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iGENEA

Ancient tribe Chinese - Ancestry and origin

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Where is the origin of the Chinese?

Archeological discoveries prove that the so-called Yangshao Culture already existed on the middle Huang He in the third millennium B.C. According to one list of rulers that has been preserved, the Xia Dynasty is supposed to have ruled from 2,250 to 1,766 B.C. The first Dynasty that is attested both historically and literarily as well as archeologically is the Shang Dynasty, which ruled in the 15th to 11th centuries B.C. Excavations are indicative of a highly developed culture with bronze art and a written language that had more than 2,000 word-symbols (pictographs). The priestly caste had a great influence, the ruler a religious position.
From approximately 1,100 to 249 B.C. the Zhou Dynasty ruled. The state was feudal in nature, surrounded by the territories of vassals, who expanded their power in battles against other tribes on all sides. From the wars of these absolutist individual states, the Qin state emerged as the victor, and their ruler named himself the "First Emperor" in 221 B.C. Under him there began a rigorous unification of administrative practices and the economy, and a border wall was erected in northern China to provide security from outside threats. This tyrannical rule led in 210 B.C. to uprisings, after which the Han Dynasty came to power in 206 B.C. During the Han Dynasty, China became a centralized theocratic state of bureaucrats. Historical and literary studies reached a high degree of sophistication and art became secularized and refined.

Who are the Han Chinese?

Since the term "Chinese" in German (and English) does not clearly distinguish between citizens of the state of China and members of the Han-nationality, which is to say the 'ethnic Chinese', the term 'Han Chinese' has increasingly gained acceptance. In Chinese, clear distinctions are made between the Chinese as citizens of a nation state (Zhongguoren, "Person from the Land in the Middle") and the 'ethnic Chinese' (Hanzuren, or Hanren, "Person of the Han-people"). The Hakka, for their part, represent in the Chinese view a sub-group of the Han Chinese.
Approximately 91.6% of the populace of the People's Republic of China and 98% of the Republic of China (Taiwan) are Han. Alongside the Han Chinese, there are in the People's Republic 55 and in the Republic 12 officially recognized ethnic groups. In addition to these, there are 15–20 ethnic groups, who are not officially recognized as independent ethnicities.
Actually, however, even the Han Chinese are not as homogeneous an ethnic group as is assumed by modern state institutions. The heterogeneity manifests itself, for example, in the various languages within Chinese and in the names for regions and their inhabitants that are older than the Han Dynasty (e.g. Wu or Shu). Other dynasties are also used for onomastic purposes. The southern Chinese named themselves (and still do in other countries in southeast Asia) Tang, and not Han, since their territories were first settled by the Tang from the north and not the Han. The autochthon population either let itself be displaced or assimilated.
Most "overseas Chinese" descend from the Han. The essential cultural elements are the common written language used with dialects that are in part very different from each other and a consciousness of a common history and tradition.

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This is how the DNA origin analysis works

A Mucus Sample suffices to get a sample of your DNA. Taking the sample is simple and painless and can be done at home. Send the samples with the envelop included in the sampling kit.

Order test kit
Get test kit
Take samples

at home, simple and painless

Send in samples

with the enclosed envelope

Result

online after approx. 6-8 weeks

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