Names of China
Template:Short description Template:Infobox Chinese Template:Names of China
The names of China include the many contemporary and historical designations given in various languages for the East Asian country known as Template:Lang-zh 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.Template:Sfn It is believed to be a borrowing from Middle Persian, and some have traced it further back to the Sanskrit word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Transliteration) for the nation. It is also thought that the ultimate source of the name China is the Chinese word Template:Zhi, 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 Template:Transliteration, include Template:Zhi, Template:Zhi, Template:Zhi and Template:Zhi. While official notions of Chinese nationality do not make any particular reference to ethnicity, common names for the largest ethnic group in China are Template:Zhi and Template:Zhi. The People's Republic of China (Template:Zhi) and the Republic of China (Template:Zhi) 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 Template:Transliteration from Tuoba. The realm ruled by the Emperor of China is also referred to as Chinese Empire.
Sinitic namesEdit
ZhongguoEdit
Pre-QingEdit
Template:Zhi 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–Template:Circa, during the early Western Zhou period. The phrase "Template:Transliteration" 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.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref> In later periods, however, Template:Transliteration 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.Template:Sfn 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.<ref name="Zarrow ">Template:Cite book, p. 93-94 Template:Webarchive.</ref>
As early as the Spring and Autumn period, Template:Transliteration could be understood as either the domain of the capital or used to refer to the Chinese civilization Template:Zhi<ref>Zuo Zhuan "Duke Min – 1st year – zhuan Template:Webarchive" quote: "諸夏親暱不可棄也" translation: "The various Xia are close intimates and can not be abandoned"</ref><ref>Du Yu, Chunqiu Zuozhuan – Collected Explanations, "Vol. 4" p. 136 of 186 Template:Webarchive. quote: "諸夏中國也"</ref> or Template:Zhi,<ref>Zuozhuan "Duke Xiang – 4th year – zhuan Template:Webarchive" quote: "諸華必叛" translation: "The various Hua would surely revolt"</ref><ref>Du Yu, Chunqiu Zuozhuan – Collected Explanations, "Vol. 15". p. 102 of 162 Template:Webarchive quote: "諸華中國"</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Although Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The term Template:Transliteration 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 Template:Transliteration as the capital region, setting it in opposition to the capital city.<ref>Classic of Poetry, "Major Hymns – Min Lu Template:Webarchive" quote: Template:Zhi " Legge's translation: "Let us cherish this center of the kingdom, to secure the repose of the four quarters of it. [...] Let us cherish this capital, to secure the repose of the States in the four quarters."</ref><ref>Zhu Xi (publisher, 1100s), Collected Commentaries on the Classic of Poetry (詩經集傳) "Juan A (卷阿)" Template:Webarchive p. 68 of 198 Template:Webarchive quote: "中國，京師也。四方，諸夏也。京師，諸夏之根本也。" translation: "The center of the kingdom means the capital. The 'four quarters' refer to the Huaxia. The capital is the root of the various Xia."</ref> During the Han dynasty, three usages of Template:Transliteration were common. The Records of the Grand Historian use Zhongguo to denote the capital<ref>Shiji, "Annals of the Five Emperors" Template:Webarchive quote: "舜曰：「天也」，夫而後之中國踐天子位焉，是為帝舜。" translation: "Shun said, 'It is from Heaven.' Afterwards he went to the capital, sat on the Imperial throne, and was styled Emperor Shun."</ref><ref>Pei Yin, Records of the Grand Historian – Collected Explanation Vol. 1 "劉熈曰……帝王所都為中故曰中國" translation: "Liu Xi said: [...] Wherever emperors and kings established their capitals is taken as the center; hence the appellation the central region"</ref> and also use the concepts Template:Transliteration ("center, central") and Template:Transliteration to indicate the center of civilization: "There are eight famous mountains in the world: three in Man and Yi (the barbarian wilds), five in Template:Transliteration." ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})<ref>Shiji, "Annals of Emperor Xiaowu" Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Shiji "Treatise about the Feng Shan sacrifices" Template:Webarchive</ref> In this sense, the term Template:Transliteration is synonymous with Template:Zhi and Template:Zhi, names of China that were first authentically attested in the Warring States period<ref>Zuo zhuan, "Duke Xiang, year 26, zhuan" Template:Webarchive text: "楚失華夏．" translation: "Chu lost (the political allegiance of / the political influence over) the flourishing and grand (states)."</ref> and Eastern Jin period,<ref>Huan Wen (347 CE). "Memorial Recommending Qiao Yuanyan" (薦譙元彥表), quoted in Sun Sheng's Annals of Jin (晉陽秋) (now-lost), quoted in Pei Songzhi's annotations to Chen Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms, "Biography of Qiao Xiu" Template:Webarchive quote: "於時皇極遘道消之會，群黎蹈顛沛之艱，中華有顧瞻之哀，幽谷無遷喬之望。"</ref><ref>Farmer, J. Michael (2017) "Sanguo Zhi Fascicle 42: The Biography of Qiao Zhou", Early Medieval China, 23, 22-41, p. 39. quote: "At this time, the imperial court has encountered a time of decline in the Way, the peasants have been trampled down by oppressive hardships, Zhonghua has the anguish of looking backward [toward the former capital at Luoyang], and the dark valley has no hope of moving upward." DOI: 10.1080/15299104.2017.1379725</ref> respectively.
