Ethnic groups

Shaanxi is located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, in the hinterland of China. It is one of the important birthplaces of ancient Chinese civilization and the Chinese nation. About 800,000 years ago, Lantian Man thrived in the upper reaches of the Bahe River on the Guanzhong Plain.

Starting from the 11th century BC, fourteen dynasties—including Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Xin, Eastern Han, Western Jin, Qian Zhao, Qian Qin, Later Qin, Da Xia, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, and Tang—established their capitals in Shaanxi. For a long time, Shaanxi served as the political, economic, and cultural center of the country and was the region from which Chinese civilization first reached the wider world.

The legendary ancestors of the Chinese nation, Huangdi and Yandi, were both active in Shaanxi and left behind many legacies. Ancient historical records and archaeological evidence confirm that the Yellow River Basin, including Shaanxi, was one of the main areas of early clan and tribal activity in China. It was also the heartland of the Chinese nation and the birthplace of the Huaxia tribe.

Following the Han Dynasty, the term "Han people" became widely used and continues to this day.

During the Han Dynasty, the Han people in Shaanxi officially developed into an ethnic group, whose characteristics were consistent with those of the Han people in other regions. Their predecessors, the Huaxia tribe, gradually evolved into the Han ethnic group through the merging of many neighboring tribes since the pre-Qin period.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the northern part of Shaanxi, being close to the Xiongnu, saw frequent interaction. The capitals of the Qin and Western Han Dynasties were located in the Guanzhong area, and the Xiongnu left deep footprints in Shaanxi. Traces of Xiongnu settlements and activities have been found in both Guanzhong and northern Shaanxi.

During the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, various ethnic groups coexisted and frequently migrated within Shaanxi. Over hundreds of years, they intermingled, leading to one of the largest waves of ethnic integration in the province's history.

After the decline of the Yuan Dynasty, the Hui people living in Shaanxi gradually developed into a distinct ethnic group. By the early Qing Dynasty, their language, clothing, and surnames were largely consistent with those of the Han population, but due to their Islamic faith, their customs, funeral practices, marriage ceremonies, fasting, and other traditions retained distinctive features.

Following the national unification during the Qing Dynasty, interactions between the Mongols (especially in the Hetao region) and the Han population grew closer. At the same time, as Manchu officers and soldiers were stationed in Shaanxi, a community of Manchu people settled in Xi'an, Hanzhong, Tongguan, and other areas. Through cohabitation with the local Han majority, the Eight Banners Manchus in Shaanxi gradually underwent sinicization, intermarried with the Han population, adopted Chinese characters, and assimilated into Han cultural customs.

By this point, a multi-ethnic society dominated by the Han and Hui people had taken shape in Shaanxi.