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Names of China
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Names of China
China has many contemporary and historical designations given in various languages for the East Asian country known as 中国; 中國; Zhōngguó ('Central State' or 'Middle Kingdom') in Standard Chinese, a form based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin.
The English name "China" was borrowed from Portuguese during the 16th century, and its direct cognates became common in the subsequent centuries in the West. It is believed to be a borrowing from Middle Persian, and some have traced it further back to the Sanskrit word चीन (cīna) for the nation. It is also thought that the ultimate source of the name China is the Chinese word Qín (秦), the name of the Qin dynasty that ultimately unified China after existing as a state within the Zhou dynasty for many centuries prior. However, there are alternative suggestions for the etymology of this word.
Chinese names for China, aside from Zhongguo, include Zhōnghuá (中华; 中華; 'central beauty'), Huáxià (华夏; 華夏; 'beautiful grandness'), Shénzhōu (神州; 'divine state') and Jiǔzhōu (九州; 'nine states'). While official notions of Chinese nationality do not make any particular reference to ethnicity, common names for the largest ethnic group in China are Hàn (汉; 漢) and Táng (唐). The People's Republic of China (Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó) and the Republic of China (Zhōnghuá Mínguó) are the official names of the two governments presently claiming sovereignty over "China". The term "mainland China" refers to areas under the PRC's jurisdiction, either including or excluding Hong Kong and Macau.
There are also names for China used around the world that are derived from the languages of ethnic groups other than Han Chinese: examples include "Cathay" from the Khitan language, and Tabgach from Tuoba. The realm ruled by the Emperor of China is also referred to as Chinese Empire.
Zhōngguó (中國) is the most common Chinese name for China in modern times. The earliest appearance of this two-character term is on the He zun, a bronze vessel dating to 1038–c. 1000 BCE, during the early Western Zhou period. The phrase "zhong guo" came into common usage in the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), when it referred to the "Central States", the states of the Yellow River Valley of the Zhou era, as distinguished from the tribal periphery. In later periods, however, Zhongguo was not used in this sense. Dynastic names were used for the state in Imperial China, and concepts of the state aside from the ruling dynasty were little understood. Rather, the country was called by the name of the dynasty, such as "Han", "Tang", "Great Ming", "Great Qing", etc. Until the 19th century, when the globalizing world began to require a common legal language, there was no need for a fixed or unique name.
As early as the Spring and Autumn period, Zhongguo could be understood as either the domain of the capital or used to refer to the Chinese civilization zhūxià (諸夏; 'the various Xia') or zhūhuá (諸華; 'various Hua'), and the political and geographical domain that contained it, but Tianxia was the more common word for this idea. This developed into the usage of the Warring States period, when, other than the cultural community, it could be the geopolitical area of Chinese civilization as well, equivalent to Jiuzhou. In a more limited sense, it could also refer to the Central Plain or the states of Zhao, Wei, and Han, etc., geographically central among the Warring States. Although Zhongguo could be used before the Song dynasty period to mean the trans-dynastic Chinese culture or civilization to which Chinese people belonged, it was in the Song dynasty that writers used Zhongguo as a term to describe the trans-dynastic entity with different dynastic names over time but having a set territory and defined by common ancestry, culture, and language.
The term Zhongguo was used differently in every period. It could refer to the capital of the emperor to distinguish it from the capitals of his vassals, as in Western Zhou. It could refer to the states of the Central Plain to distinguish them from states in the outer regions. The Shi Jing defines Zhongguo as the capital region, setting it in opposition to the capital city. During the Han dynasty, three usages of Zhongguo were common. The Records of the Grand Historian use Zhongguo to denote the capital and also use the concepts zhong ("center, central") and zhongguo to indicate the center of civilization: "There are eight famous mountains in the world: three in Man and Yi (the barbarian wilds), five in Zhōngguó." (天下名山八，而三在蠻夷，五在中國。) In this sense, the term Zhongguo is synonymous with Huáxià (华夏; 華夏) and Zhōnghuá (中华; 中華), names of China that were first authentically attested in the Warring States period and Eastern Jin period, respectively.
From the Qin to the Ming dynasty, literati discussed Zhongguo as both a historical place or territory and as a culture. Writers of the Ming period in particular used the term as a political tool to express opposition to expansionist policies that incorporated foreigners into the empire. In contrast, foreign conquerors typically avoided discussions of Zhongguo and instead defined membership in their empires to include both Han and non-Han peoples.
