benediction Anderson’s “imagined communities”, Anthony Smith’s “ethno-symbolism”, and Manuel Castells’s “three identities in the age of the Internet” in the paper to explore the changes in the construction of Han Chinese identity at different times in China and the flow of nationalist sentiment. In addition, the network soil and radical nationalism at the birth of the Hanfu Movement are also noteworthy. This is linked to the modern online forms of nationalism and the new issues of Chinese nationalism in the context of online media under the control of the Chinese government to remind the future Hanfu movement not to fall into a narrow nationalist dilemma. Finally, this paper argues that moderate nationalism is conducive to the cohesion of Chinese national identity and the overall cultural revival of modern China.

Keywords:

nationalism, Hanfu movement, Han identity, cyber nationalism

Dai,Y. (2023). Modern Chinese Nationalism and the Han Nation: An Analysis based on the Hanfu Movement. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,5,165-172.
Export citation

References

[1]. Yeung, J. and Lee, L. (2019). Wearing pride: Centuries-old Chinese fashion is making a comeback. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/hanfu-rise-intl-hnk/index.html.

[2]. Buckley, C. and Northrop, K. (2018). A Retro Fashion Statement in 1,000-Year-Old Gowns, With Nationalist Fringe. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/22/world/asia/china-hanfu-gowns-clothing.html.

[3]. Xing, Z. (2012). The Hanfu Movement: A Subculture in China’s Internet Era. ICCS Journal of Modern Chinese Studies, 4, 61-67.

[4]. Xian, Z. (2009). Hanfu movement: racial nationalism in the age of the internet. Zhongguo qingnian zhengzhi xueyuan xueba, 11, 65-67.

[5]. Chew, M. M. and Wang, Y. (2012). Online Cultural Conservatism and Han Ethnicism in China, Asian Social Science, 8.

[6]. Carrico, K. (2017). The Great Han: Race, Nationalism, and Tradition in China Today. University of California Press.

[7]. Wang, Y. (2019). Contesting the past on the Chinese Internet: Han-centrism and mnemonic practices. Memory Studies, 15, 304-317.

[8]. Liu, H. (2019). From Cyber-Nationalism to Fandom Nationalism: The Case of Diba Expedition in China. Routlege.

[9]. Schneider, F. (2018). China’s Digital Nationalism. Oxford University Press.

[10]. Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (3rd ed.). Verso.

[11]. Smith, A. D. (2010). Nationalism: Theory, Ideology, History (2nd ed.). Polity Press.

[12]. Castells, M. (2010). The Power of Identity (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.

[13]. Li, K. (2021). Constructing Modern Ethnic Myth: A Cultural Analysis of the Hanfu Movement. Retrieved from https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/search/publication/9057325.

[14]. Leibold, J. (2010). More Than a Category: Han Supremacism on the Chinese Internet. The China Quarterly, 203, 539-559.

[15]. Xing, Z. (2014). Essentialist Chinese Clothing Discourse and Constructivist Cultural Practice - The Claims, Gains and Bottlenecks of the Hanfu Movement. Folklore Studies, 3, 130-144.

[16]. Zhang, Y. (2008). What is Going on in China? A Cultural Analysis on the Reappearance of Ancient Jili and Hanfu in Present-Day China. Intercultural Communication Studies, 17, 228-233.

[17]. Skey, M. (2022). Nationalism and Media. Nationalities Papers, 50, 839-849.

[18]. Mihelj, S. and Jiménez-Martínez, C. (2020). Digital nationalism: Understanding the role of digital media in the rise of “new” nationalism. Nations and Nationalism, 27, 331-346.

Cite this article

Dai,Y. (2023). Modern Chinese Nationalism and the Han Nation: An Analysis based on the Hanfu Movement. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,5,165-172.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer/Publisher's Note

The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies (ICIHCS 2022), Part 4

ISBN：978-1-915371-35-5(Print) / 978-1-915371-36-2(Online)
Editor：Matilde Lafuente-Lechuga, Muhammad Idrees
Conference website: https://www.icihcs.org/
Conference date: 18 December 2022
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.5
ISSN：2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).

References

[1]. Yeung, J. and Lee, L. (2019). Wearing pride: Centuries-old Chinese fashion is making a comeback. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/hanfu-rise-intl-hnk/index.html.

[2]. Buckley, C. and Northrop, K. (2018). A Retro Fashion Statement in 1,000-Year-Old Gowns, With Nationalist Fringe. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/22/world/asia/china-hanfu-gowns-clothing.html.

[3]. Xing, Z. (2012). The Hanfu Movement: A Subculture in China’s Internet Era. ICCS Journal of Modern Chinese Studies, 4, 61-67.

[4]. Xian, Z. (2009). Hanfu movement: racial nationalism in the age of the internet. Zhongguo qingnian zhengzhi xueyuan xueba, 11, 65-67.

[5]. Chew, M. M. and Wang, Y. (2012). Online Cultural Conservatism and Han Ethnicism in China, Asian Social Science, 8.

[6]. Carrico, K. (2017). The Great Han: Race, Nationalism, and Tradition in China Today. University of California Press.

[7]. Wang, Y. (2019). Contesting the past on the Chinese Internet: Han-centrism and mnemonic practices. Memory Studies, 15, 304-317.

[8]. Liu, H. (2019). From Cyber-Nationalism to Fandom Nationalism: The Case of Diba Expedition in China. Routlege.

[9]. Schneider, F. (2018). China’s Digital Nationalism. Oxford University Press.

[10]. Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (3rd ed.). Verso.

[11]. Smith, A. D. (2010). Nationalism: Theory, Ideology, History (2nd ed.). Polity Press.

[12]. Castells, M. (2010). The Power of Identity (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.

[13]. Li, K. (2021). Constructing Modern Ethnic Myth: A Cultural Analysis of the Hanfu Movement. Retrieved from https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/search/publication/9057325.

[14]. Leibold, J. (2010). More Than a Category: Han Supremacism on the Chinese Internet. The China Quarterly, 203, 539-559.

[15]. Xing, Z. (2014). Essentialist Chinese Clothing Discourse and Constructivist Cultural Practice - The Claims, Gains and Bottlenecks of the Hanfu Movement. Folklore Studies, 3, 130-144.

[16]. Zhang, Y. (2008). What is Going on in China? A Cultural Analysis on the Reappearance of Ancient Jili and Hanfu in Present-Day China. Intercultural Communication Studies, 17, 228-233.

[17]. Skey, M. (2022). Nationalism and Media. Nationalities Papers, 50, 839-849.

[18]. Mihelj, S. and Jiménez-Martínez, C. (2020). Digital nationalism: Understanding the role of digital media in the rise of “new” nationalism. Nations and Nationalism, 27, 331-346.

For authors
Guide for authors Policies for authors Aims and scope Subscription Open access policy
For editors
Policies for editors Editorial board
For reviewers
Policies for reviewers Privacy policy

Cookies are used by this site.
Copyright © 2024 EWA Publishing, its licensors, and contributors. All rights reserved, including text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.