Abstract:

It is basically accepted in contemporary Western academic circles that the so-called "ethnic group" is a named human community possessing common myths of ancestry and common historical memories and culture. Although some of Western scholars once generally treated the "ethnic group" as a sub-community in a larger society, more Western scholars agree to the argument that the "ethnic group" may also be a dominant or majority human community. Thus it will be quite correct to use "minority ethnic group" to translate the Chinese term, "shaoshu minzu".

Key words: ethnic group, minority ethnic group, nation, theory of ethnicity and nation