What makes Chinese people Chinese By extension, can a non-Chinese person become Chinese
I was born in America, so I'm an American citizen.
My mother was raised in Taiwan.
My father was raised in Thailand.
My Grandparents were born in Yunnan, China. They fought for the Republic of China against Mao Zedong's insurrection. Afterwards my paternal Grandfather took his army to Thailand where he defended it from Communist insurgents so the King of Thailand granted him the right to found a village for his people. When I was looking up the history of my grandparents I found some CIA guy had a chapter about them in his memoirs, calling their Chinese village in northern Thailand a 'pure'representation of pre-Communist Chinese culture.
If my parents told told me I was only Thai or Taiwanese, I would be Thai or Taiwanese. But they identified as Chinese along with other identities, and so I am Chinese*. I identify with my family lineage, what's more Chinese than that?
*Culturally. You don't have to be a citizen of the PRC or RoC to say you're of Chinese culture.
我出生在美国，所以我是美国公民。
我母亲是在台湾长大的，
我父亲是在泰国长大的。
我的祖父母出生在中国的云南。他们为中华民国而战......后来，我的曾祖父带着他的军队去了泰国......泰国国王授予了他为自己的人民建立一个村庄的权利。当我查阅我祖父母的历史时，我发现在他们的回忆录里提到了CIA，这些人称我们在泰国北部的中国村庄是纯粹的中国旧社会的代表。
如果我的父母告诉我，我只是泰国人或台湾人，那我会是泰国人或台湾人。但他们同样有中国人的身份认同，所以我也是中国人。我认同我的家族血统，还有什么比这更中国化的呢?
从文化角度来说。你不必是中华人民共和国或中华民国的公民，但依然可以是中华文化的一份子。
2.Eric Miller, Ph.D. in Cultural anthropology, research professor and applied anthropologist
人类文化学博士，人类学研究和应用专家
There is not really a simple answer. The more one thinks about it, the harder it is to give a clear answer.
On one hand, to be Chinese is an ethnicity. It is based on race and language. Of course race is never really a clearly marked thing, and people in the north might be genetically more similar to non-Chinese neighbors than to southern Chinese. The Han Chinese are an ethnic group, but are all Han Chinese and all non-Han not Chinese? It isn't entirely clear, even if we could clearly decide who is Han and who is not.
While the spoken language varies, the written language is more universal. Still, even the illiterate can be Chinese, so that is not perfect either.
Within China, people can shift ethnicity a bit. If a Han person discovers they have Manchu ancestors, they can officially shift their nationality to Manchu, while continuing to be a Chinese citizen.
这个问题没有一个简单的答案。你越是深思，就越难以给出一个明确的答案。
一方面，中国人是一个民族，它是基于种族和语言的。当然，种族从来都不是一件很容易就能分辨清除的事情，一个中国北方人，在基因上可能更像是邻国的外国人。汉族是一个民族，但所有的汉族都是中国人，所有非汉族都不是中国人吗?现在还不是很明确，我们甚至不能很清楚地断定谁是汉族人，谁不是汉族人。
尽管有各种方言，但汉字是通用的。然而，即使是文盲也可以是中国人，所以这也不是完美的判定标准。
在中国，人们可以稍微改变自己的种族。如果汉人发现他们有满族的祖先，他们可以正式地将他们的民族转为满族，同时继续成为中国公民。
Another way to define it would be by citizenship. Citizens of China are Chinese, even if they are Korean minority or Russian minority, and other people are not. But then, there are Chinese Americans, Taiwanese who hold a different passport, Chinese Malaysians and so forth.
Ethnically, a person cannot so easily become Chinese. If I am a white American in America, then it seems kind of silly to think I could become Chinese. I could move to China and become a Chinese citizen, and then would be Chinese. In reality, that is very, very difficult. Even then, no one would consider me to be ethnically Chinese.
另一种定义它的方式是通过公民身份。中国公民是中国人，即使他们是朝鲜族或这俄罗斯族等少数民族。但是，还有一些华裔美国人、台湾人、马来西亚华人等等，他们持有着不同的护照却被认同为中国人。
在民族上，一个人不可能轻易地变成中国人。如果我是一个在美国的白人，那么认为我能成为中国人就有点傻了。我可以搬到中国，成为一名中国公民，然后就成为了中国人。但事实上，这是非常非常困难的。即使做到了，也没有人会认为我是中国人。
China continues to claim overseas Chinese as Chinese, and treats them differently from non-Chinese foreigners in some cases.