From the Qin to the Ming dynasty, literati discussed Template:Transliteration 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.<ref>Jiang 2011, p. 103.</ref> In contrast, foreign conquerors typically avoided discussions of Template:Transliteration and instead defined membership in their empires to include both Han and non-Han peoples.<ref>Peter K Bol, "Geography and Culture: Middle-Period Discourse on the Zhong Guo: The Central Country," (2009), 1, 26.</ref>
QingEdit
Template:Transliteration appeared in a formal international legal document for the first time during the Qing dynasty in the Treaty of Nerchinsk, 1689. The term was then used in communications with other states and in treaties. The Manchu rulers incorporated Inner Asian polities into their empire, and Wei Yuan, a statecraft scholar, distinguished the new territories from Template:Transliteration, which he defined as the 17 provinces of "China proper" plus the Manchu homelands in the Northeast. By the late 19th century, the term had emerged as a common name for the whole country. The empire was sometimes referred to as Great Qing but increasingly as Template:Transliteration.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref>
Template:Transliteration is the Manchu name for China, with "Dulimbai" meaning "central" or "middle" and "Gurun" meaning "nation" or "state".<ref>Hauer 2007 Template:Webarchive, p. 117.</ref><ref>Dvořák 1895 Template:Webarchive, p. 80.</ref><ref>Wu 1995 Template:Webarchive, p. 102.</ref> The historian Zhao Gang writes that "not long after the collapse of the Ming, China became the equivalent of Great Qing (Template:Transliteration)—another official title of the Qing state," and "Qing and China became interchangeable official titles, and the latter often appeared as a substitute for the former in official documents."Template:Sfnb The Qing dynasty referred to their realm as "Dulimbai Gurun" in Manchu. The Qing equated the lands of the Qing realm (including present-day Manchuria, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Tibet, and other areas) with "China" in both the Chinese and Manchu languages, defining China as a multi-ethnic state, rejecting the idea that China only meant Han areas; both Han and non-Han peoples were part of "China". Officials used "China" (though not exclusively) in official documents, international treaties, and foreign affairs, and the "Chinese language" Template:Transliteration referred to Chinese, Manchu, and Mongol languages, and the term "Chinese people" (Template:Zhi; Template:Transliteration) referred to all Han, Manchus, and Mongol subjects of the Qing.Template:Sfnb Ming loyalist Han literati held to defining the old Ming borders as China and using "foreigner" to describe minorities under Qing rule such as the Mongols and Tibetans, as part of their anti-Qing ideology.<ref>Mosca 2011 Template:Webarchive, p. 94.</ref>
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When the Qing conquered Dzungaria in 1759, they proclaimed that the new land was absorbed into Template:Transliteration in a Manchu language memorial.<ref>Dunnell 2004 Template:Webarchive, p. 77.</ref><ref>Dunnell 2004 Template:Webarchive, p. 83.</ref><ref>Elliott 2001 Template:Webarchive, p. 503.</ref> The Qing expounded on their ideology that they were bringing together the "outer" non-Han Chinese, like the Tibetans, Inner, Eastern, and Oirat Mongols, together with the "inner" Han Chinese, into "one family", united in the Qing state, showing that the diverse subjects of the Qing were all part of one family. The Qing used the phrase "Template:Lang-zh" (Template:Lang-zh) or "Template:Lang-zh" (Template:Lang-zh), to convey this idea of "unification" of the different peoples.<ref>Dunnell 2004 Template:Webarchive, pp. 76-77.</ref> A Manchu-language version of a treaty with the Russian Empire concerning criminal jurisdiction over bandits called people from the Qing "people of the Central Kingdom (Template:Transliteration)".<ref>Cassel 2011 Template:Webarchive, p. 205.</ref><ref>Cassel 2012 Template:Webarchive, p. 205.</ref><ref>Cassel 2011 Template:Webarchive, p. 44.</ref><ref>Cassel 2012 Template:Webarchive, p. 44.</ref> In the Manchu official Tulisen's Manchu language account of his meeting with the Torghut Mongol leader Ayuki Khan, it was mentioned that while the Torghuts were unlike the Russians, the "people of the Central Kingdom" (Template:Transliteration/Template:Lang-zh) were like the Torghut Mongols, and the "people of the Central Kingdom" referred to the Manchus.<ref>Perdue 2009 Template:Webarchive, p. 218.</ref>
The geography textbooks published in the late Qing period gave detailed descriptions of China's regional position and territorial space. They generally emphasized that China was a large country in Asia but not the center of the world. For example, the "Elementary Chinese Geography Textbook" (Template:Zhi) published in 1905 described the boundaries of China's territory and neighboring countries as follows: "The western border of China is located in the center of Asia, bordering the (overseas) territories of Britain and Russia. The terrain is humped, like a hat. So all mountains and rivers originate from here. To the east, it faces Japan across the East China Sea. To the south, it is adjacent to the South China Sea, and borders French Annam and British Burma. To the southwest, it is separated from British India by mountains. From the west to the north and the northeast, the three sides of China are all Russian territories. Only the southern border of the northeast is connected to Korea across the Yalu River." It further stated that "There are about a dozen countries in Asia, but only China has a vast territory, a prosperous population, and dominates East Asia. It is a great and world-famous country."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Qing enacted the first Chinese nationality law in 1909, which defined a Chinese national (Template:Lang-zh) as any person born to a Chinese father. Children born to a Chinese mother inherited her nationality only if the father was stateless or had unknown nationality status.<ref name="Shao5">Template:Cite journal</ref> These regulations were enacted in response to a 1907 statute passed in The Netherlands that retroactively treated all Chinese born in the Dutch East Indies as Dutch citizens. Jus sanguinis was chosen to define Chinese nationality so that the Qing could counter foreign claims on overseas Chinese populations and maintain the perpetual allegiance of its subjects living abroad through paternal lineage.<ref name="Shao5" /> A Chinese word called Template:Transliteration (Template:Zhi), which means "bloodline" as a literal translation, is used to explain the descent relationship that would characterize someone as being of Chinese descent and therefore eligible under the Qing laws and beyond, for Chinese citizenship.<ref name=Claytonp108>Template:Cite book</ref>
