How China Became Chinese? Geography or Political Integration
How China Became Chinese? Geography or Political Integration
Using the census data of China, Nan Li of Fudan University and his co-author analyze the current spatial geographical distribution of the Han nationality and the issue of ethnic identity and integration in China from the aspects of geographical environment and political integration, and try to answer the question of “how China become Chinese” proposed by Diamond (1997). Their findings show that the geographical environment, proxied by agricultural suitability, and political integration, proxied by the duration of counties, have a significant positive impact on the current spatial geographical distribution of the Han nationality. However, compared to geographical environment, political integration has a more significant impact on the spatial geographical distribution of the Han nationality. In particular, political integration can effectively alleviate the negative constraints on the spatial geographical distribution of the Han nationality caused by the geographical environment through immigration and the provision of public goods such as water conservancy and education. During this Quantitative History Webinar, Nan will provide empirical evidence for the origin of ethnic diversity from the geographical hypothesis and political integration hypothesis, in addition to the current spatial geographical distribution of the Han nationality.
Nan’s co-author: Youhong Lin (Xiamen University)
Discussant: Sijie Hu, Assistant Professor of Economics, Renmin University of China
*This webinar will be conducted in Mandarin.
Live on Zoom on Thursday, July 4, 2024
16:00 Hong Kong/Beijing/Singapore
09:00 London | 17:00 Tokyo | 18:00 Sydney | Click here to view your local time
The Quantitative History (QH) Webinar Series aims to provide researchers, teachers, and students with an online intellectual platform to keep up to date with the latest research in the field, promoting the dissemination of research findings and interdisciplinary use of quantitative methods in historical research. The QH Webinar Series, now entering its fourth year, is co-organized by Centre for Quantitative History at the HKU Business School and International Society for Quantitative History in partnership with Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences. The Series is now substantially supported by the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. [AoE/B-704/22-R]). 量化歷史網上講座系列由香港大學陳志武和馬馳騁教授聯合發起，旨在介紹前沿量化歷史研究成果、促進同仁交流，推廣量化方法在歷史研究中的應用。本系列講座由香港大學經管學院量化歷史研究中心和國際量化歷史學會承辦，及香港人文社會研究所全力支持。從2023年開始，系列得到中國香港特別行政區研究資助局卓越學科領域計劃的重要資助 (項目編號[AoE/B-704/22-R])。
Conveners:
Zhiwu Chen
Chicheng Ma