Historically as new groups were brought into the fold of the Chinese nation, it was the performance of Chinese rituals and especially the Chinese funeral that marked them as Chinese--along with paying tribute to the Emperor.
One way or another, the simplest way to identify who is Chinese is whoever identifies themselves as Chinese and are accepted as such by others.
中国继续声称海外华人是中国人，在某些情况下，他们对待华人的态度确实与外国人不同。
从历史上来看，新团体被纳入中国的阵营，是表现在他们对中国礼仪的认同，尤其是中国式的葬礼——另外还有对皇帝的致敬。
不管怎样，辨别谁是中国人的最简单的方法就是当一个人把自己认定为中国人并被别人接受，他就是中国人。
3，Aaron Shang, Born Chinese. Lived in China 88-95, 00-09 for 17 years. Rest in BE, DE,
USA 88-95年及00-09年这17年住在中国，其余时间住在英国、德国和美国
Can a non-Chinese person become Chinese? Yes and No.
For other Chinese to recognize you as “Chinese” 中国人, well that is a very tall order. You cannot do nothing for China and wants to be part of it. Even Admiral Nelson hoisted “England expects that every man will do his duty”
一个外国人能成为中国人吗?能也不能。
让其他中国人认同你是“中国人”,这是一个非常艰巨的任务。特别是你不能为中国做任何事，也不想成为中国的一部分。就连纳尔逊将军都曾打出过这样的旗语：“英格兰期盼人人都恪尽其责”。
Post-WWII world order made most humans think it’s easy to join a nation and become a citizen. Even the UN enshrines it. But that is not true with the Chinese people, to join our ranks one must prove it. Are you ready to devote your life’s work? China was not, is not, and never will be a “Xenophile” country (Xenophile literally “foreign-love”). It is 2017 and China remains one of the toughest country to immigrate to. If you have not contributed, it will not recognize you as “Chinese” no matter what skin you’re born in.
二战后的世界秩序使大多数人认为加入一个国家成为其公民很容易，就连联合国也将其视为准则。但对于中国人民来说这并不是事实，要想加入我们的行列，你必须证明自己。你准备好为此投入毕生精力了吗?中国过去不是，现在不是，将来也永远不会成为一个喜欢接受外国人的国家。现在是2017年，中国仍然是最难移民的国家之一。如果你没有做出贡献，那么无论你生于哪里、什么肤色，你都不会被承认为“中国人”。
The modern Chinese identity is very much forged from it’s 150 years of struggles against Domestic and Foreign Feudalism, Colonialism, Imperialism, and Fascism etc. Everyone who lives in China today is still struggling towards the building of a better country and the eventual peaceful rise of the new Chinese state. Each and every one of our ancestors survived fighting that whole shabang thrown at them in history and they earned their place and ours. The Syrian civil war raged for six years and people believed that country is finished. WELL, did you know the Chinese endured 38 years(1911–1949) of civil war and countless of invasions since 1895? As a popular phrase puts it “Us Han did not submit to family planing(one child policy) to make place for immigrants”
“我们汉人计划生育不是给外国人腾地方”
现代中国人的身份认同，很大程度上是150年来与国内和国外封建主义、殖民主义、帝国主义和法西斯主义的斗争所形成的，今天生活在中国的每一个人，都在为建设一个更好的国家和最终的和平崛起而奋斗。我们每一个人的祖先都是在历史上经过艰苦斗争幸存下来，他们赢得了他们的地位和我们的地位。叙利亚内战持续了六年，人们认为这个国家已经毁掉了。好吧，你知道中国人经历了38年(1911-1949)的内战和1895年以来的无数次入侵吗?在中国有句流行的话：“我们汉人计划生育不是给外国人腾地方”。
In a Chinese mind there is something fundamentally different from the western mentality. We have trusted our own skin to painstakingly hold the country together and protect ourselves. Most Chinese will find it hard to believe that the US Army in WWII had tons of German and Italian immigrants who see themselves as Americans. And those new Americans fought valiantly against their German and Italian brethren. The worst name you can possibly get in Chinese history 汉奸(literally “traitor to the Han”) are reserved for those Chinese who do similar things. For example, this guy: Kurt Chew-Een Lee - Wikipedia
中国人的想法与西方有本质上的不同。我们只信任同为黄皮肤的自己人，他们不辞辛苦地把国家团结在一起，保护自己。大多数中国人很难相信，二战中的美国军队有大量的德国和意大利移民且视自己为美国人。这些新美国人英勇地与他们的德国和意大利同胞作战。他们可能会得到中国历史上最糟糕的评价——“汉奸”（字面意思是指汉族的叛徒），这是描述那些做过类似事情的中国人的。例如，这个人:吕超然。
The worst name the Chinese people reserve for a objectively speaking brave, cunning, and loyal marine is “fake foreign devil”假洋鬼子. Too bad but it’s the truth, once your loyalties shifted, betrayed your blood, you are no longer considered one of our own. That term “devil” is reserved for foreigners only, we never ever used it on Mongolian Chinese, Muslim Chinese or Zangzu/tibetan Chinese, said term is for non-chinese only.
