- Hanjian
In
Chinese culture , a Hanjian (zh-tsp|t=漢奸|s=汉奸|p=Hànjiān) is a highly derogatory andpejorative term for atraitor , especially to theHan Chinese ethnicity. Literally, it means "traitor who is a Han" or "one who betrays Han (people)", and traces its roots back to theQing Dynasty (1644-1912).History
During the
Qing Dynasty , theHan Chinese formed the majority of the population but were subdued by the rulingManchu s. Initially, the Manchu Qing government used the term to brand Han Chinese who were rebellious against Manchu rule. During late Qing, anti-Manchu nationalists appropriated the term and applied it to Hans who collaborated with the Qing government and thus were traitors of the Han people. [Pamela Kyle Crossley, "A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology" (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999), 337. ] This label was often used retroactively on historical Han traitors, such asWu Sangui , who had assisted the Manchus in conquering China.Fact|date=August 2007The government in Nanjing led by
Wang Jingwei during the Second Sino-Japanese war is considered to be Hanjian by most Chinese, as are Taiwanese who fought in theImperial Japanese Army against China even though they were legally Japanese citizens prior to the end of World War II. The word also made its way into law, with theRepublic of China (ROC) having "Regulations Regarding Punishment of Hanjian" (1938) and "Regulations Dealing with Hanjian" (1945). ThePeople's Republic of China (PRC) ratified a "Direction for the Confiscation of Properties of War Criminals, Hanjian, Bureaucratic Capitalists and Anti-revolutionaries".Fact|date=August 2007After the
Sook Ching Massacre in World War II, prominent Singaporean Chineseindustrialist and philanthropistTan Kah Kee proposed to the provisional ROC government to treat all Chinese who attempted to negotiate with Japan as Hanjian. His proposal was adopted by the SecondLegislative Yuan and was lauded as "the best proposal in the world"Fact|date=August 2007 by Chinese resistance who fought against Japan.During the
Cold War , thePeople's Republic of China viewed Chinese citizens who collaborated with a hostile foreign power as a Hanjian.Historical figures labelled Hanjian
*Qin Hui: Court minister of the
Southern Song dynasty who preached appeasement towards aggressions from Jin Dynasty; Prevented the Chinese general and folk heroYue Fei from fighting the Jin invaders and later betrayed and executed him.
*Wu Sangui :Ming Dynasty general whose duty was guarding the northern border; guided the Manchu armies ofQing Dynasty into China, which ended theMing Dynasty .
*Wang Kemin : Collaborated with the Japanese during World War II; set up by Japan as the puppetProvisional Government of the Republic of China or North China Autonomous Government; classified and arrested by the Nationalist Government as a national traitor; committed suicide.
*Dewang (Demchugdongrub): Collaborated with the Japanese; set up by the Japanese Army as the head of state of government ofInner Mongolia . Classified by the Nationalist Government as a national traitor.Fact|date=February 2007 However, it should be noted that since Dewang was not a Han Chinese but a Mongol, labeling him a Hanjian might be quite problematic.
*Wang Jingwei : Advocated peace negotiation during theSecond Sino-Japanese War . Set up the Nanjing "Nationalist Government" puppet state with the assistance of Japanese Army.
*Zhou Fohai : Second in charge of the Wang Jingwei governmentExecutive Yuan .
*Chen Gongbo : Head of theLegislative Yuan of the Wang Jingwei government.
*Kawashima Yoshiko : Also known as "the Eastern Jewel", she was born aManchu princess, given to and brought up by Japanese and executed as a Japanese spy and Chinese traitor by theKuomintang after theSecond Sino-Japanese War . She has been featured in numerous Chinese and Japanese novels, films, TV programs, and video games, with Chinese frequently portraying her as a wanton villainess and seductress and Japanese portraying her as a tragic heroine.
*Koo Hsien-jung : Betrayed the pro-QingFormosan Republic (Taiwan) and led theImperial Japanese Army to captureTaipei in 1895. The Koo family raised to prominence and power under the Japanese colonization and continues to be one of the most powerful business and political families in Taiwan, with members living and operating in both Taiwan and Japan. fact|date=July 2007Modern Usage
Because of the dominance of Han culture in
China , "Han" and "Chinese" are virtually equivalent to each other. Therefore, in the modern context of this word, a Hanjian is one who is a traitor to China, whether the political, geographical or cultural concept of it, and is not necessarily limited to Han Chinese.A Hanjian is more specific than just any traitor in that since a Hanjian would need to collaborate with an external power that is not Han or Chinese to be considered one. Theoretically, in civil wars there would not be any Hanjian, but in reality both sides of the Chinese Civil War accused each other of being Hanjian, to the Americans and the Soviets.
As such, an accusation that someone is a Hanjian is exponentially more venomous than an accusation of being just a traitor.Fact|date=August 2007
Internet use
The term is used against supporters of
Taiwan independence , viewed as being Chinese traitors serving the interests of theUnited States andJapan ;Fact|date=August 2007 in return, some radical Taiwanese independence supporters used the terms "Taijian" (台奸), literally means "traitor of Taiwan", againstChinese reunification supporters of Taiwanese ancestry. Hanjian is also occasionally used on theInternet by somefenqing s (ultranationalist s) andxiaojiang s (Maoist s) as an accusation against Chinese people such asJiao Guobiao (焦国标) who advocate Western-styledemocracy andconstitutionalism .Fact|date=August 2007Criticisms
The word has been criticized for promoting a unitary, ethnically homogeneous state, and the use of "Han" is seen by some as
Han chauvinism .Fact|date=August 2007 These groups suggest using "Huajian" (traitors of the Chinese race or people) or simply, "traitors to the nation".Fact|date=August 2007ee also
*
Collaborationism
*Treason External links
* [http://china-week.com/html/00141.htm Who WASN'T a Hanjian?] . Argues that the term Hanjian is ambiguous, and that by definition,
Li Hongzhang ,Sun Yat-sen ,Lu Xun , commonly regarded as famous Chinese nationalists, would all qualify.Footnotes
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