The pattern of diversity within unity of the Chinese nation

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-06-01
Features: In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Party and the government approached the left over from the old China with a brand-new perspective and boundless enthusiasm, conducting a comprehensive review and research on them. They also continuously explored ways to gradually resolve these issues as society developed. Along with this process, a theory founded by Chinese scholars themselves, aimed at addressing China's own ethnic issues—"the theory of the diverse yet integrated Chinese nation"—was born. The famous masterpiece, "The Diverse yet Integrated Pattern of the Chinese Nation." Its main arguments can be summarized as follows:
1. The Chinese nation is a national entity that includes all 56 ethnic groups within China, not merely a sum of these 56 groups. These groups have combined into an interdependent, unified, and indivisible whole. Within this national entity, all constituent parts have a higher-level sense of national identity, meaning a sense of shared fate, coexistence, mutual prosperity and disgrace, and common destiny. This argument was later extended by Professor Chen Liankai as the theory of multi-level national identity. In the diverse yet integrated pattern, the 56 ethnic groups form the base, while the Chinese nation represents the higher level.
2. The formation of the diverse yet integrated pattern involves a process where scattered multiplicity combines into unity, during which a core force must play a cohesive role. The Han ethnic group is one of the units in the multiplicity at the base, but it serves as the core that binds the multiplicity into unity.
3. Higher-level identity does not necessarily replace or exclude lower-level identity. Different levels can coexist without contradiction, and even on the basis of different levels of identity, each can develop its original characteristics, forming a whole with multiple languages and cultures. Therefore, higher-level ethnic groups can be seen as a composite entity that is both unified and diverse. There are relatively opposing internal contradictions within it, representing a unity of differences. Through the process of change and adaptation to ever-changing internal and external conditions, this community achieves survival and development.