The changing definition of China in middle school history textbooks

Bibliographic Data

ID6305698
AuthorsZhaojin Lu (0000-0003-1429-5033, Department of Sociology State University of New York at Albany Albany NY USA, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume23
Issue3
Pages571-598
Publication date2017-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNations and Nationalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1345-5078 • E-ISSN: 1469-8129
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/nana.12278
OpenAlexW2529060127
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited13

Inspired by the dichotomous understanding of nationhood contributed by Brubaker (1992), this paper explores how Chinese nationhood is constituted by particular symbols in middle school historiography since the 1950s. In response to the analysis on the high school textbooks done by Baranovitch (2000), this study finds that the narratives in the middle school history textbooks have a similar transition from equating China to Han to defining China as a multi‐ethnic nation. However, the analysis also demonstrates that the transition of the middle school history textbooks is not as complete and absolute as that of their high school counterparts. A textbook may follow different principles in nationhood configuration simultaneously. In the textbook narratives before the change, the jus sanguinis logic was dominant over the jus soli logic; in those in the textbooks after the change, Chinese nationhood was constituted by the jus soli principle and the jus sanguinis principle complementarily. This study questions the perception that a nation only consistently follows one philosophy in the symbolic consolidation of nationhood, and casts doubt on the understanding that jus sanguinis or jus soli logic is deeply rooted in the historical development of a nation and cannot change

Art · China · Epistemology · Historiography · Literature · Narrative · Perception · Political science · Sociology · Transition (genetics · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · History · Law · Philippine History and Culture · Philosophy

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