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*[[Kawashima Yoshiko]]: Also known as "the Eastern Jewel", she was born a [[Manchu]] princess, given to and brought up by Japanese and executed as a Japanese spy and Chinese traitor by the [[Kuomintang]] after the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]. She has been featured in numerous Chinese and Japanese novels, films, TV programs, and video games, with Chinese frequently portraying her as a wanton villainess and seductress and Japanese portraying her as a tragic heroine.
*[[Kawashima Yoshiko]]: Also known as "the Eastern Jewel", she was born a [[Manchu]] princess, given to and brought up by Japanese and executed as a Japanese spy and Chinese traitor by the [[Kuomintang]] after the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]. She has been featured in numerous Chinese and Japanese novels, films, TV programs, and video games, with Chinese frequently portraying her as a wanton villainess and seductress and Japanese portraying her as a tragic heroine.
*[[Koo Hsien-jung]]: Betrayed the pro-Qing [[Formosan Republic]] (Taiwan) and led the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] to capture [[Taipei]] in [[1895]]. The Koo family raised to prominence and power under the Japanese colonization and continues to be one of the most powerful business and political families in Taiwan, with members living and operating in both Taiwan and Japan. {{fact|date=July 2007}}
*[[Koo Hsien-jung]]: Betrayed the pro-Qing [[Formosan Republic]] (Taiwan) and led the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] to capture [[Taipei]] in [[1895]]. The Koo family raised to prominence and power under the Japanese colonization and continues to be one of the most powerful business and political families in Taiwan, with members living and operating in both Taiwan and Japan. {{fact|date=July 2007}}
* [[Lee Teng-hui]], Pro-Taiwan Independence Former President of Taiwan, Commonly known in Mainland China and among overseas Chinese as a Japanese puppet who spoke better Japanese than Chinese. {{fact|date=July 2007}}
* [[Chen Shui-bian]], current President of Taiwan, who as a protege of Li DengHui supported Taiwanese Independence. All his initiatives in this department have recently failed in Island-Wide plebiscites and referendums, his presidency has suffered numerous corruption scandals involving himself, his wife, and his son. With the result being a overwhelming defeat for his party in last year's congressional elections and this year's presidential defeat to the Pro-Unification with China candidate, Ma Yingjiu. {{fact|date=July 2007}}
* Grace Wang (王千源) - freshman at Duke University.[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/student/news/article3797519.ece]
* [[Anna Lo]] (盧曼華) and her son - Hong Kong-born politician who was "proud" of her son taking part in a "pro-Tibet separatist" demonstration in London [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7334310.stm] {{fact|date=July 2007}}
* Christina Chan (陳巧文) - Hong Kong based "pro-Tibet separatist" student[http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/torch-relay-smooth-in-hong-kong/2008/05/02/1209235154392.html] {{fact|date=July 2007}}


==Modern Usage==
==Modern Usage==

Revision as of 09:28, 26 July 2008

File:Chenjiageng proclamation.jpg
"Before the enemy Wokou have been driven off our lands, all civil servants found negotiating a peace treaty should be considered a Hanjian and traitor to the nation. -- Fujian Press, Tan Kah Kee"

In Chinese culture, a Hanjian (simplified Chinese: 汉奸; traditional Chinese: 漢奸; pinyin: Hànjiān) is a highly derogatory and pejorative term for a traitor, especially to the Han Chinese ethnicity. Literally, it means traitor who is a Han or one who betrays Han (people), and traces its roots back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912).

History

During the Qing Dynasty, the Han Chinese formed the majority of the population but were subdued by the ruling Manchus. Initially, the Manchu Qing government used the term to brand Han Chinese who were rebellious against Manchu rule. During late Qing, anti-Manchu nationalists appropriated the term and applied it to Hans who collaborated with the Qing government and thus were traitors of the Han people.[1] This label was often used retroactively on historical Han traitors, such as Wu Sangui, who had assisted the Manchus in conquering China.[citation needed]

The government in Nanjing led by Wang Jingwei during the Second Sino-Japanese war is considered to be Hanjian by most Chinese, as are Taiwanese who fought in the Imperial Japanese Army against China even though they were legally Japanese citizens prior to the end of World War II. The word also made its way into law, with the Republic of China (ROC) having "Regulations Regarding Punishment of Hanjian" (1938) and "Regulations Dealing with Hanjian" (1945). The People's Republic of China (PRC) ratified a "Direction for the Confiscation of Properties of War Criminals, Hanjian, Bureaucratic Capitalists and Anti-revolutionaries".[citation needed]

After the Sook Ching Massacre in World War II, prominent Singaporean Chinese industrialist and philanthropist Tan Kah Kee proposed to the provisional ROC government to treat all Chinese who attempted to negotiate with Japan as Hanjian. His proposal was adopted by the Second Legislative Yuan and was lauded as "the best proposal in the world"[citation needed] by Chinese resistance who fought against Japan.

During the Cold War, the People's Republic of China viewed Chinese citizens who collaborated with a hostile foreign power as a Hanjian.

Famous people called Hanjian

Modern Usage

Because of the dominance of Han culture in China, Han and Chinese are virtually equivalent to each other. Therefore, in the modern context of this word, a Hanjian is one who is a traitor to China, whether the political, geographical or cultural concept of it, and is not necessarily limited to Han Chinese.

A Hanjian is more specific than just any traitor in that since a Hanjian would need to collaborate with an external power that is not Han or Chinese to be considered one. Theoretically, in civil wars there would not be any Hanjian, but in reality both sides of the Chinese Civil War accused each other of being Hanjian, to the Americans and the Soviets.

As such, an accusation that someone is a Hanjian is exponentially more venomous than an accusation of being just a traitor.[citation needed]

Internet use

The term is used against supporters of Taiwan independence, viewed as being Chinese traitors serving the interests of the United States and Japan;[citation needed] in return, some radical Taiwanese independence supporters used the terms Taijian (台奸), literally means traitor of Taiwan, against Chinese reunification supporters of Taiwanese ancestry. Hanjian is also occasionally used on the Internet by some fenqings (ultranationalists) and xiaojiangs (Maoists) as an accusation against Chinese people such as Jiao Guobiao (焦国标) who advocate Western-style democracy and constitutionalism.[citation needed]

Criticisms

The word has been criticized for promoting a unitary, ethnically homogeneous state, and the use of Han is seen by some as Han chauvinism.[citation needed] These groups suggest using Huajian (traitors of the Chinese race or people) or simply, traitors to the nation.[citation needed]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Pamela Kyle Crossley, A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1999), 337.