Mark Elliott noted that it was under the Qing that "China" transformed into a definition of referring to lands where the "state claimed sovereignty" rather than only the Central Plains area and its people by the end of the 18th century.<ref>Elliot 2000 Template:Webarchive, p. 638.</ref>
Elena Barabantseva also noted that the Manchu referred to all subjects of the Qing empire regardless of ethnicity as "Chinese" (Template:Zhi), and used the term (Template:Zhi) as a synonym for the entire Qing empire while using Template:Transliteration (Template:Zhi) to refer only to the core area of the empire, with the entire empire viewed as multiethnic.<ref>Barabantseva 2010, p. 20.</ref>
William T. Rowe wrote that the name "China" (Template:Zhi) was apparently understood to refer to the political realm of the Han Chinese during the Ming dynasty, that this understanding persisted among the Han Chinese into the early Qing dynasty, and that the understanding was also shared by Aisin Gioro rulers before the Ming–Qing transition. The Qing, however, "came to refer to their more expansive empire not only as the Great Qing but also, nearly interchangeably, as China" within a few decades of this development. Instead of the earlier (Ming) idea of an ethnic Han Chinese state, this new Qing China was a "self-consciously multi-ethnic state". Han Chinese scholars had some time to adapt this, but by the 19th century, the notion of China as a multinational state with new, significantly extended borders had become the standard terminology for Han Chinese writers. Rowe noted that "these were the origins of the China we know today.". He added that while the early Qing rulers viewed themselves as multi-hatted emperors who ruled several nationalities "separately but simultaneously", by the mid-19th century, the Qing Empire had become part of a European-style community of sovereign states and entered into a series of treaties with the West, and such treaties and documents consistently referred to Qing rulers as the "Emperor of China" and his administration as the "Government of China".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Joseph W. Esherick noted that while the Qing Emperors governed frontier non-Han areas in a different, separate system under the Lifanyuan and kept them separate from Han areas and administration, it was the Manchu Qing Emperors who expanded the definition of Template:Transliteration and made it "flexible" by using that term to refer to the entire Empire and using that term to other countries in diplomatic correspondence, while some Han Chinese subjects criticized their usage of the term and the Han literati Wei Yuan used Template:Transliteration only to refer to the seventeen provinces of China and three manchurian provinces of the east, excluding other frontier areas.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref> Due to the Qing usage of treaties clarifying the international borders of the Qing state, they were able to inculcate in the Chinese people a sense that China included areas such as Mongolia and Tibet by education reforms in geography, which made it clear where the borders of the Qing state were, even if the populace didn't understand how the Chinese identity included Tibetans and Mongolians or what the connotations of being Chinese were.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref> The English version of the 1842 Treaty of Nanking refers to "His Majesty the Emperor of China" while the Chinese refers both to "The Great Qing Emperor" (Template:Transliteration) and to Template:Transliteration as well. The 1858 Treaty of Tientsin contains similar language.<ref name="Zarrow" />
In the late 19th century, the reformer Liang Qichao argued in a famous passage that "our greatest shame is that our country has no name. The names that people ordinarily think of, such as Xia, Han, or Tang, are all the titles of bygone dynasties." He argued that the other countries of the world "all boast of their own state names, such as England and France, the only exception being the Central States",<ref>Liang quoted in Template:Harvp, from Liang Qichao, "Zhongguo shi xulun" Yinbinshi heji 6:3 and in Lydia He Liu, The Clash of Empires: The Invention of China in Modern World Making (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004), pp. 77–78.</ref> and that the concept of Template:Transliteration had to be abandoned in favor of Template:Transliteration, that is, "nation", for which he accepted the term Template:Transliteration.<ref>Henrietta Harrison. China (London: Arnold; New York: Oxford University Press; Inventing the Nation Series, 2001. Template:ISBN), pp. 103–104.</ref> On the other hand, American Protestant missionary John Livingstone Nevius, who had been in China for 40 years, wrote in his 1868 book that the most common name which the Chinese used in speaking of their country was Template:Transliteration, followed by Template:Transliteration (中華國) and other names such as Template:Transliteration (天朝) and the particular title of the reigning dynasty.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="zhongguoname">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Also, the Chinese geography textbook published in 1907 stated that "Chinese citizens call their country Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration", and noted that China (Template:Transliteration) was one of the few independent monarchical countries in the whole Asia at that time, along with countries like Japan.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Japanese term "Shina" was once proposed by some as a basically neutral Western-influenced equivalent for "China". But after the founding of the Republic of China in 1912, Template:Transliteration was also adopted as the abbreviation of Template:Transliteration,<ref>Endymion Wilkinson, Chinese History: A Manual (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Rev. and enl., 2000 Template:ISBN ), 132.</ref> and most Chinese considered Template:Transliteration foreign and demanded that even the Japanese replace it with Template:Transliteration, or simply Template:Transliteration.<ref>Douglas R. Reynolds. China, 1898–1912: The Xinzheng Revolution and Japan. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press 1993 Template:ISBN), pp. 215–16 n. 20.</ref>
