History UsefulNotes / China

-->--attributed to '''UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte''', though we don't actually know who really originated it

** Premier: Li Keqiang
** Congress Chairman: Li Zhanshu
** CPPCC Chairman: Wang Yang
** 1st Party Secretariat's Member: Wang Huning
** Party Discipline Secretary: Zhao Leji
** 1st Vice Premier: Han Zheng
** Vice President: Wang Qishan
** Chief Justice: Zhou Qiang
** Prosecutor-General: Zhang Jun
** Supervisory Commission Director: Yang Xiaodu

A huge East Asian country, when people mention "Asia", the first country to pop up in your head, is probably going to be China (Chinese: 中国, ''Zhōngguó''), officially the '''People's Republic of China''' (PRC) (Chinese: 中华人民共和国, ''Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó''). This has become so common that for some people, China is synonymous with Asia, much to the annoyance of everyone who isn't ignorant. As the second most populated country in the world after India, and third largest in area after UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} and UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}, and with an economy on the rise daily, the People's Republic of China is a country well worth understanding better, partly to avoid the many stereotypes of the country and the Chinese people over the years.

A huge East Asian country, when people mention "Asia", the first country to pop up in your head, is probably going to be China (Chinese: 中国, ''Zhōngguó''), officially the '''People's Republic of China''' (PRC) (Chinese: 中华人民共和国, ''Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó''). This has become so common that for some people, China is synonymous with Asia, much to the annoyance of everyone who isn't ignorant. As the most populated country in the world and third largest in area after UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} and UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}, and with an economy on the rise daily, the People's Republic of China is a country well worth understanding better, partly to avoid the many stereotypes of the country and the Chinese people over the years.

Today there is a genetic cline in China -- Northern Han Chinese have highly uniform paternal and maternal lines, being a very genetically homogeneous group that formed about 3000 years ago, while Southern Han Chinese have similar paternal lines to the Northern Han but more diverse maternal ones. The Northern Han are the greatest contributors to the Southern Han gene pool, but the southern Han have a large portion of maternal ancestry derived from pre-Chinese indigenous populations, primarily the ethnic groups of the Yangtze River. This indicates an extensive practise of intermarriage between Han and non-Han women.

Chinese prehistory is still largely a mystery due to it being centered around the Yellow River, which was a poor region for archaeological preservation. The details are still hotly debated today. Even what is "common knowledge" now may be outdated in the next few years.

A huge East Asian country, when people mention "Asia", the first country to pop up in your head, is probably going to be China ('''Chinese:''' 中国, ''Zhongguo''), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC) ('''Chinese:''' 中华人民共和国, ''Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo''). This has become so common that for some people, China is synonymous with Asia, much to the annoyance of everyone who isn't ignorant. As the most populated country in the world and third largest in area after UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} and UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}, and with an economy on the rise daily, the People's Republic of China is a country well worth understanding better, partly to avoid the many stereotypes of the country and the Chinese people over the years.

* [[TabletopGame/{{Go}} Weiqi]]

* '''Capital:''' Beijing (北京 ''Běijīng'')

* '''Capital:''' Beijing
* '''Largest city:''' Shanghai

->Qǐlái!！ Búyuàn zuò núlì de rénmen!
->Bǎ wǒmen de xuèròu, zhùchéng wǒmen xīnde chángchéng!
->Zhōnghuá Mínzú dào liao zuì wēixiǎnde shíhòu,
->Měige rén bèipòzhe fāchū zuìhòude hǒushēng.
->Qǐlái! Qǐlái! Qǐlái!
->Wǒmen wànzhòngyīxīn,
->Màozhe dírén de pàohuǒ, qiánjìn!
->Màozhe dírén de pàohuǒ, qiánjìn!
->Qiánjìn! Qiánjìn! Jìn!

->Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves!
->With our flesh and blood, let us build a new Great Wall!
->As China faces her greatest peril,
->From each one the urgent call to action comes forth.
->Arise! Arise! Arise!
->Millions of but one heart
->Braving the enemies' fire! March on!
->Braving the enemies' fire! March on!
->March on! March on! On!

* {{Qipao}}

What is far better recorded is the period known as ''Imperial China'', starting from the Qin, China would have a dynastic imperial system of governance for the next 2000 years. The Chinese state would constantly alternate between periods of extreme chaos and peaceful golden eras as it fractured and reunited over time. China was the dominant cultural powerhouse of East Asia for most of its existence. Although ironically, the best known Chinese eras to Westerners were the ''foreign'' dynasties of the Yuan and Qing due to Marco Polo's adventures in Yuan China and because China was being brutally colonized by Western powers and Japan in the Qing -- these were the periods when China was arguably at it's "least Chinese" and it contributed to the poor understanding the West had of the nation. Even today the West is largely ignorant of Chinese history with its preference to undervalue Chinese studies due to the bad blood that generated between China and the West starting from the late Qing.

