Editing China proper (section)

== Etymology ==
{{Original research section|date=March 2024}}
It is not clear when the concept of "China proper" in the [[Western world]] appeared. However, it is plausible that historians during the age of empires and the fast-changing borders in the eighteenth century, applied it to distinguish the 18 provinces in China's interior from its frontier territories. This would also apply to [[Great Britain|Great Britain proper]] versus the [[British Empire]], which would encompass vast lands overseas. The same would apply to [[Metropolitan France|France proper]] in contrast to the [[First French Empire]], which [[Napoleon]] managed to expand all the way to [[Moscow]].

According to [[Harry Harding (political scientist)|Harry Harding]], the concept can date back to 1827.<ref>Harry Harding, "The Concept of 'Greater China': Themes, Variations, and Reservations", in ''The China Quarterly'', 136 (December 1993), pp.&nbsp;660–686. [https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S030574100003229X]</ref> But as early as in 1795, [[William Winterbotham]] adopted this concept in his book. When describing the Chinese Empire under the Qing dynasty, Winterbotham divided it into three parts: China proper, [[Chinese Tartary]], and the [[List of tributary states of China|states tributary to China]]. He adopted the opinions of [[Jean-Baptiste Du Halde|Du Halde]] and [[Jean-Baptiste Grosier|Grosier]] and suspected that the name of "China" came from [[Qin dynasty]]. He then said: "China, properly so called,... comprehends from north to south eighteen degrees; its extent from east to west being somewhat less..."<ref>[[William Winterbotham|Winterbotham, William]] (1795). ''An Historical, Geographical, and Philosophical View of the Chinese Empire...'', London: Printed for, and sold by the editor; J. Ridgway; and W. Button. (pp.&nbsp;35–37: General Description of the Chinese Empire → '''China Proper'''→ 1. Origin of its Name, 2. Extent, Boundaries, &c.)</ref>

However, to introduce China proper, Winterbotham still used the outdated 15-province system of the [[Ming dynasty]], which the Qing dynasty maintained until 1662. Although Ming dynasty also had 15 basic local divisions, Winterbotham uses the name of Kiang-nan ({{lang|zh-hant|江南}}, Jiāngnán) province, which had been called [[South Zhili]] ({{lang|zh-hant|南直隶}}, Nán-Zhílì) during the Ming dynasty and was renamed to Kiang-nan (i.e., [[Jiangnan]]) in 1645, the second year after the Qing dynasty replaces the Ming dynasty. This 15-province system was gradually replaced by the 18-province system between 1662 and 1667. Using the 15-province system and the name of Kiang-nan Province indicates that the concept of China proper probably had appeared between 1645 and 1662 and this concept may reflect the idea that identifies China as the territory of the former Ming dynasty after the [[Transition from Ming to Qing|Ming–Qing transition]].

[[File:China Proper 1944.png|thumb|A 1944 map of China Proper, [[Manchuria]] ([[Northeast China]]), [[Mongolia]] ([[Outer Mongolia]]), Sinkiang ([[Xinjiang]]), and [[Tibet]] from the [[United States Office of War Information|War Information Office]] [[propaganda film]] {{nowrap|''[[Why We Fight]]'':}} {{nowrap|''[[The Battle of China]]''}}. The outer borders include [[administrative division of the Republic of China|several areas claimed]] by the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]].]]

The concept of "China proper" also appeared before this 1795 book. It can be found in ''The Gentleman's Magazine'', published in 1790, and ''The Monthly Review'', published in 1749.<ref>Copyright has passed, "Full View" available through [[Google Books]].</ref> In the nineteenth century, the term "China proper" was sometimes used by Chinese officials when they were communicating in foreign languages. For instance, the Qing ambassador to Britain [[Zeng Jize]] used it in an English language article, which he published in 1887.<ref>Marquis Tseng, "China: The Sleep and the Awakening", ''The Asiatic Quarterly Review'', Vol. III 3 (1887), p. 4.</ref>

"Dulimbai Gurun" is the Manchu name for China ({{lang|zh-hant|中國}}, Zhongguo; "Middle Kingdom").<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NESwGW_5uLoC&dq=Dulimbai+gurun&pg=PA117 Hauer 2007], p. 117.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TmhtAAAAIAAJ&dq=Dulimbai+gurun&pg=PA80 Dvořák 1895], p. 80.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zqVug_wN4hEC&dq=Dulimbai+gurun&pg=PA102 Wu 1995], p. 102.</ref> After conquering the Ming, the Qing identified their state as "China" (Zhongguo), and referred to it as "Dulimbai Gurun" in the Manchu language. The Qing emperors equated the lands of the Qing state (including both "China proper" and present day Manchuria, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Tibet and other areas) as "China" in both the Chinese and Manchu languages, defining China as a multiethnic state, rejecting the idea that China only meant Han-populated areas in "China proper", proclaiming that both Han and non-Han peoples were part of "China", using "China" to refer to the Qing in official documents, international treaties, and foreign affairs, and the "Chinese language" (Dulimbai gurun i bithe) referred to Chinese, Manchu, and Mongol languages, and the term "Chinese people" ({{lang|zh-hant|中國人}}, Zhongguo ren; Manchu: Dulimbai gurun i niyalma) referred to all Han, Manchu, and Mongol subjects of the Qing.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140325231543/https://webspace.utexas.edu/hl4958/perspectives/Zhao%20-%20reinventing%20china.pdf Zhao 2006], pp. 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14.</ref>

