[Goujian]

Define sinicize. Does that mean Chinese or more specifically Han influeced or totally lost ethnic identity to become Han identity? Regarding a lot of minotiry groups, especially the southern tribes, if the former, yes, if latter, no.

The same is also true about westernization or Americanization.

Interestingly, the sinicization in the south is more gradual and less brutal than in the north. Are the southern people in general more docile, less culturally-conscious, less barbaric, closer to Han culturewise, or any other reasons?

[nishishei]

Goujian, on Apr 5 2005, 05:33 PM, said:

Define sinicize. Does that mean Chinese or more specifically Han influeced or totally lost ethnic identity to become Han identity? Regarding a lot of minotiry groups, especially the southern tribes, if the former, yes, if latter, no. 

The same is also true about westernization or Americanization.

Westernization is different from Sinicization. Like Pang said above, Sinicization today is mainly based upon Chinese characters and national identity; while Westernization involves ideals, fashions and trends developed since the Western Enlightenment. Tibet and Miao can still being "Sinicized" even as most of China is being Westernized.

Chinese civilization hasn't produced a single influential and original thought for hundreds of years. The last significant thought was from Zhejiang-native Wang Yangming (b. 1472), which was later embraced by Tokugawa and Meiji Japan. He believed that men knew right and wrong innately (and not through rational deduction), and they can determine right with self-cultivation (zen). His ideas however received limited attention in China, where Confucianism traditionally (and the rival orthodox school) viewed the innate (the child) with a general disdain. Japan's key civilizational divergence from the Chinese occured at that time.

[AhMan]

These are current ethnicities in china, with information about culture, origin...
http://www.china.org...shao-2-miao.htm

[Alexander39]

General_Zhaoyun, on Feb 20 2005, 04:04 AM, said:

Simple to say, but can you explain if XiongNu, Xianbei, Tujue, Khitan hasn't been sinificized or mixed into the chinese population, why have they disappeared from history and do not exist today?

We could whit some justifications easily call scandinavians Vikings, since compared to so many others there has not been that much immigration in the last 1200 years compared to so many others (Harsh climate and only average soil at best is not inducive to volunttery immigrations, but they did't capture quite a few slaves ´do) But the reason we do not have that name is becourse our culture as such changed, we didn't raped and plunderd as in olden times, even throu we still made war whit each other (often) we are still the same people, some parts of scandinavia still speaks our old language and it is still fairly easy for the rest of us to learn it.
all cultures changed, China is proud off having been relatively unchanged since the Han dynasty, but there has still been changes and a static society is doomed to destruction never forget that. Avars and Magyars still live today, and the remnants of the Hun's (northern Xioung - Nu) are still to see in the faces of people in carpathia and in the DNA of the modern Hungarians which are directly decentet from Magyar and Avar's-.