Before the signing of the Sino-Japanese Friendship and Trade Treaty in 1871, the first treaty between Qing China and the Empire of Japan, Japanese representatives once raised objections to China's use of the term Template:Transliteration in the treaty, partly in response to China's earlier objections for the term Template:Transliteration or Emperor of Japan to be used in the treaty, declaring that the term Template:Transliteration was "meant to compare with the frontier areas of the country" and insisted that only "Great Qing" be used for the Qing in the Chinese version of the treaty. However, this was firmly rejected by the Qing representatives: "Our country China has been called Template:Transliteration for a long time since ancient times. We have signed treaties with various countries, and while Great Qing did appear in the first lines of such treaties, in the body of the treaties Zhongguo was always being used. There has never been a precedent for changing the country name" (我中華之稱中國，自上古迄今，由來已久。即與各國立約，首書寫大清國字樣，其條款內皆稱中國，從無寫改國號之例). The Chinese representatives believed that Template:Transliteration as a country name equivalent to "Great Qing" could naturally be used internationally, which could not be changed. In the end, both sides agreed that while in the first lines "Great Qing" would be used, whether the Chinese text in the body of the treaty would use the term Template:Transliteration in the same manner as "Great Qing" would be up to China's discretion.<ref name="zhongguoname" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Qing official Zhang Deyi once objected to the western European name "China" and said that China referred to itself as Template:Transliteration.<ref name="LIULiu2009">Template:Cite book</ref> However, the Qing established legations and consulates known as the "Chinese Legation", "Imperial Consulate of China", "Imperial Chinese Consulate (General)" or similar names in various countries with diplomatic relations, such as the United Kingdom and United States. Both English and Chinese terms, such as "China" and "Template:Transliteration", were frequently used by Qing legations and consulates there to refer to the Qing state during their diplomatic correspondences with foreign states.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Moreover, the English name "China" was also used domestically by the Qing, such as in its officially released stamps since Qing set up a modern postal system in 1878. The postage stamps (known as Template:Zhi in Chinese) had a design of a large dragon in the centre, surrounded by a boxed frame with a bilingual inscription of "CHINA" (corresponding to the Great Qing Empire in Chinese) and the local denomination "CANDARINS".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
During the late Qing dynasty, various textbooks with the name "Chinese history" (中國歷史) had emerged by the early 20th century. For example, the late Qing textbook "Chinese History of the Present Dynasty" published in 1910 stated that "the history of our present dynasty is part of the history of China, that is, the most recent history in its whole history. China was founded as a country 5,000 years ago and has the longest history in the world. And its culture is the best among all the Eastern countries since ancient times. Its territory covers about 90% of East Asia, and its rise and fall can affect the general trend of the countries in Asia...".<ref name="zhongguoname" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After the May Fourth Movement in 1919, educated students began to spread the concept of Template:Transliteration, which represented the people, including 55 minority ethnic groups and the Han Chinese, with a single culture identifying themselves as "Chinese". The Republic of China and the People's Republic of China both used Template:Transliteration in their official names. Thus, Template:Transliteration became the common name for both governments and Template:Zhi for their citizens. Overseas Chinese are referred to as Template:Zhi, or Template:Zhi, i.e. Chinese children born overseas.
Middle KingdomEdit
The English translation of Template:Transliteration as the "Middle Kingdom" entered European languages through the Portuguese in the 16th century and became popular in the mid-19th century. By the mid-20th century, the term was thoroughly entrenched in the English language, reflecting the Western view of China as the inward-looking Middle Kingdom, or more accurately, the "Central Kingdom" or "Central State". Endymion Wilkinson points out that the Chinese were not unique in thinking of their country as central, although China was the only culture to use the concept for its name.<ref>Wilkinson, p. 132.</ref> However, the term Template:Transliteration was not initially used as a name for China. It did not have the same meaning throughout the course of history, (see above).Template:Sfn
During the 19th century, China was alternatively, although less commonly, referred to in the west as the "Middle Flowery Kingdom",<ref>Man and the universe. Japan. Siberia. China, p710</ref> "Central Flowery Kingdom",<ref>Mission Stories of Many Lands, A Book for Young People, p174</ref> or "Central Flowery State",<ref>Mesny's Chinese Miscellany, Volume 2, p3</ref> translated from Template:Transliteration (中華國; 中华国),<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> or simply the "Flowery Kingdom",<ref>New England Stamp Monthly, Volumes 1-2, p67</ref> translated from Template:Transliteration (華國; 华国).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> However, some have since argued that such a translation (fairly commonly seen at that time) was perhaps caused by misunderstanding the Template:Transliteration (華; 华) that means "China" (or "magnificent, splendid") for the Template:Transliteration (花) that means "flower".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
HuaxiaEdit
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The name Template:Zhi is generally used as a sobriquet in Chinese text. Under traditional interpretations, it is the combination of two words that originally referred to the elegance of traditional Han attire and the Confucian concept of rites.
- Template:Transliteration, which means "flowery beauty" (i.e., having beauty of dress and personal adornment Template:Zhi).
- Template:Transliteration, which means greatness or grandeur (i.e., having greatness in social customs, courtesy, polite manners and rites/ceremony Template:Zhi).<ref>Template:Zhi</ref>
In the original sense, Template:Transliteration refers to a confederation of tribes—living along the Yellow River—who were the ancestors of what later became the Han ethnic group in China.Template:Citation needed During the Warring States (475–221 BCE), the self-awareness of the Template:Transliteration identity developed and took hold in ancient China.
Zhonghua minzuEdit
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Template:Transliteration is a term meaning "Chinese nation" in the sense of a multi-ethnic national identity. Though originally rejected by the PRCTemplate:Citation needed, it has been used officially since the 1980s for nationalist politics.
