Read his past comments, he's either a Japanese apologist/weeaboo arguing against anything Chinese /Korean related or a massive troll.

The Han identity (even as a culture/ethnicity) is completely NOT a new concept. For example during the first half of the Qing Dynasty there were strict segregation laws between the Manchu and the Han (written using the wording "Han people"). Emperor Guangxu's Hundred Day's Reform included a clause that permitted the marriage of Han and Manchu. Going back even further there were even stricter segregation and even caste system during the Yuan Dynasty as well that singled out Han Chinese.

You might be interested in this post and, ultimately, I'd like to reiterate my comment there, so please read that top comment then take this as an addition to it.

Basically, the idea of Han-ness is not strictly a modern thing. If it were purely a modern social construct, as these comments suggest, then you would expect there to be no traceable shared genetic ancestry among various communities that self-identify as Han. However there is shared genetic ancestry than matches up with the cultural definition of who is Han.

Does the idea of "Han" match up with other ethnicities on the same level? One could argue that the notion of Han is more of an umbrella classification, and that Hakka (for example) are just as justifiably defined as a single ethnic group. Han could be more along the lines of "Northern European" as a group of related peoples.

I'd like to think my ethnic group is a real thing.

I mean, scientifically, does it matter? It's not like the Han are any more "pure" than any other ethnic group, despite the propaganda claiming otherwise. You may be Han, but you're also probably lots of other things too.

Han Chinese race concept is not a modern one. However, the Han Chinese race is united more by sharing a similar writing system, closely related languages, a shared history, shared struggles, a common civilization and shared culture, than by strictly common genetics alone.

All Chinese people will know that North and South Chinese are genetically and physically different. North and South Chinese can often distinguish each other by physical appearance. Northern Chinese are usually taller, heavier, paler, with more pointed nose and smaller eyes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Territories_of_Dynasties_in_China.gif

A look at Chinese history will easily tell us why. The Chinese civilization began along the yellow river in the north. As late as 350 BC, during the warring states period, the Chinese civilization was only confined to the north of the Yangtse river. After Qin Shi Huang conquered the other six states to unify the Chinese civilization for the first time, China began to expand south of the Yangtse river. The Chinese intermarried with the native in the south, and pulled them into the Chinese civilization. This was a very gradual process, taking place over hundreds of years. Meanwhile, northern China was repeatedly conquered by nomadic horsemen, like the Mongols, Jins, and Manchus. This lead to alot of genetic mixing, with the northern Chinese mixed with northern nomads and southern Chinese mixed with southern tribes.

So yeah, while the Han Chinese race is very mixed, we are united by a common civilization.

First, I'm not a historian. But I still gave a serious and long response to Jotaroh's question: "What does it mean to be Han?" in a pm (to which he has not answered) without realizing he's just an anti-china troll. I thought he was really asking a question... but it was actually an affirmation. Classic divide and conquer strategy by questioning the identity of an ethnic group to create division. Anyways, here is the link of my explanation in the pm I sent to that guy. Please take a look at it: link