Well, those are some of the basics of early Chinese history, which is still largely a mystery due to it being centered around the Yellow River, which was a poor region for archaeological preservation. The details are still hotly debated today. Even what is "common knowledge" now may be outdated in the next few years.

Today there is a genetic cline in China -- Northern Han Chinese have highly uniform paternal and maternal lines, being a fairly genetically homogeneous group that formed about 3000 years ago, while Southern Han Chinese have uniform paternal lines like the Northern Han but more diverse maternal ones. The Northern Han are indeed the greatest contributors to the Southern Han gene pool, but the southern Han have a large portion of maternal ancestry derived from pre-Chinese indigenous populations, primarily the ethnic groups of the Yangtze River. This indicates an extensive practise of intermarriage between Han and non-Han women.

The proto-Sino-Tibetan people likely originated at the middle Yellow River of northern China and split around 6,000–8,000 years ago into the proto-Tibeto-Burman and proto-Sinitic branches. The proto-Tibeto-Burmans headed westwards while the proto-Sinitics remained in northern China. The proto-Sinitic tribes that lived by the Yellow River underwent extensive cultural and technological advancements largely due to the unpredictability of the river on which they depended on. The early Sinitic-speaking agricultural tribes from the ''Yangshao culture'' eventually formed a confederacy with the Liao River people from the ''Hongshan culture''. The two river cultures had interacted with each other extensively before the people of the Hongshan culture made a southward migration to the Yellow River likely due to climate change.

China is one of the world's oldest civilizations — having been one of only six to have formed independently (meaning not having an already-established civilization give them the idea of civilization creation), one of only five to have developed a writing system independently (the only one still in use today!), and has the longest continuous history of any country in the world. The main "centers" of Chinese civilization in modern Sinology are considered to be the Yellow River, Liao River, and Yangtze River. This is in contrast to the old theory that Chinese civilization began solely at the Yellow River and radiated outwards, although the Yellow River region would remain by far the most important area in Chinese history. Even today there is a genetic cline in China -- Northern Han Chinese have highly uniform paternal and maternal lines, being a fairly genetically homogeneous group that formed about 3000 years ago, while Southern Han Chinese have uniform paternal lines like the Northern Han. The Northern Han are indeed the greatest contributors to the Southern Han gene pool, but they have more diverse maternal lines that increase in diversity the further south one travels.

The tribes that lived by the Yellow River underwent extensive cultural and technological advancements largely due to the unpredictability of the river on which they depended on. Chinese civilization began in what is today northern China along the banks of the Yellow River where early Sinitic-speaking agricultural tribes from the ''Yangshao culture'' formed a confederacy with the Liao River people from the ''Hongshan culture''. The two river cultures had interacted with each other extensively before the people of the Hongshan culture made a southward migration to the Yellow River likely due to climate change. Chinese culture was more strongly influenced by the Yangshao people in terms of language, silk production, millet agriculture, and pottery making, but with the religious practices of the Hongshan people. Thus, early Chinese religion was shamanistic. Shamanism would lose its importance after the Shang Dynasty, but the grand religious ceremonies and rituals of the Xia such as [[DragonsAreDivine dragon worship]] and feng shui would remain. Combined, the Yangshao and Hongshan became known as the ''Huaxia''. With the ''Hua'' in the name meaning "illustrious" in reference to their elaborate clothing (the Yangshao people were involved in silk production) and the "Xia" meaning "grand" in reference to their ceremonial etiquette (the Hongshan people had complicated religious rituals).

The Huaxia began to conquer surrounding territories and absorb foreign populations which allowed for their expansion. The Huaxia would go on to form empires with the Qin Dynasty being the first unified Chinese empire. The Han Dynasty is considered one of the early great eras of Chinese civilization. Thus, the Huaxia would go on to call themselves "Han people" and are known as the "Han Chinese" in English. Well, those are some of the basics of early Chinese history, which is still largely a mystery due to it being centered around the Yellow River, which was a poor region for archaeological preservation. The details are still hotly debated today. Even what is "common knowledge" now may be outdated in the next few years.

A huge East Asian country, when people mention "Asia", the first country to pop up in your head, if not UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} or UsefulNotes/{{India}}, is probably going to be China ('''Chinese:''' 中国, ''Zhongguo''), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC) ('''Chinese:''' 中华人民共和国, ''Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo''). This has become so common that for some people, China is synonymous with Asia, much to the annoyance of everyone who isn't ignorant. As the most populated country in the world and third largest in area after UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} and UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}, and with an economy on the rise daily, the People's Republic of China is a country well worth understanding better, partly to avoid the many stereotypes of the country and the Chinese people over the years.

