Hàn

Proper noun (1)

Han

1. An imperial Chinese dynasty, ruling (with interruptions) from 206 BC to AD 220, marked by the expansion of the Yellow River's Huaxia culture to the recent conquests of the Qin and a flowering of economic, literary, and scientific development
   • According to the hair-dress it is probably that of a woman. There are some 102 slight traces of polychromy on the white slip. Other heads possessing similar qualities were dug up from early Han tombs in Pao-chi district, Shensi Province.1950, Lubor Hájek, Chinese Art, Czechoslovakia: Spring Books, →OCLC, page 41

   Synonyms:

   Han Chinese

2. The Chinese ethnicity, when distinguished from other peoples of the Chinese state
   • Trade was the major economic link between Tibet and other regions in China. Special economic systems (estate, serfdom) made it impossible for Han immigrants to engage in agriculture and animal husbandry in Tibet. The geographic features of the plateau (high elevation, rarefied air, mountains, etc.)...1995, Rong Ma, edited by Calvin Goldscheider, Economic Patterns, Migration, and Ethnic Relationships in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China (Population, Ethnicity, and Nation-Building), Westview...
3. A river in central China.
   • Hankow, China, is located 600 miles from the coast, on the north bank of the Yang-tse-Kiang River, at its junction with the Han River.1902 January 5, L. S. Wilcox, “Conditions in Hankow.; American Trade on the Pacific and the far East”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Sep 2023, ANNUAL, page 23

Proper noun (2)

Han

1. An ancient Chinese county, viscounty, and kingdom of the Zhou dynasty and the Qin–Han interregnum
2. The realm of this former state under other rulers
3. The star Zeta Ophiuchi in traditional Chinese astronomy, named for this state

See all 14 meanings of han