But what if you are just born non-Chinese, and you live like“Chinese” through and through? Like this popular comedian and host Mark Rowswell Dashan - Wikipedia
中国人对这个勇敢、狡猾而忠诚的海军陆战队士兵还有一个更糟糕的称呼——“假洋鬼子”。很糟糕，但这是事实，一旦你的忠诚改变了，背叛了你的血液，你就不再被认为是我们自己人了。“鬼子”这个词只用于外国人，我们从来没有对蒙古族、回族或藏族人用过，这个词只针对外国人。
但是，如果你生来就非中国人，但你的生活就像“中国人”一样呢?就像是喜剧演员和主持人大山那样。
NOPE, just ask any Chinese around you if they think Dashan is Chinese. We all love him but we don’t call him Zhongguoren 中国人
OKAY, so we’ve established that the Chinese won’t call you one of their own even if you are:
1）A foreign citizen born to ethnic Chinese parents overseas 华人华侨
2）Mixed heritage, born to one chinese parent 混血
3）Ethnic Chinese but got a foreign passport 华人
4）Not ethnic Chinese but lived in China for most your life, lives and breathes the Chinese language and celebrate our festivals, follows our customs, married to Chinese and have mixed kids
不，只要问问你周围的中国人，他们是否认为大山是中国人。我们都喜欢他,但我们不叫他中国人。
好了，我们已经确定了，中国人不会把你当成自己人，即使你是：
1)父母是中国血统的外国公民（华人华侨）；
2)父母之一是中国人（混血）；
3)在中国出生但有外国护照（华人）；
4)没有中国血统但一生大部分时间在中国生活、使用汉语、庆祝中国的节日、遵循中国的习俗、与中国人结婚并生了个混血宝宝。
Who do the people think deserve the earned title of “Chinese”? Foreigners who devoted their life’s work and unwavering support in making China a better place. The things they have sacrificed for China and it’s people will bring any Chinese on the verge of tears! I won’t take up any more of your time, just read their bios yourself, I’m honored to mention their names:
马海德 Ma Haide - Wikipedia George Hatem 生平
柯棣华 Dwarkanath Kotnis - Wikipedia
傅莱 Richard Frey - Wikipedia
沙博里 Sidney Shapiro - Wikipedia
魏璐诗 Ruth Weiss - Wikipedia
陈必娣 生平 Betty Chandler – Wikipedia
爱泼斯坦 Israel Epstein - Wikipedia
哪些外国人应该得到“中国人”的称号呢?那些毕生都在努力工作，并坚定不移地支持中国成为一个更好的国家的外国人。他们为中国做出的牺牲，会让任何中国人都热泪盈眶！我不想浪费你们的时间，你们可以自己读一下他们的简历，我很荣幸地提到他们的名字:马海德、柯棣华、傅莱、沙博里、魏璐诗、陈必娣、爱泼斯坦。
All those great people came to China when they’re young. Stayed all their life, married and had kids, then chose to be buried in China. If you can do this, congratulations, the Chinese people will remember you as Zhongguoren中国人
That’s what it means to be Chinese. You love the land, you don’t betray the family and the people, you speak the language and enjoys our festivals and customs, when you die you choose to be buried on Chinese soil.
这些伟大的人物都是年轻时来到中国的。他们一生都在中国，结婚生子，然后选择葬在中国。如果你能做到这一点,那么恭喜你,中国人民会记住你是一个中国人
这就是成为中国人的意义。你爱这片土地，你不会背叛家人和人民，你会说汉语，享受我们的节日和习俗，当你死的时候，你选择葬在中国的土地上。
本文来源：https://www.quora.com