Tianchao and TianxiaEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; Template:Lang-zh), translated as 'heavenly dynasty' or 'Celestial Empire',<ref name="tianchao">Template:Cite book</ref> and Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; Template:Lang-zh) translated as 'All under heaven', have both been used to refer to China. These terms were usually used in the context of civil wars or periods of division, with the term Template:Transliteration evoking the idea that the realm's ruling dynasty was appointed by heaven,<ref name=tianchao /> or that whoever ends up reunifying China is said to have ruled Template:Transliteration, or everything under heaven. This fits with the traditional Chinese theory of rulership, in which the emperor was nominally the political leader of the entire world and not merely the leader of a nation-state within the world. Historically, the term was connected to the later Zhou dynasty (Template:BCE), especially the Spring and Autumn period (eighth to fourth century BCE) and the Warring States period (from there to 221 BCE, when China was reunified by Qin). The phrase Template:Transliteration continues to see use on Chinese internet discussion boards, in reference to China.<ref name=tianchao />
The phrase Template:Transliteration was first translated into English and French in the early 19th century, appearing in foreign publications and diplomatic correspondences,<ref name=mailt>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with the translated phrase "Celestial Empire" occasionally used to refer to China. During this period, the term celestial was used by some to refer to the subjects of the Qing in a non-prejudicial manner,<ref name=mailt /> derived from the term "Celestial Empire". However, the term celestial was also used in a pejorative manner during the 19th century, in reference to Chinese immigrants in Australasia and North America.<ref name=mailt /> The translated phrase has largely fallen into disuse in the 20th century.
Jiangshan and ShanheEdit
The two names Template:Zhi and Template:Zhi, both literally 'rivers and mountains', quite similar in usage to Template:Transliteration, simply referring to the entire world, the most prominent features of which being rivers and mountains. The use of this term is also common as part of the idiom Template:Zhi, in a suggestion of the need to implement good governance.
JiuzhouEdit
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The name Template:Zhi means 'nine provinces'. Widely used in pre-modern Chinese text, the word originated during the middle of the Warring States period. During that time, the Yellow River region was divided into nine geographical regions. Some people also attribute this word to the mythical hero and king Yu the Great, who, in the legend, divided China into nine provinces during his reign.
HanEdit
The name Template:Transliteration (Template:Zhi) derives from the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220), which presided over China's first "golden age".. The Han dynasty collapsed in 220 and was followed by a long period of disorder, including the Three Kingdoms, Sixteen Kingdoms, and Southern and Northern dynasties. During these periods, various non-Han ethnic groups established various dynasties in northern China. People began to use the term Template:Transliteration to refer to the natives of North China, who, unlike the minorities, were the descendants of the subjects of the Han dynasty.
During the Yuan dynasty, subjects of the empire were divided into four classes: Mongols, Semu, Han, and "Southerners". Northern Chinese were called Template:Transliteration, which was considered to be the highest class of Chinese. This class, Template:Transliteration, includes all ethnic groups in northern China, including Khitan and Jurchen who have, for the most part, sinicized during the last two hundreds years. The name Template:Transliteration became popularly accepted during this time.
During the Qing, the Manchu rulers also used the name Template:Transliteration to distinguish the natives of the Central Plains from the Manchus. After the fall of the Qing government, the Han became the name of a nationality within China. Today, the term "Han persons", often rendered in English as "Han Chinese", is used by the People's Republic of China to refer to the most populous of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China.
TangEdit
The name Template:Transliteration (Template:Zhi) comes from the Tang dynasty (618–907) that presided over China's second golden age. It was during the Tang dynasty that South China was finally and fully sinicized. Template:Transliteration would become synonymous with China in Southern China, and it is usually Southern Chinese who refer to themselves as "People of Tang" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Template:Lang-zh).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> For example, the sinicization and rapid development of Guangdong during the Tang period would lead the Cantonese to refer to themselves as Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) in Cantonese, while China is called Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; Template:Lang-zh).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Chinatowns worldwide, often dominated by Southern Chinese, also became referred to as Tang People's Street ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Cantonese: Tong-yan-gaai; Template:Lang-zh). The Cantonese term Template:Transliteration (Tang mountain) is recorded in Old Malay as one of the local terms for China, along with the Sanskrit-derived Template:Transliteration. It is still used in Malaysia today, usually in a derogatory sense.
Among Taiwanese, Tang mountain (Min-Nan: Template:Transliteration) has been used, for example, in the saying, "has Tangshan father, no Tangshan mother" (Template:Lang-zh; Template:Lang-zh).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Holodict</ref> This refers to how the Han people crossing the Taiwan Strait in the 17th and 18th centuries were mostly men, and that many of their offspring would be through intermarriage with Taiwanese aborigine women.
In Ryukyuan, karate was originally called Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, hand) or Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Tang hand) because {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) was a common Ryukyuan name for China; it was changed to Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, open hand) to appeal to Japanese people after the First Sino-Japanese War.
Zhu Yu, who wrote during the Northern Song dynasty, noted that the name "Han" was first used by the northwestern 'barbarians' to refer to China, while the name "Tang" was first used by the southeastern 'barbarians' to refer to China, and these terms subsequently influenced the local Chinese terminology.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> During the Mongol invasions of Japan, the Japanese distinguished between the "Han" of northern China, who, like the Mongols and Koreans, were not to be taken prisoner, and the Newly Submitted Army of southern China, whom they called "Tang", who would be enslaved instead.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Dalu and NeidiEdit
Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; Template:Lang-zh), literally "big continent" or "mainland" in this context, is used as a short form of Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, mainland China), excluding (depending on the context) Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan. This term is used in official contexts on both the mainland and Taiwan when referring to the mainland as opposed to Taiwan. In certain contexts, it is equivalent to the term Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; Template:Lang-zh, literally "the inner land"). While Template:Transliteration generally refers to the interior as opposed to a particular coastal or border location, or the coastal or border regions generally, it is used in Hong Kong specifically to mean mainland China, excluding Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Template:Citation needed span, for example, in reference to the separate judicial and customs jurisdictions of mainland China on the one hand and Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan on the other.
