"Barbarians" according to Chinese cosmology. Those in the east were called
Dongyi (東夷), those in the west
Xirong (西戎), those in the south
Nanman (南蠻), and those in the north Beidi (北狄).
Beidi (北狄) is a term that originally denoted an ancient ethnic group (Di) but was used to refer to all non-Han Chinese ethnic groups in today's Northern China, Mongolia, and Siberia, especially those who lived beyond the Great Wall of China, such as Xiongnu (匈奴), Xianbei (鮮卑), Khitan (契丹), and Mongols (蒙古), etc. From the point of Han people's view, seeing from the inside of the Great Wall, they were considered to be barbarians.
See also
