Research on Han Nationalism in China in the 2020s (III): From Banner Affiliation to Ethnicity—The Reconstruction of Modern Manchu Identity and Online Narratives of Manchu–Han Conflict

This article examines the formation of modern Manchu identity and its relationship to Manchu–Han tensions within the context of Han nationalist discourse on the Chinese internet in the 2020s. It begins by analyzing the Qing Eight Banner system, arguing that the banners were not a single-ethnicity organization in the modern sense, but a political and social system composed of multiple identity groups including Manchu, Mongol, Han-martial (Hanjun), and bondservant (baoyi) populations. After the fall of the Qing, the former banner affiliation was gradually reorganized within the modern ethnic classification system, producing the Manchu identity of today. The article further discusses the process of reconstituting modern Manchu identity since the 1980s, contending that this process involves both historical continuity and the influence of ethnic policy, local administrative factors, and practical interests. When ethnic identity becomes linked to the allocation of public resources, social policy, and historical narrative, it may shift from cultural identification toward an identity of social interest. The article maintains that contemporary Manchu–Han contradictions are not purely ethnic conflicts, but the product of the combined operation of historical memory, identity recognition, class differences, and material interests. Reducing the binding between ethnic identity and the distribution of public goods, thereby allowing ethnic identity to return more fully to the domain of cultural identification, may be an important direction for alleviating related tensions.