The term Template:Transliteration is also often used in Xinjiang and Tibet to distinguish the eastern provinces of China from the minority-populated, autonomous regions of the west.
Official namesEdit
People's Republic of ChinaEdit
The name New China has been frequently applied to China by the Chinese Communist Party as a positive political and social term contrasting pre-1949 China (the establishment of the PRC) and the new name of the socialist state, Template:Transliteration (in the older postal romanization, Template:Transliteration), or the "People's Republic of China" in English, which was adapted from the CCP's short-lived Chinese Soviet Republic in 1931. This term is also sometimes used by writers outside of mainland China. The PRC was known to many in the West during the Cold War as "Communist China" or "Red China" to distinguish it from the Republic of China which is commonly called "Taiwan", "Nationalist China", or "Free China". In some contexts, particularly in economics, trade, and sports, "China" is often used to refer to mainland China to the exclusion of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Republic of ChinaEdit
In 1912, China adopted its official name, Template:Transliteration (rendered in pinyin Template:Transliteration) or in English as the "Republic of China", which has also sometimes been referred to as "Republican China" or the "Republican Era" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), in contrast to the Qing dynasty it replaced, or as "Nationalist China", after the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang). {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Transliteration) is a term that pertains to "China", while {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Transliteration), literally "People's State" or "Peopledom", stands for "republic".<ref>{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}</ref><ref>Wilkinson. Chinese History: A Manual. p. 32.</ref> The name stems from the party manifesto of Tongmenghui in 1905, which says the four goals of the Chinese revolution were "to expel the Manchu rulers, to revive Template:Transliteration, to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people. The convener of Tongmenghui and Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen proposed the name Template:Transliteration as the assumed name of the new country when the revolution succeeded.
Since the separation from mainland China in 1949 as a result of the Chinese Civil War, the territory of the Republic of China has largely been confined to the island of Taiwan and some other small islands. Thus, the country is often simply referred to as simply "Taiwan", although this may not be perceived as politically neutral. Amid the hostile rhetoric of the Cold War, the government and its supporters sometimes referred to themselves as "Free China" or "Liberal China", in contrast to the People's Republic of China, which was historically called the "Bandit-occupied Area" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) by the ROC. In addition, the ROC, due to pressure from the PRC, uses the name "Chinese Taipei" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) whenever it participates in international forums or most sporting events such as the Olympic Games.
Taiwanese politician Mei Feng had criticised the official English name of the state, "Republic of China", for failing to translate the Chinese character Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang-zh; English: people) according to Sun Yat-sen's original interpretations. According to him, the name should instead be translated as "the People's Republic of China", which confuses with the current official name of China under communist control.<ref>Mei Feng. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}2014-07-12</ref> To avoid confusion, the DPP administration under Chen Shui-ban began to add "Taiwan" next to the nation's official name in 2005.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Names in non-Sinic recordsEdit
Names used in other parts of Asia, especially East and Southeast Asia, are usually derived directly from words in one of the languages of China. Those languages belonging to a former tributary or Chinese-influenced country have an especially similar pronunciation to that of Chinese. Those used in Indo-European languages, however, have indirect names that came via other routes and may bear little resemblance to what is used in China.
ChinaEdit
English, most Indo-European languages, and many others use various forms of the name China and the prefix "Sino-" or "Sin-" from the Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.<ref>The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed (AHD4). Boston and New York, Houghton-Mifflin, 2000, entries china, Qin, Sino-.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Europeans had knowledge of a country known in Greek as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} from the early period;<ref name="yule" /> the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea from perhaps the first century AD recorded a country known as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (θίν).<ref name="middle kingdom">Template:Cite book</ref> The English name "China" itself is derived from Middle Persian ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Linktext). The modern word was first used in Europe by Portuguese explorers of the 16th century – it was first recorded in 1516 in the journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa.<ref>"China". Oxford English Dictionary (1989). Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book In the Portuguese original Template:Webarchive, the chapter is titled "O Grande Reino da China".</ref> The journal was translated and published in England in 1555.<ref>Eden, Richard (1555). Decades of the New World: "The great China whose kyng is thought the greatest prince in the world."
