Editing Sinicization (section)

====Baiyue====
Before sinicization, non-Chinese indigenous peoples of [[South China|southern China]], collectively termed by the Chinese as ''[[Baiyue]] (''{{Lang-zh|c=百越|l=Hundreds of Yue Peoples}}''),'' inhabited the coastline of China from as far north as the [[Yangtze|Yangtze River]] to as far south as the [[Gulf of Tonkin]].

As early as the 11th century BC, some of the Baiyue peoples in the [[Yangtze River Delta]] started to sinicize, marked by their establishment of the [[Wu (state)|Wu State]]. These Yue peoples, together with their southerner neighbours who formed the [[Yue (state)|Yue State]] centuries later, are collectively termed as [[Yuyue]] peoples. Over time, the mutual contact between Baiyue peoples and Han Chinese, as well as southward spread of Han Chinese, mostly as [[war refugees]],{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} led to the sinicization of most of the Baiyue populations that remained in southern China, be they in the [[Yangtze River valley|Yangtze Valley]] or in coastal areas from the mouth of the Yangtze to the Gulf of Tonkin.<ref>{{cite book|title = Prehistoric Settlement of the Pacific, Volume 86, Part 5|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XiELAAAAIAAJ&q=in+the+southward+spread+of+Han+Chinese+led+to+the+sinicization+of+all+AN-speakers&pg=PA137|isbn = 9780871698650|last1 = Goodenough|first1 = Ward Hunt|year = 1996|publisher = American Philosophical Society|access-date = 2020-10-14|archive-date = 2023-09-27|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230927034530/https://books.google.com/books?id=XiELAAAAIAAJ&q=in+the+southward+spread+of+Han+Chinese+led+to+the+sinicization+of+all+AN-speakers&pg=PA137#v=snippet&q=in%20the%20southward%20spread%20of%20Han%20Chinese%20led%20to%20the%20sinicization%20of%20all%20AN-speakers&f=false|url-status = live}}</ref> The remnants of these peoples who were not fully sinicized are now recognized officially as the [[Ethnic minorities in China|ethnic minorities]] of the [[People's Republic of China]].