When the Qing [[Ten Great Campaigns#Campaigns against the Dzungars and the pacification of Xinjiang (1755–59)|conquered Dzungaria in 1759]], they proclaimed that the new land was absorbed into "China" (Dulimbai Gurun) in a Manchu language memorial.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6qFH-53_VnEC&dq=Dulimbai+gurun+land&pg=PA77 Dunnell 2004], p. 77.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6qFH-53_VnEC&dq=Dulimbai+gurun&pg=PA83 Dunnell 2004], p. 83.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_qtgoTIAiKUC&dq=steppes+mountains+rivers+Dzungar+unified+with+china&pg=PA503 Elliott 2001], p. 503.</ref> The Qing expounded on their ideology that they were bringing together the "outer" non-Han peoples like the Manchus, Mongols, Uighurs and Tibetans together with the "inner" Han people, into "one family" united under the Qing state, showing that the diverse subjects of the Qing were all part of one family, the Qing used the phrase "Zhong Wai Yi Jia" ({{lang|zh-hant|中外一家}}) or "Nei Wai Yi Jia" ({{lang|zh-hant|內外一家}}, "interior and exterior as one family"), to convey this idea of "unification" of the different peoples.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6qFH-53_VnEC&dq=Dulimbai+gurun+land&pg=PA77 Dunnell 2004], pp. 76–77.</ref> A Manchu language version of a treaty with the Russian Empire concerning criminal jurisdiction over bandits called people from the Qing as "people of the Central Kingdom (Dulimbai Gurun)".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=t2JTJW0X6LkC&dq=Dulimbai+gurun&pg=PA205 Cassel 2012], pp. 44, 205.</ref>

In the Manchu official [[Tulisen]]'s Manchu language [[Narrative of the Chinese Embassy to the Khan of the Tourgouth Tartars, in the years 1712, 13, 14, and 15|account of his meeting]] with the [[Kalmyk people|Torghut Mongol leader]] [[Ayuka Khan|Ayuki Khan]], it was mentioned that while the Torghuts were unlike the Russians, the "people of the Central Kingdom" (dulimba-i gurun; {{lang|zh-hant|中國}}, Zhongguo) were like the Torghut Mongols, and the "people of the Central Kingdom" referred to the Manchus.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=J4L-_cjmSqoC&dq=Dulimbai+gurun&pg=PA218 Perdue 2009], p. 218.</ref>

While the Qing dynasty used "China" (Zhongguo) to describe non-Han areas, some Han scholar-officials opposed the Qing emperor's use of Zhongguo to refer to non-Han areas, using instead Zhongguo to mark a distinction between the culturally Han areas and the territories newly acquired by the Qing empire. In the early 19th century, [[Wei Yuan]]'s ''Shengwuji'' (Military History of the Qing Dynasty) calls the Inner Asian polities ''guo'', while the seventeen provinces of the traditional heartland, that is, "China proper", and three eastern provinces of Manchuria are called "''Zhongguo''".<ref>Joseph Esherick, "How the Qing Became China," in Joseph W. Esherick, Hasan Kayali and Eric Van Young, ed., ''Empire to Nation: Historical Perspectives on the Making of the Modern World'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006 {{ISBN|0742540308}}): 233.</ref> Some Ming loyalists of Han ethnicity refused to use Zhongguo to refer to areas outside the borders of Ming China, in effect refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Qing dynasty. Han Chinese intellectuals gradually embraced the new meaning of "China" and began to recognize it as their homeland.<ref>{{cite book | first = Rowe | last = Rowe | title = China's Last Empire - The Great Qing | publisher = Harvard University Press | pages = 284 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KN7Awmzx2PAC |date=February 15, 2010| isbn = 9780674054554 }}</ref>

The Qing dynasty referred to the Han-inhabited 18 provinces as "nèidì shíbā shěng" ({{lang|zh-hant|內地十八省}}), which meant the "interior region eighteen provinces", or abbreviated it as "nèidì" ({{lang|zh-Hant|內地}}), "interior region" and also as "jùnxiàn" ({{lang|zh-hans|郡县}}), while they referred to the non-Han areas of China such as the [[Northeast China|Northeast]], Outer Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet as "wàifān" ({{lang|zh|外藩}}) which means "outer feudatories" or "outer vassals", or as "fānbù" ({{lang|zh|藩部}}, "feudatory region"). These wàifān were fully subject to and governed by the Qing government and were considered part of China (Zhongguo), unlike wàiguó ({{lang|zh-hant|外國}}, "outer/foreign countries") like Korea, Vietnam, the Ryukyus and Japan{{dubious|reason=Japan did not pay tribute to China during whole the Qing era|date=November 2021}}, who paid tribute to Qing China or were [[vassal states]] of China but were not part of China.