In 2003, China became the third nation to have sent a man into space. The President and Vice President of the People's Republic of China serve for five year terms with no term limits; this, plus the lack of political opposition, basically allows them to [[PresidentForLife serve for life]]. However, true authority lies with the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China[[note]]The Chairman's and Vice Chairman's seats were abolished, hence why the General Secretary now holds the highest authority in the party. [[/note]] while top military command goes to Chairman of the Central Military Commission, a role usually also hold by the General Secretary who's usually elected as the President (still known as the State Chairman in Chinese). Basically one has to hold these three positions to gain full power of the head of government of China. The General Secretary is secretly decided by the Communist Party.

* '''Highest point:''' Mount Everest (8,849 m/29,032 ft) (1st; highest[[note]]shared with Nepal[[/note]])

* '''Highest point:''' Mount Everest (8,849 m/29,032 ft) (highest; shared with Nepal)
* '''Lowest point:''' Ayding Lake (−154 m/−505 ft) (3rd)

* '''Lowest point:''' Ayding Lake (−154 m/−505 ft) (2nd)

* '''Country calling code:''' 86

[[folder:Administrative divisions]]
China is divided into 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 independent municipalities, and 2 special administrative regions (SAR). Autonomous regions are provinces with a substantial percentage of ethnic minorities, while municipalities are centered on cities with a high degree of autonomy and population, although bear in mind that they still include swathes of rural land outside the urban area. Meanwhile, the two SAR, Hong Kong and Macau, are former European colonies that were transferred back to China in recent history, but they still retain a degree of independence and democratic mindset compared to mainland China (a common parlance for their status is "one country, two systems"; though they are part of China, they, to a certain extent, are still governed through colonial-era laws).\\\

Other than the above, China is currently locked in territorial disputes with several outside parties. The most significant is UsefulNotes/{{Taiwan}}, whose gray status in international politics is a decades-long legacy of the UsefulNotes/ChineseCivilWar that remains unresolved to this day. Taiwan is governed by a separate government (the "Republic of China") and effectively a country of its own, but the People's Republic of China, as a much more powerful country, threatens to boycott any country that recognizes the Republic of China since they can only fully recognize one country as the "rightful China". Hence why only a handful countries still have formal relations with Taiwan and the [=RoC=] is not a member of the United Nations anymore. Other than Taiwan, China also maintains territorial disputes with UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}, UsefulNotes/{{India}}, UsefulNotes/{{Bhutan}}, and, as an extension of the South China Sea dispute, UsefulNotes/{{Brunei}}, UsefulNotes/{{Malaysia}}, the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}}. Though it should be noted that this is a legal leftover from when the Republic of China was still governing mainland China, so Taiwan actually claims the same things that mainland China does along with the entirety of Mongolia and Tuva (although Taiwan lacks the power to enforce many of these inland claims so they focus on their South China Sea ones).\\\

