Establishing the Concept of “Chinese Nation” in China in the Period of the Qing Dynasty

“Chinese nation” is a combination of the words “China” (Zhonghua) and “nation” (min-zu). Its formation as an ideological concept is not only inextricably linked to continuation and evolution of internal content and identification of ancient notions of “China” (Zhong-guo), “China” (Zhonghua) and “Chinese” (Zhongguoren) during the Qing era but there is also direct connection with the borrowing and using the modern foreign concept of “na-tion” in this period. The Qing Dynasty is a period of large-scale clash and unprecedented integration of major nationalities in the history of China as well as the epoch when China directly touched, entered the conflict and felt the deep influence of the Western countries that dominated the “system of the modern world”. All this created the necessary historical conditions for the emergence and development of the modern concept of the Chinese nation.