Etymology

benshengren

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Today it means: Han Chinese who came to Taiwan from mainland China before 1945, often having experienced Japanese rule, as compared to Han Chinese who came to Taiwan from mainland China after 1945, following the Chinese Civil War (waishengren). Full definition →

Mandarin 本省人
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The story

  1. Mandarin · borrowed from本省人
  2. English todaybenshengren

From Mandarin 本省人 (běnshěngrén), literally "original province people" (from the point of view that Taiwan is a province of the Republic of China).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.