In recent months, Jersey has been asked to consider separating itself from Great Britain and removing crown appointees from the States.

At the same time, the Island has proudly regrouped behind the bob-sleigh of two local boys in their bid to join Team GB. It may be timely to remind ourselves where Great Britain came from and how we became British in the first place.

Understanding Britain’s heritage archaeologically depends in significant measure on pottery; equally, no portrait of our island today would be complete without the celebrated contributions of Jersey Pottery. Interestingly, ceramics are also so linked with China that the nation’s name is synonymous with the fine porcelain that it invented. But where did that nation get its name?

They say that if you only know one date in British history, AD1066 should be it. That’s the year when the Vikings who had settled in the north-west of France, (renaming it Nor(th)-man-dy) conquered the Anglo-Saxons that had moved from northern Germany to Blighty to create Angle-Land.

Without 1066, there would be no such place as Great Britain for Jersey to be a part of, and the language that we speak today would not exist. Since England was much larger than William of Normandy’s neighbouring Brittany, ‘Big Brittany’ seemed like an obvious name for his conquest (though it does work better in French). The language of the new nation – English – (which is now the second most spoken language in the world) was born from the union of the Normans’ Old French and the Saxons’ Old German.

Likewise, if you only know one date in China’s 5000 years of history, 221BC should be it. That’s the year when the Kingdom of Qin conquered its six neighbouring rivals to create a unified nation with a common language – now the world’s most spoken.

Without 221, there would be no China, no Great Wall and no Terracotta Warriors. China is simply the name of the state of Qin (pronounced ‘Chin’) with an ‘a’ added by the Romans to make it fit in with Caeserea (their name for Jersey) and Britannia. Since the ruler of Qin united more territory than Alexander the Great, he justifiably proclaimed himself the ‘First Emperor’ of China. The only real threat to his empire was from the Huns (Mongolians, not Germans) to the north, so the First Emperor spent nine years joining together the northern border defences of the states he had annexed to create a Great Wall some 2000 miles long. Feeling certain that he would not be safe even after death, he mobilised 700,000 labourers to build a 7000-strong army of life-size clay soldiers and horses to protect his tomb.

The First Emperor’s statecraft was based on ‘Legalism.’ This school of philosophy advocated a strict enforcement of central government directives through a system of rewards and draconian punishments delivered through a well-structured hierarchical bureaucracy. China was organised into 36 provinces which were further subdivided, just as the Normans who created Great Britain organised Jersey into 12 parishes that were subdivided into Vingtaines. Representatives of each division constitutes the government. The most famous book of the Legalist school is ‘The Art of War,’ which many Jersey business managers still study for their qualifications.

The Great Wall of China is so un-missable that it was (erroneously) said to be the only man-made object visible from space. The least avoidable man-made feature of Jersey is its castles, towers and bunkers – Hitler committed a phenomenal 10% of his entire coastal defences’ budget for Europe to our islands. Extraordinary measures have been taken over the last 1000 years to protect the unity Jersey’s Great Britain, and China is no different.

The First Emperor and his dynasty only lasted 15 years and both China and its Great Wall had doubled in size even before the Norman Conquest, but 2000 years later China is still essentially organised according to the same principles. Some in China today ask – as some here do – if the very nature of the nation they have invested so heavily in preserving over the centuries should be challenged, but the average Chinese citizen considers the unity of their nation (with all the challenges and tensions that creates) as unquestionable a foundation of their identity as most of us consider a British passport and the English language to be an essential part of ours.

To pose your questions, or to share your views and experiences of China with other people in Jersey, go to http://www.jerseychina.com. To contact Tim Nash, email tim@jerseychina.com or call 077 007 CHINA (24462).