The English word "nation" comes from Latin natio, which means "born". Its original meaning is to point out a group of people born in the same place, and later it is used to refer to the * * * isomorphism formed in the historical development of human society, that is, the "national * * * isomorphism". In a broad sense, the word "nation" can refer to all kinds of * * * unity formed in the history of different stages of social development (including all kinds of stable groups linked by a certain language, * * * the same region, * * * the same economy and culture). Such groups exist in various social forms since the primitive society, including primitive nations (ethnic groups, tribes) and ancient nations (tribes or tribes) in the west, and there are other national concepts with strict meanings, such as tribes, people, nations, ethical groups and ethnic groups.

But these concepts are vague in the eyes of China people. What westerners find incomprehensible is that China calls the whole nation "Chinese nation", while all ethnic groups within it are still called "nations". The older generation of historians in China are puzzled when they study the history of China with the western concept of "nation". For example, Mr. Gu Jiegang specially wrote the article "The Chinese nation is one" before liberation, arguing that once the Chinese nation is recognized, it cannot be. To some extent, this is the inevitable confusion caused by introducing the concept of western countries to explain the history of China. Because, in China, the word "nation" is a foreign word, and there is no concept of "nation" in China tradition, and there is no tradition of qualitative analysis of all ethnic groups. For example, the concept of "Chinese nation" at the national level only appeared in modern times. Therefore, the "nation" of China people is often confused with the concepts of race and country, and every "nation" as a part of it is just a concept with social and cultural significance. This is very different from the English word "nation" in semantics. In the west, "nation" belongs to the category of politics, sociology and history. A nation can include different races, and "race" is used in a strict anthropological and biological sense, and there are significant differences between them.