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The traditional etymology, proposed in the 17th century by Martin Martini and supported by later scholars such as Paul Pelliot and Berthold Laufer, is that the word "China" and its related terms are ultimately derived from the polity known as Qin that unified China to form the Qin dynasty (Old Chinese: *dzin) in the 3rd century BC, but existed as a state on the furthest west of China since the 9th century BC.<ref name=yule>Template:Harvp "There are reasons however for believing the word Template:Font was bestowed at a much earlier date, for it occurs in the Laws of Manu, which assert the Chinas to be degenerate Kshatriyas, and the Mahabharat, compositions many centuries older that imperial dynasty of Template:Font ... And this name may have yet possibly been connected with the Ts'in, or some monarchy of the like title; for that Dynasty had reigned locally in Shen si from the ninth century before our era..."</ref><ref name="Wade">Template:Harvp</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This is still the most commonly held theory, although the etymology is still a matter of debate according to the Oxford English Dictionary,<ref name=OED>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:ISBN</ref> and many other suggestions have been mooted.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref><ref name="wade13">Template:Harvp</ref>
The existence of the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in ancient Indian texts was noted by the Sanskrit scholar Hermann Jacobi who pointed out its use in the Book 2 of Arthashastra with reference to silk and woven cloth produced by the country of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, although textual analysis suggests that Book 2 may not have been written long before 150 AD.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The word is also found in other Sanskrit texts such as the Mahābhārata and the Laws of Manu.<ref name=wade>Template:Harvp</ref> The Indologist Patrick Olivelle argued that the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} may not have been known in India before the first century BC, nevertheless he agreed that it probably referred to Qin but thought that the word itself was derived from a Central Asian language.<ref name="Liu">Liu, Lydia He, The clash of empires, p. 77. Template:ISBN. "Scholars have dated the earliest mentions of Cīna to the Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata and to other Sanskrit sources such as the Hindu Laws of Manu."</ref> Some Chinese and Indian scholars argued for the state of Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, another name for Chu) as the likely origin of the name.<ref name="wade13" /> Another suggestion, made by Geoff Wade, is that the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Sanskrit texts refers to an ancient kingdom centered in present-day Guizhou, called Yelang, in the south Tibeto-Burman highlands.<ref name="wade" /> The inhabitants referred to themselves as Template:Transliteration according to Wade.<ref>Template:Harvp "This thesis also helps explain the existence of Cīna in the Indic Laws of Manu and the Mahabharata, likely dating well before Qin Shihuangdi."</ref>
The term China can also be used to refer to:
- a modern state, indicating the PRC or ROC;
- "Mainland China" (Template:Zhi), which is the territory of the PRC minus the two regions of Hong Kong and Macau;
- "China proper", a term used to refer to the historical heartlands of China without peripheral areas like Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang
In economic contexts, "Greater China" (Template:Zhi) is intended to be a neutral and non-political way to refer to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Sinologists usually use "Chinese" in a more restricted sense, akin to the classical usage of Template:Transliteration, to the Han ethnic group, which makes up the bulk of the population in China and of the overseas Chinese.
Seres, Ser, SericaEdit
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{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) was the Ancient Greek and Roman name for the northwestern part of China and its inhabitants. It meant "of silk", or "land where silk comes from". The name is thought to derive from the Chinese word for silk, Template:Zhi; Middle Chinese Template:Transliteration, Old Chinese Template:Transliteration, per Zhengzhang). It is itself at the origin of the Latin for "silk", {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
This may be a back formation from Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), "made of silk", from Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), "silkworm", in which case Template:Transliteration is "the land where silk comes from".
Sinae, Sin Template:AnchorEdit
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was an ancient Greek and Roman name for some people who dwelt south of Serica in the eastern extremity of the habitable world. References to the Sinae include mention of a city that the Romans called {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, which may be modern Chang'an. The Latin prefix {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} as well as words such as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, which are traditionally used to refer to China, came from {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is generally thought that {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} are variants that ultimately derived from "Qin", the western Zhou-era state that eventually founded the Qin dynasty.<ref name="middle kingdom" /> There are other opinions on its etymology: Henry Yule thought that this term may have come to Europe through the Arabs, who made the China of the farther east into Sin, and perhaps sometimes into {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.<ref name="yule2">Template:Harvp</ref> Hence the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} of the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, who appears to be the first extant writer to employ the name in this form; hence also the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} of Ptolemy.<ref name="yule" /><ref name="middle kingdom" />
Some denied that Ptolemy's {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} really represented the Chinese as Ptolemy called the country Template:Transliteration and the capital {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, but regarded them as distinct from {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.<ref name="middle kingdom" /><ref>Template:Harvp</ref> Marcian of Heraclea reported that the "nations of the Sinae lie at the extremity of the habitable world, and adjoin the eastern Terra incognita". The 6th century Cosmas Indicopleustes refers to a "country of silk" called {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, which is understood as referring to China, beyond which "there is neither navigation nor any land to inhabit".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It seems probable that the same region is meant by both. According to Henry Yule, Ptolemy's misrendering of the Indian Sea as a closed basin meant that Ptolemy must also have misplaced the Chinese coast, leading to the misconception of Serica and Sina as separate countries.<ref name="yule2" />
In the Hebrew Bible, there is a mention of the faraway country "Sinim" in the Book of Isaiah 49:12 which some had assumed to be a reference to China.<ref name="middle kingdom" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Genesis 10:17, a tribes called the "Sinites" were said to be the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, but they are usually considered to be a different people, probably from the northern part of Lebanon.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Cathay or KitayEdit
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These names derive from the Khitan people that originated in Manchuria and conquered parts of northern China during the early 10th century to form the Liao dynasty, and dominated Central Asia during the 12th century as the Kara Khitan Khanate. Due to the long period of political relevance, the name {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} become associated with China. Muslim historians referred to the Kara Khitan state as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; they may have adopted this form of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} via the Uyghurs of Qocho, in whose language the final -n or -ń became -y.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The name was then introduced to medieval and early modern Europe through Islamic and Russian sources.<ref name="millward" /> In English and in several other European languages, the name "Cathay" was used in the translations of the adventures of Marco Polo, which used this word for northern China. Words related to Khitay are still used in many Turkic and Slavic languages to refer to China. However, its use by Turkic speakers within China, such as the Uyghurs, is considered pejorative by the Chinese authority who tried to ban it.<ref name="millward">Template:Cite book</ref>
There is no evidence that either in the 13th or 14th century, Cathayans, i.e. Chinese, travelled officially to Europe, but it is possible that some did, in unofficial capacities, at least in the 13th century. During the campaigns of Hulagu (the grandson of Genghis Khan) in Persia (1256–65), and the reigns of his successors, Chinese engineers were employed on the banks of the Tigris, and Chinese astrologers and physicians could be consulted. Many diplomatic communications passed between the Hulaguid Ilkhans and Christian princes. The former, as the great khan's liegemen, still received from him their seals of state; and two of their letters which survive in the archives of France exhibit the vermilion impressions of those seals in Chinese characters—perhaps affording the earliest specimen of those characters to reach western Europe.
