Question of Ethnic Group Formulation in the Chinese Census

Unlike countries with a long history of census taking (e.g. the United States and most European countries), China had only six censuses and the latest one was finished in year 2010. In the censuses, China always collects ethnic group information by one question, “Ethnicity (民族)”, and the answer is in a blank space ending with “ethnic group (族)”. However, the meaning of the question was quite different in year 2010 from the one taken in 1953, the first census in China. That is because since 1982, Chinese answered the census ethnicity question within a framework of 56 ethnic groups. This change in meaning or content of the question is closely related to the purpose of ethnic data collection in the census, the characteristics of ethnic groups in Chinese society as well as a concern of an equal chance for development of all Chinese in China. This paper starts with the ethnicity question in the latest census, the answers and the meanings of the question to individuals. We will examine the short history and reasons for the change and the special meaning of the question over the years. The analysis will remind the academic community and public the complexity of the ethnicity issues of the census in China, including formulation and interpretation of the question as well as their results.