Han vs non-Han China

When a non-Han speaking group took over China, it was called an 'alien' invasion, while it didn't matter what part of Han China a ruler might come from, whether from the Yangtze basin or not, they were considered Chinese. Probably because of the large population densities in China, invading rulers, whether Hsiung-nu, Mongol or Manchurian, ended up adopting the Chinese language1 .

This article is about Chinese history, for a discussion of the Uyghur guerilla war fighters in northwestern Sinkiang province of China, click here . For Tibet, here . For Mongolia, here .

317 Chuvash Turks controlled the North, vying with Mongol tribes
500 Turkic ruler outlaws Turkish language, custom and costume
589 Han dynasties rule China, Sui and then Tang
847 Turkic speaking Uyghurs set up friendly government in modern Sinkiang
Late 900s far north controlled by Mongol Khitan
Later 900s between China proper and Uyghurs Tibetans set up control
1115 Khitan overwhelmed by Tungus speaking people from further north, with help of China, then turned on Chinese and formed Jin in most of northern China
1211 Ghengis Khan replaces Jin
1279 complete Mongol conquest of China
1369 Ming Dynasty founded with ouster of Mongols
1651 Manchu takeover of China, set up Qing dynasty
1911 end of imperial China, set up of Chinese Republic
1949 Chinese civil war ends with Communists setting up rule

Although some northern Chinese did pick up a few linguistic elements from the northern invaders, this was rare. The languages were quite dissimilar.2 To the north they were called barbarians, as were southerners in the Three Kingdoms period (南蠻) 3

Language Policy of Mao

which mentions see also, Ataturk in Turkey and Sukarno in Indonesia.

After the overthrow of the Ming dynasty in 1644, those who sought to reestablish it were part of secret socities which sought to restore the Ming, and these were part of rebellions, this was unique among the nearby dynasties, which weren't Han.4