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Names of China
China has many contemporary and historical designations given in various languages for the East Asian country known as 中国; 中國; Zhōngguó ('Central State' or 'Middle Kingdom') in Standard Chinese, a form based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin.
The English name "China" was borrowed from Portuguese during the 16th century, and its direct cognates became common in the subsequent centuries in the West. It is believed to be a borrowing from Middle Persian, and some have traced it further back to the Sanskrit word चीन (cīna) for the nation. It is also thought that the ultimate source of the name China is the Chinese word Qín (秦), the name of the Qin dynasty that ultimately unified China after existing as a state within the Zhou dynasty for many centuries prior. However, there are alternative suggestions for the etymology of this word.
Chinese names for China, aside from Zhongguo, include Zhōnghuá (中华; 中華; 'central beauty'), Huáxià (华夏; 華夏; 'beautiful grandness'), Shénzhōu (神州; 'divine state') and Jiǔzhōu (九州; 'nine states'). While official notions of Chinese nationality do not make any particular reference to ethnicity, common names for the largest ethnic group in China are Hàn (汉; 漢) and Táng (唐). The People's Republic of China (Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó) and the Republic of China (Zhōnghuá Mínguó) are the official names of the two governments presently claiming sovereignty over "China". The term "mainland China" refers to areas under the PRC's jurisdiction, either including or excluding Hong Kong and Macau.
There are also names for China used around the world that are derived from the languages of ethnic groups other than Han Chinese: examples include "Cathay" from the Khitan language, and Tabgach from Tuoba. The realm ruled by the Emperor of China is also referred to as Chinese Empire.
Zhōngguó (中國) is the most common Chinese name for China in modern times. The earliest appearance of this two-character term is on the He zun, a bronze vessel dating to 1038–c. 1000 BCE, during the early Western Zhou period. The phrase "zhong guo" came into common usage in the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), when it referred to the "Central States", the states of the Yellow River Valley of the Zhou era, as distinguished from the tribal periphery. In later periods, however, Zhongguo was not used in this sense. Dynastic names were used for the state in Imperial China, and concepts of the state aside from the ruling dynasty were little understood. Rather, the country was called by the name of the dynasty, such as "Han", "Tang", "Great Ming", "Great Qing", etc. Until the 19th century, when the globalizing world began to require a common legal language, there was no need for a fixed or unique name.
As early as the Spring and Autumn period, Zhongguo could be understood as either the domain of the capital or used to refer to the Chinese civilization zhūxià (諸夏; 'the various Xia') or zhūhuá (諸華; 'various Hua'), and the political and geographical domain that contained it, but Tianxia was the more common word for this idea. This developed into the usage of the Warring States period, when, other than the cultural community, it could be the geopolitical area of Chinese civilization as well, equivalent to Jiuzhou. In a more limited sense, it could also refer to the Central Plain or the states of Zhao, Wei, and Han, etc., geographically central among the Warring States. Although Zhongguo could be used before the Song dynasty period to mean the trans-dynastic Chinese culture or civilization to which Chinese people belonged, it was in the Song dynasty that writers used Zhongguo as a term to describe the trans-dynastic entity with different dynastic names over time but having a set territory and defined by common ancestry, culture, and language.
The term Zhongguo was used differently in every period. It could refer to the capital of the emperor to distinguish it from the capitals of his vassals, as in Western Zhou. It could refer to the states of the Central Plain to distinguish them from states in the outer regions. The Shi Jing defines Zhongguo as the capital region, setting it in opposition to the capital city. During the Han dynasty, three usages of Zhongguo were common. The Records of the Grand Historian use Zhongguo to denote the capital and also use the concepts zhong ("center, central") and zhongguo to indicate the center of civilization: "There are eight famous mountains in the world: three in Man and Yi (the barbarian wilds), five in Zhōngguó." (天下名山八，而三在蠻夷，五在中國。) In this sense, the term Zhongguo is synonymous with Huáxià (华夏; 華夏) and Zhōnghuá (中华; 中華), names of China that were first authentically attested in the Warring States period and Eastern Jin period, respectively.
From the Qin to the Ming dynasty, literati discussed Zhongguo as both a historical place or territory and as a culture. Writers of the Ming period in particular used the term as a political tool to express opposition to expansionist policies that incorporated foreigners into the empire. In contrast, foreign conquerors typically avoided discussions of Zhongguo and instead defined membership in their empires to include both Han and non-Han peoples.