The forefathers of the Han people living in the Central Plains referred to

themselves by this term. Earlier on they called themselves Hua (华), Zhuhua (诸

华), Xia (夏) or Zhuxia (诸夏). The term Huaxia (华夏) embodies the common

identity of the way of life, language, and culture of the people living in the

Central Plains, mainly the Han people, and the inheritance of such identity.

The Huaxia people evolved into a fairly stable ethnic group in the Qin Dynasty,

which established a unified country of many ethnic groups with Huaxia being

the principal group. In the Han Dynasty, the term Han became an alternative

name of Huaxia. Later, the term Huaxia was extended to refer to China or the

Han people.