Did the peoples arise from a single origin? Has the region always been unified?—A historical view of the intellectual debates on “China”

This article examines the long intellectual history behind debates over what “China” is, asking whether the Chinese peoples shared a single origin and whether the region has been unified since antiquity. Tracing interpretations from early imperial historiography—especially Records of the Grand Historian—through late Qing and Republican-era encounters with Western theories, the essay shows how ideas of common ancestry and perpetual unity were historically constructed rather than empirically given. It highlights how modern challenges, including Sino-Babylonianism, racial theories, and the notion of “China proper,” destabilized traditional views and prompted new scholarly approaches such as the twentieth-century Debates on Ancient History. At the same time, the article demonstrates how political crises repeatedly encouraged a return to essentialist narratives emphasizing antiquity, unity, and continuity. By situating historiographical arguments within their political and intellectual contexts, the essay argues that “China” and “Chinese civilization” should be understood as products of long-term historical construction shaped by both integration and contestation.