Population given for the mainland administrative divisions is as of the 2020 census. For Hong Kong and Macau, their numbers are taken from estimates provided by their respective governments at the end of 2020 (both last conducted their censuses in 2011).
!!Provinces (省, ''Sheng'')
* Anhui (安徽)
-->Capital: Hefei (合肥)
-->Population: 61,027,171 (9th)
* Fujian (福建)
-->Capital: Fuzhou (福州)
-->Population: 41,540,086 (15th)
* Gansu (甘肃)
-->Capital: Lanzhou (兰州)
-->Population: 25,019,831 (22nd)
* Guangdong (广东)
-->Capital: Guangzhou (广州)
-->Population: 126,012,510 (1st)
* Guizhou (贵州)
-->Capital: Guiyang (贵阳)
-->Population: 38,562,148 (17th)
* Hainan (海南)
-->Capital: Haikou (海口)
-->Population: 10,081,232 (28th)
* Hebei (河北)
-->Capital: Shijiazhuang (石家庄)
-->Population: 74,610,235 (6th)
* Heilongjiang (黑龙江)
-->Capital: Harbin (哈尔滨, ''Ha'erbin'')
-->Population: 31,850,088 (20th)
* Henan (河南)
-->Capital: Zhengzhou (郑州)
-->Population: 99,365,519 (3rd)
* Hubei (湖北)
-->Capital: Wuhan (武汉)
-->Population: 57,752,557 (10th)
* Hunan (湖南)
-->Capital: Changsha (长沙)
-->Population: 66,444,864 (7th)
* Jiangsu (江苏)
-->Capital: Nanjing (南京)
-->Population: 84,748,016 (4th)
* Jiangxi (江西)
-->Capital: Nanchang (南昌)
-->Population: 45,188,635 (13th)
* Jilin (吉林)
-->Capital: Changchun (长春)
-->Population: 24,073,453 (24th)
* Liaoning (辽宁)
-->Capital: Shenyang (沈阳)
-->Population: 42,591,407 (14th)
* Qinghai (青海)
-->Capital: Xining (西宁)
-->Population: 5,923,957 (31st)
* Shaanxi (陕西, ''Shanxi''[[note]]Though written with different characters, the Hanyu Pinyin romanization, without diacritics, is exactly the same as the neighboring province of Shanxi mentioned below. To differentiate the two, the government officially uses the little-known Gwoyeu Romatzyh system for this province's name.[[/note]])
-->Capital: Xi'an (西安)
-->Population: 39,528,999 (16th)
* Shandong (山东)
-->Capital: Jinan (济南)
-->Population: 101,527,453 (2nd)
* Shanxi (山西)
-->Capital: Taiyuan (太原)
-->Population: 34,915,616 (18th)
* Sichuan (四川)
-->Capital: Chengdu (成都)
-->Population: 83,674,866 (5th)
* Yunnan (云南)
-->Capital: Kunming (昆明)
-->Population: 47,209,277 (12th)
* Zhejiang (浙江)
-->Capital: Hangzhou (杭州)
-->Population: 64,567,588 (8th)
!!Autonomous Regions (自治区, ''Zizhiqu'')
* Guangxi Zhuang (广西壮族, ''Guangxi Zhuangzu'')
-->Capital: Nanning (南宁)
-->Population: 50,126,804 (11th)
* Inner Mongolia (內蒙古, ''Nei Menggu'')
-->Capital: Hohhot (呼和浩特, ''Huhehaote'')
-->Population: 24,049,155 (25th)
* Ningxia Hui (宁夏回族, ''Ningxia Huizu'')
-->Capital: Yinchuan (银川)
-->Population: 7,202,654 (30th)
* UsefulNotes/{{Tibet}} (西藏, ''Xizang'')
-->Capital: Lhasa (拉萨, ''Chengguan'')
-->Population: 3,648,100 (32nd)
* UsefulNotes/{{Xinjiang}} Uyghur (新疆维吾尔, ''Xinjiang Weiwu'er'')
-->Capital: Ürümqi (乌鲁木齐, ''Wulumuqi'')
-->Population: 25,852,345 (21st)
!!Municipalities (市, ''Shi'')
* UsefulNotes/{{Beijing}} (北京)
-->Population: 21,893,095 (26th)
* Chongqing (重庆)
-->Population: 32,054,159 (19th)
* UsefulNotes/{{Shanghai}} (上海)
-->Population: 24,870,895 (23rd)
* Tianjin (天津)
-->Population: 13,866,009 (27th)
!!Special Administrative Regions (特别行政区, ''Tebie Xingzhengqu'')
* UsefulNotes/HongKong (香港, ''Xianggang'')
-->Population: 7,474,200 (29th)
* UsefulNotes/{{Macau}} (澳门, ''Aomen'')
-->Population: 683,218 (33rd)
[[/folder]]

* UsefulNotes/{{Beijing}} (北京/Peking)
* UsefulNotes/HongKong
* UsefulNotes/{{Macau}}
* UsefulNotes/{{Manchuria}}
* UsefulNotes/{{Shanghai}}
* UsefulNotes/{{Tibet}}
* UsefulNotes/{{Taiwan}} (Governed by the ROC instead of the PRC)
* UsefulNotes/{{Xinjiang}}

** CCP General Secretary, President & Military Chairman: Xi Jinping

Population given is as of the 2010 census.

-->Population: 59,500,510 (8th)

-->Population: 36,894,216 (17th)

-->Population: 25,575,254 (22nd)

-->Population: 104,303,132 (1st)

-->Population: 34,746,468 (19th)

-->Population: 9,171,300 (28th)

-->Population: 71,854,202 (6th)

-->Population: 38,312,224 (15th)

-->Population: 94,023,567 (3rd)

-->Population: 57,237,740 (9th)

-->Population: 65,683,722 (7th)

-->Population: 78,659,903 (5th)

-->Population: 44,567,475 (13th)

-->Population: 27,462,297 (21st)

-->Population: 43,746,323 (14th)

-->Population: 5,626,722 (31st)

-->Population: 37,327,378 (16th)

-->Population: 95,793,065 (2nd)

-->Population: 35,712,111 (18th)

-->Population: 80,418,200 (4th)

-->Population: 45,966,239 (12th)

-->Population: 54,426,891 (10th)

-->Population: 46,026,629 (11th)

-->Population: 24,706,321 (23rd)

-->Population: 6,301,350 (30th)

-->Population: 3,002,166 (32nd)

-->Population: 21,813,334 (25th)

-->Population: 19,612,368 (26th)

-->Population: 28,846,170 (20th)

-->Population: 23,019,148 (24th)

-->Population: 12,938,224 (27th)

-->Population: 7,061,200 (29th)

-->Population: 552,300 (33rd)

* '''Population:''' 1,400,050,000