Editing China proper (section)

== Extent ==
[[File:Ming foreign relations 1580.jpg|thumb|The approximate extent of China proper during the late [[Ming dynasty]], the last dynasty of China ruled by the Han people. [[Liaodong Peninsula]] was still administered as part of China proper before it was conquered by the Manchu. ]]
[[File:China Proper Map William Mackenzie c1866.png|thumb|right|250px|The Eighteen Provinces of China proper in 1875, before Taiwan's separation from Fujian in 1885 and its annexation by Japan in 1895]]
There is no fixed geographical extent for China proper, as it is used to express the contrast between the core and frontier regions of China from multiple perspectives: historical, administrative, cultural, and linguistic.

=== Historical perspective ===
One way of thinking about China proper is to refer to the long-standing territories held by [[dynasties of China]] founded by the Han people. Chinese civilization developed from a core region in the North China Plain, and expanded outwards over several millennia, conquering and assimilating surrounding peoples, or being conquered and influenced in turn. Some dynasties, such as the [[Han dynasty|Han]] and [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] dynasties, were particularly expansionist, extending far into [[Inner Asia]], while others, such as the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin]] and [[Song dynasty|Song]] dynasties, were forced to relinquish the North China Plain itself to rivaling regimes founded by peoples from the north.

The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox Chinese dynasty of ethnic Han origin and the second-last imperial dynasty of China. It governed fifteen administrative entities, which included thirteen provinces ({{lang-zh|c=布政使司 |p=Bùzhèngshǐ Sī}}) and two "directly-governed" areas. After the Manchu-led Qing dynasty succeeded the Ming dynasty in China proper, the Qing court decided to continue to use the Ming administrative system to rule over former Ming lands, without applying it to other domains under Qing rule, namely [[Manchuria under Qing rule|Manchuria]], [[Mongolia under Qing rule|Mongolia]], [[Xinjiang under Qing rule|Xinjiang]], [[Taiwan under Qing rule|Taiwan]] and [[Tibet under Qing rule|Tibet]]. The 15 administrative units of the Ming dynasty underwent minor reforms to become the "Eighteen Provinces" ({{zhi|c=一十八行省 |p=Yīshíbā Xíngshěng}}, or {{zhi|c=十八省 |p=Shíbā Shěng}}) of China proper under the Qing dynasty. It was these eighteen provinces that early Western sources referred to as China proper.

There are some minor differences between the extent of Ming China and the extent of the eighteen provinces of Qing China: for example, [[Manchuria|some parts of Manchuria]] were Ming possessions belonging to the province of Liaodong (now [[Liaoning]]), which is inside the [[Ming Great Wall]]; however, the Qing conquered it before entering the [[Zhongyuan|Central Plain]] and did not administer as part of a regular province of China proper. On the other hand, Taiwan was a new acquisition of the Qing dynasty, and it was placed under the administration of [[Fujian]], one of the provinces of China proper. Eastern [[Kham]] in Greater Tibet was added to [[Sichuan]], while much of what now constitutes northern [[Burma]] was added to [[Yunnan]].

Near the end of the Qing dynasty, there was an effort to extend the province system of China proper to the rest of the empire. Taiwan was converted into a separate province in 1885, but was ceded to Japan in 1895. [[Xinjiang]] was reorganized into a province in 1884. Manchuria was split into the three provinces of [[Shenyang|Fengtian]], [[Jilin]] and [[Heilongjiang]] in 1907. There was discussion to do the same in Tibet, [[Qinghai]] (Kokonor), Inner Mongolia, and Outer Mongolia, but these proposals were not put to practice, and these areas were outside the provincial system of China proper when the Qing dynasty fell in 1912.

