So as for the term Han meaning Kingdom. I will admit that I originally stumbled on this when reading some historian-reddit, where the question about the meaning of Han in the name of South Korea was asked. (See https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8xlnmj/why_do_koreans_call_themselves_han_daehan/)
I don't speak Korean, so I will also admit to having no personal experience with this word. However, the Three Kingdoms reference seems to check out, at least according to wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms_of_Korea
See also the article for the names of Korea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Korea#Han
Sadly, it's hard to check this further, because the sources are... in Korean. Either way, the usage of the word Han in reference to Kingdoms may have waned, since the Three Kingdoms era took place around the time when the term Han first appeared in China.
As for the Han being an older described ethnic group than anything in Europe... I mean, I understand the point you are making and I didn't want to suggest that Han is not a valid descriptor. I just dislike the way the Chinese state is currently wielding it. That said, literally the first two groups I could think of, that being the Franks and the Basque people, are older than that term.
I didn't want to stir up trouble mind you. I just saw the claim that Koreans are Han and having been to Korea thought that they probably wouldn't like to be called Han. So I started digging a little bit. I am by no means an expert and am likely wrong on a lot of this.
PS: There are groups of humans that are believed to be diminutive due to Insular dwarfism. In particular there are a few 'uncontacted peoples' for which people suspect that this is true (see the Sentinelese). They may just also simply be short for different genetic reasons or because these groups are small this may be an outlier measurement unrelated to insular dwarfism. But Japan is way too big for this to be the deciding factor. If something like this is the reason, then it would have to be because of a general lack of nourishment in the area, which I think hasn't really been a problem in Japan.
PPS: I am moving to Korea soon and my Korean boss there is history-obsessed. So I will try to get him to explain this to me and report back. Then at least we will have it from the horse's mouth so to say.
last edited at Sep 4, 2024 4:03PM