DOI 10.51955/2312-1327_2025_4_

Evgeny V. Kremnyov

Abstract. Abstract. The article analyzes the education system for ethnic minorities in the People’s Republic of China through the lens of the social governance concept. The central research problem is finding a balance between the policy of forming “The unity of the Chinese nation” and the constitutionally guaranteed rights of ethnic groups to preserve their linguistic and cultural diversity. The author traces the evolution of the PRC’s ethnic educational policy from 1949 to the present, highlighting a shift from the model dominant during the Mao era – which can be characterized by the Confucian concept of “uniformity without unity” (tong er bu he) – to the contemporary model of “unity in diversity” (he er bu tong).  Based on the theoretical framework of “vertical interaction”, a hybrid governance model is analyzed, in which the Party and the government as the subject retain hierarchical control but delegate some authority and the responsibility for preserving their identity to ethnic groups as the object. As a result, the ways of implementing the “unity and diversity” model within the four key strategies of modern ethnic education – multiculturalism, cultural transformation, ethnic identity, and social equality – have been identified and characterized.

Keywords: ethnic education, China, social governance, unity and diversity, uniformity without unity, Chinese nation, ethnic identity, bilingual education, vertical interaction.

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