The Provinces of the Qing Dynasty were:
{|class=wikitable
!colspan=11|Eighteen provinces
|-
![[Postal romanization|Postal]]!![[Pinyin]]!![[Chinese character|Chinese]]!!rowspan=7|
![[Postal romanization|Postal]]!![[Pinyin]]!![[Chinese character|Chinese]]!!rowspan=7|
![[Postal romanization|Postal]]!![[Pinyin]]!![[Chinese character|Chinese]]
|-
|Anhwei||[[Anhui|Ānhuī]]||{{lang|zh|安徽省}}||Hunan||[[Hunan|Húnán]]||{{lang|zh|湖南省}}||Kweichow||[[Guizhou|Guìzhōu]]||{{lang|zh|貴州省}}
|-
|Chekiang||[[Zhejiang|Zhèjiāng]]||{{lang|zh|浙江省}}||Kansu||[[Gansu|Gānsù]]||{{lang|zh|甘肅省}}||Shansi||[[Shanxi|Shānxī]]||{{lang|zh|山西省}}
|-
|Chihli||[[Zhili|Zhílì]]||{{lang|zh|直隸省}}||Kiangsu||[[Jiangsu|Jiāngsū]]||{{lang|zh|江蘇省}}||Shantung||[[Shandong|Shāndōng]]||{{lang|zh|山東省}}
|-
|Fukien||[[Fujian|Fújiàn]]||{{lang|zh|福建省}}||Kiangsi||[[Jiangxi|Jiāngxī]]||{{lang|zh|江西省}}||Shensi||[[Shaanxi|Shǎnxī]]||{{lang|zh|陝西省}}
|-
|Honan||[[Henan|Hénán]]||{{lang|zh|河南省}}||Kwangtung||[[Guangdong|Guǎngdōng]]||{{lang|zh|廣東省}}||Szechwan||[[Sichuan|Sìchuān]]||{{lang|zh|四川省}}
|-
|Hupeh||[[Hubei|Húběi]]||{{lang|zh|湖北省}}||Kwangsi||[[Guangxi|Guǎngxī]]||{{lang|zh|廣西省}}||Yunnan||[[Yunnan|Yúnnán]]||{{lang|zh|雲南省}}
|-
!colspan=11|Additional provinces in late Qing dynasty
|-
|Fengtien||[[Liaoning|Fèngtiān]]||{{lang|zh|奉天省}}
!rowspan=2|
|Heilungkiang||[[Heilongjiang|Hēilóngjiāng]]||{{lang|zh|黑龍江省}}
!rowspan=2|
|Kirin||[[Jilin|Jílín]]||{{lang|zh|吉林省}}
|-
|Sinkiang||[[Xinjiang|Xīnjiāng]]||{{lang|zh|新疆省}}
|}
Some of the revolutionaries who sought to overthrow Qing rule desired to establish a state independent of the Qing dynasty within the bounds of the Eighteen Provinces, as evinced by their [[Wuchang Uprising|Eighteen-Star Flag]]. Others favoured the replacement of the entire Qing dynasty by a new republic, as evinced by their Five-Striped Flag. Some revolutionaries, such as [[Zou Rong]], used the term ''Zhongguo Benbu'' ({{lang|zh-hant|中国本部}}) which roughly identifies the Eighteen Provinces.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Revolutionary Army |last=Zou |first=Rong |author-link=Zou Rong |year=1903 |chapter = Chapter 4}}</ref> When the Qing dynasty fell, the [[Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor|abdication decree of the Xuantong Emperor]] bequeathed all the territories of the Qing dynasty to the new [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]], and the latter idea was therefore adopted by the new republic as the principle of [[Five Races Under One Union]], with Five Races referring to the Han, Manchus, Mongols, Muslims (Uyghurs, Hui etc.) and Tibetans. The Five-Striped Flag was adopted as the national flag, and the Republic of China viewed itself as a single unified state encompassing all five regions handed down by the Qing dynasty. The People's Republic of China, which was founded in 1949 and replaced the Republic of China on the Chinese mainland, has continued to claim essentially the same borders, with the only major exception being the recognition of an independent [[Mongolia]]. As a result, the concept of China proper fell out of favour in China.

The Eighteen Provinces of the Qing dynasty still largely exist, but their boundaries have changed. [[Beijing]] and [[Tianjin]] were eventually split from Hebei (renamed from Zhili), [[Shanghai]] from Jiangsu, [[Chongqing]] from Sichuan, [[Ningxia]] autonomous region from [[Gansu]], and [[Hainan]] from Guangdong. Guangxi is now an [[autonomous region of China|autonomous region]]. The provinces that the late Qing dynasty set up have also been kept: Xinjiang became an autonomous region under the People's Republic of China, while the three provinces of Manchuria now have somewhat different borders, with Fengtian renamed as Liaoning.

When the Qing dynasty fell, Republican Chinese control of Qing territories, including of those generally considered to be in "China proper", was tenuous, and non-existent in [[Tibet (1912–1951)|Tibet]] and [[Mongolian People's Republic]] (former [[Outer Mongolia]]) since 1922, which were controlled by governments that declared independence from China. The Republic of China subdivided Inner Mongolia in its time on the mainland, although the People's Republic of China later joined Mongol-inhabited territories into a single autonomous region. The PRC joined the [[Qamdo Prefecture|Qamdo area]] into the Tibet area (later the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]]). The Republic of China officially recognized the independence of Mongolia in 1946, which was also acknowledged by the PRC government since its founding in 1949.

=== Ethnic perspective ===
[[File:Ethnolinguistic map of China 1983.jpg|thumb|The approximate extent of the Han ethnicity in China and Taiwan as of 1983, denoted in brown.{{NoteTag|Source: United States Central Intelligence Agency, 1983. The map shows the distribution of ethnolinguistic groups according to the majority ethnic group by region in 1983. This map does not represent the current distribution of ethnic groups due to internal migration and assimilation.}} Scattered distribution is denoted by circles.]]
China proper is often associated with the Han people, the majority ethnic group of China and with the extent of the Chinese languages, an important unifying element of the Han ethnicity.

However, Han regions in the present day do not correspond well to the Eighteen Provinces of the Qing dynasty. Much of southwestern China, such as areas in the provinces of [[Yunnan]], [[Guangxi]], and [[Guizhou]], was part of successive dynasties of ethnic Han origin, including the Ming dynasty and the Eighteen Provinces of the Qing dynasty. However, these areas were and continue to be populated by various non-Han minority groups, such as the [[Zhuang people|Zhuang]], the [[Miao people]], and the [[Bouyei people|Bouyei]]. Conversely, Han people form the majority in most of Manchuria, much of Inner Mongolia, many areas in Xinjiang and scattered parts of Tibet today, not least due to the expansion of Han settlement encouraged by the late Qing dynasty, the Republic of China, and the People's Republic of China.

Ethnic Han is not synonymous with speakers of the Chinese language. Many non-Han ethnicities, such as the [[Hui people|Hui]] and Manchu, are essentially monolingual in the Chinese language, but do not identify as ethnic Han. The Chinese language itself is also a complex entity, and should be described as a family of related languages rather than a single language if the criterion of [[mutual intelligibility]] is used to classify its subdivisions.

In polls the majority of the people of Taiwan call themselves "Taiwanese" only with the rest identifying as "Taiwanese and Chinese" or "Chinese" only. Most of the people of Taiwan are descendants of immigrants from mainland China since the 1600s, but the inclusion of Taiwan in the definition of China proper, is still a controversial subject. See [[History of Taiwan]] and [[Political status of Taiwan]] for more information.