From the dawn of time, China's history is a story of an immense land with several diverse tribes. It is also one of migrations and conflict, and separation and fusion of cultures. The product of the intermingling of many tribes, the Han people were among the first to settle down and develop an agrarian society. As their culture flourished, the more contempt they felt for the migrant hunter-gatherers that lay just beyond the horizon. Even though the modern concept of 56 ethnic groups is often considered an arbitrary and conservative summary of the hundreds of diverse peoples in China, it pales in comparison to the simplicity by which the ancient Han people distinguished their nomadic neighbors. For them-- the tribe occupying the Center of the World-- the only distinction was direction, and non-Han were called "Di" (northern), "Rong" (west), "Yi" (east), and "Man" (south).

As the Han prospered, they became the envy of the hearty horsemen of the north. Over a 2,000 year period, waves of invaders breached the Great Wall and poured into the Chinese heartland. The Huns, the Mongols, and Manchurians all came-- and unlike the plunder and destruction characterized by the barbarian invasions of Rome, these peoples admired what they saw, leading them to stay and assimilate. At the same time, the Han were also following migratory patterns. Seeking to avoid the invasions, or simply moving as burgeoning populations strained resources, the Chinese moved southward. And here, they met with an enormous diversity of cultures. Some would be pushed further south, others would stay and assimilate. No matter what the story, one enduring theme of Chinese history remains the stability of Han Chinese Culture.

In 1911, the last Imperial Dynasty, established 300 years before by the Manchu minority, was unseated by the Nationalist Party of Sun Yat-sen. Dr. Sun himself saw China as a "Republic of Five Nationalities" (indeed, the five stars on the national flag of the People's Republic of China reflect this idea), though after his death, the Nationalists denied the existence of different ethnic groups. However, after the Communist Party came to power in 1949, an earnest effort to investigate and categorize minorities began. Although over 400 minority groups answered a call to register, studies found that there was a lot of overlapping, and a significant number of groups that claimed to be separate were actually the same with different names. After four years of detailed research and field work, 54 ethnic groups were officially recognized as independent nationalities. A 55th was added in 1979.