TabgachEdit
The word Tabgach came from the metatheses of Tuoba (*t'akbat), a dominant tribe of the Xianbei and the surname of the Northern Wei emperors in the 5th century before sinicisation. It referred to Northern China, which was dominated by part-Xianbei, part-Han people.
This name is re-translated back into Chinese as Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang-zh).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This name has been used in China in recent years to promote ethnic unity.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
TaugastEdit
In the works of Byzantine Historian Theophylact Simocatta, written in the early 7th Century, Tang China was referred to as Template:Transliteration (Byzantine Greek: Ταυγάστ).<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> This name is likely related to Tabgach.<ref name=":0" />
NikanEdit
Template:Transliteration (Manchu: Template:ManchuSibeUnicode) was a Manchu ethnonym of unknown origin that referred specifically to the Han Chinese; the stem of this word was also conjugated as a verb, Template:Transliteration, which meant 'to speak the Chinese language'. Since Template:Transliteration was essentially an ethnonym and referred to a group of people rather than to a political body, the correct translation of "China" into Manchu is Template:Transliteration, 'country of the Han'.Template:Citation needed
This exonym for the Han Chinese is also used in the Daur language, in which it appears as Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}).<ref>Samuel E. Martin, Dagur Mongolian Grammar, Texts, and Lexicon, Indiana University Publications Uralic and Altaic Series, Vol. 4, 1961</ref> As in the case of the Manchu language, the Daur word Template:Transliteration is essentially an ethnonym, and the proper way to refer to the country of the Han Chinese (i.e., "China" in a cultural sense) is Template:Transliteration, while Template:Transliteration is a verb meaning "to talk in Chinese".
KaraEdit
Japanese: Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; variously written as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}). An identical name was used by the ancient and medieval Japanese to refer to the country that is now known as Korea, and many Japanese historians and linguists believe that the word Template:Transliteration referring to China and/or Korea may have derived from a metonymic extension of the appellation of the ancient city-states of Gaya.
The Japanese word karate ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, lit. "empty hand") is derived from the Okinawan word Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, lit. "Chinese/Asian/foreign hand/trick/means/method/style") and refers to Okinawan martial arts; the character for Template:Transliteration was changed to remove the connotation of the style originating in China.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
MorokoshiEdit
Japanese: Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; variously written as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}). This obsolete Japanese name for China is believed to have derived from a Template:Transliteration reading of the Chinese compound {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Baiyue as "all the Yue" or "the hundred (i.e., myriad, various, or numerous) Yue," which was an ancient Chinese name for the societies of the regions that are now southern China.
The Japanese common noun Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), which refers to maize, appears to contain an element cognate with the proper noun formerly used in reference to China. Although Template:Transliteration is traditionally written with Chinese characters that literally mean "jade Shu millet", the etymology of the Japanese word appears to go back to "Tang Template:Transliteration", in which Template:Transliteration was the obsolete Japanese name for China as well as the Japanese word for sorghum, which seems to have been introduced into Japan from China.
MangiEdit
From Chinese Template:Transliteration (southern barbarians). The division of north and south China under the Jin dynasty and Song dynasty weakened the idea of a unified China, and it was common for non-Han peoples to refer to the politically disparate North and South by different names for some time. While Northern China was called Cathay, Southern China was referred to as Mangi. Template:Transliteration often appears in documents of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty as a disparaging term for Southern China. The Mongols also called Southern Chinese Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration, and considered them ethnically distinct from North Chinese. The word Template:Transliteration reached the Western world as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (as used by Marco Polo), which is a name commonly found on medieval maps. The Chinese themselves considered Template:Transliteration to be derogatory and never used it as a self-appellation.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some early scholars believed {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} to be a corruption of the Persian Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) and Arabic Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), which may be a mistake as these two forms are derived from the Sanskrit Template:Transliteration meaning Great China.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref>
SungsongEdit
In someTemplate:Which Philippine languages, Sungsong or Sungsung was a historical and archaic name for China.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Tiruray, the name meant specifically Hong Kong.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The name comes from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *suŋsuŋ, which meant "to go against wind or current". Its application to China in Philippine languages presumably is connected with sailing problems in reaching mainland China from the Philippines.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sign namesEdit
The name for China in Chinese Sign Language is performed by trailing the tip of one's fingertip horizontally across the upper end of the chest, from the non-dominant side to the dominant one, and then vertically downwards.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Many sign languages have adopted the Chinese sign as a loanword; this includes American Sign Language,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in which this has happened across dialects, from Canada<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> to California,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> replacing previous signs indicating East Asian people's typical epicanthic fold, now considered offensive.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Multiple other languages have borrowed the sign as well, with some modifications. In Estonian Sign Language, the index finger moves diagonally to the non-dominant side instead of vertically downwards,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in French<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Israeli Sign Language,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the thumb is used instead. Some other languages use unrelated signs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For example, in Hong Kong Sign Language, the extended dominant index and middle fingers, held together, tap twice the non-dominant ones in the same handshape, palm downwards, in front of the signer's chest;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in Taiwanese Sign Language, both hands are flat, with extended thumbs and other fingers held together and pointing sideways, palms towards the signer, move up and down together repeatedly in front of the signer's chest.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Little China (ideology)
- Chinese romanization
- List of country name etymologies
- Names of the Qing dynasty
- Names of India
- Names of Japan
- Names of Korea
- Names of Vietnam
ReferencesEdit
CitationsEdit
SourcesEdit
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