Beidi

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"Barbarians" according to Chinese cosmology. Those in the east were called Dongyi (東夷), those in the west Xirong (西戎), those in the south Nanman (南蠻), and those in the north Beidi (北狄).

Beidi (北狄) is a term that originally denoted an ancient ethnic group (Di) but was used to refer to all non-Han Chinese ethnic groups in today's Northern China, Mongolia, and Siberia, especially those who lived beyond the Great Wall of China, such as Xiongnu (匈奴), Xianbei (鮮卑), Khitan (契丹), and Mongols (蒙古), etc. In certain periods of Chinese history, from the Han people's view points, seeing from the inside of the Great Wall, those on the outside were considered to be barbarians.

[edit] See also

• Sinocentrism
• Huawaizhidi