The names of China include the many contemporary and historical appellations given in various languages for the East Asian country known as ''Zhōngguó'' (/, "middle country") in its national language, Standard Mandarin. China, the name in English for the country, was derived from Portuguese in the 16th century, and became common usage in the West in the subsequent centuries. It is believed to be a borrowing from

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...

, and some have traced it further back to

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. It is also thought that the ultimate source of the name China is the Chinese word "Qin" (), the name of the

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

that unified China but also existed as a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

for many centuries prior. There are, however, other alternative suggestions for the origin of the word. Chinese names for China, aside from ''Zhongguo'', include '' Zhōnghuá'' (/, "central beauty"), '' Huáxià'' (/, "beautiful grandness"), ''Shénzhōu'' (, "divine state") and ''Jiǔzhōu'' (, "nine states"). '' Hàn'' (/) and '' Táng'' () are common names given for the Chinese ethnicity, despite the Chinese nationality (''Zhōnghuá Mínzú'') not referencing any singular ethnicity. The

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

() and Republic of China () are the official names for the two contemporary

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined te ...

s currently claiming sovereignty over the traditional area of China. "

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

" is used to refer to areas under the jurisdiction of the PRC, usually excluding

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

. There are also names for China used around the world that are derived from the languages of ethnic groups other than the Han; examples include " Cathay" from the Khitan language and "Tabgach" from

Tuoba The Tuoba (reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation: *''tʰak-bɛt''), also known as the Taugast or Tabgach ( otk, 𐱃𐰉𐰍𐰲 ''Tabγač''), was a Xianbei clan in Imperial China.Wei Shou. ''Book of Wei''. Vol. 1 During the Sixteen Kingdo ...

Sinitic names

Zhongguo

Pre-Qing

''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 bronze vessel He ''zun'' (dating to 1038–), during the early

Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended when the Quanrong n ...

period. The phrase "zhong guo" came into common usage in the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

(475–221 BCE), when it referred to the "Central States"; the states of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

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" (''Da Ming'' ), "

Great Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

" (''Da Qing'' ), as the case might be. Until the 19th century when the international system came to require a common legal language, there was no need for a fixed or unique name.
p. 93-94
As early as the Spring and Autumn period, ''Zhongguo'' could be understood as either the domain of the capital or used to refer the Chinese civilization (''zhuxia'' 諸夏 "the various

Xia Xia (Hsia in Wade–Giles) may refer to: Chinese history * Xia dynasty (c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC), the first orthodox dynasty in Chinese history * Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms) (407–431), a Xiongnu-led dynasty * Xia (617–621), a state founded by Dou Ji ...

" or ''zhuhua'' 諸華 "various

Hua Hua or HUA may refer to: China * Hua, as in Huaxia and Zhonghua, a name of China ** Hoa people, Chinese people in Vietnam * Hua (state), a state in ancient China, destroyed by Qin * Hua (surname), a Chinese surname * Hua County, in Anyang, Hena ...

"), and the political and geographical domain that contained it, but

Tianxia ''Tianxia'' (), literally meaning "(all) under Heaven", is a Chinese term for a historical Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of mortals, and later became associated with poli ...

was the more common word for this idea. This developed into the usage of the Warring States period when, other than the cultural-civilizational community, it could be the geopolitical area of Chinese civilization, equivalent to

Jiuzhou The term Nine Provinces or Nine Regions (), is used in ancient Chinese histories to refer to territorial divisions or islands during the Xia and Shang dynasties and has now come to symbolically represent China. "Province" is the word used to ...

. In a more limited sense it could also refer to the Central Plain or the states of Zhao, Wei, and Han, etc., geographically central amongst the Warring States. Although ''Zhongguo'' could be used before the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

period to mean the transdynastic Chinese culture or civilization to which Chinese people belonged, it was in the Song dynasty when writers used ''Zhongguo'' as a term to describe the transdynastic entity with different dynastic names over time but having a set territory and defined by common ancestry, culture, and language. There were different usages of the term ''Zhongguo'' in every period. It could refer to the capital of the emperor to distinguish it from the capitals of his vassals, as in

. It could refer to the states of the Central Plain to distinguish them from states in outer regions. The ''

Shi Jing The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...

'' defines ''Zhongguo'' as the capital region, setting it in apposition to the capital city. During the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

, three usages of ''Zhongguo'' were common. The ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'' uses ''Zhongguo'' to denote the capital, and also uses the concept ''zhong'' ("center, central") and ''zhongguo'' to indicate the center of civilization: "There are eight famous mountains in the world: three in

Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

and Yi (the barbarian wilds), five in ''Zhōngguó''." () In this sense, the term ''Zhongguo'' is synonymous with ''Huáxià'' (/) and ''Zhōnghuá'' (/), names of China that were first authentically attested since

and Eastern Jin period, respectively. Fourmont-Zhongguo-Guanhua

From the Qin to 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.

Qing

''Zhongguo'' appeared in a formal international legal document for the first time during the Qing dynasty in the

Treaty of Nerchinsk The Treaty of Nerchinsk () of 1689 was the first treaty between the Tsardom of Russia and the Qing dynasty of China. The Russians gave up the area north of the Amur River as far as the Stanovoy Range and kept the area between the Argun River ...

, 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 Wei Yuan (; April23, 1794March26, 1857), born Wei Yuanda (), courtesy names Moshen () and Hanshi (), was a Chinese scholar from Shaoyang, Hunan. He moved to Yangzhou, Jiangsu in 1831, where he remained for the rest of his life. Wei obtained the ...

, a statecraft scholar, distinguished the new territories from ''Zhongguo'', which he defined as the 17 provinces of "

China proper China proper, Inner China, or the Eighteen Provinces is a term used by some Western writers in reference to the "core" regions of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. This term is used to express a distinction between the "core" regions pop ...

" 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 ''Zhongguo'' (see the discussion below). ''Dulimbai Gurun'' is the Manchu name for China, with "Dulimbai" meaning "central" or "middle," and "Gurun" meaning "nation" or "state." The historian Zhao Gang writes that "not long after the collapse of the Ming, China hongguobecame the equivalent of Great Qing (Da Qing)—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." 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) as "China" in both the Chinese and Manchu languages, defining China as a

multi-ethnic state A multinational state or a multinational union is a sovereign entity that comprises two or more nations or states. This contrasts with a nation state, where a single nation accounts for the bulk of the population. Depending on the definition of ...

, 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" (Manchu: ''Dulimbai gurun i bithe'') referred to Chinese, Manchu, and Mongol languages, and the term "Chinese people" (; Manchu: ''Dulimbai gurun i niyalma'') referred to all Han, Manchus, and Mongol subjects of the Qing. 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, as part of their anti-Qing ideology. When the Qing conquered Dzungaria in 1759, they proclaimed that the new land was absorbed into ''Dulimbai Gurun'' in a Manchu language memorial. The Qing expounded on their ideology that they were bringing together the "outer" non-Han Chinese like the Inner Mongols, Eastern Mongols, Oirat Mongols, and Tibetans 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 "" () or "" (), to convey this idea of "unification" of the different peoples. A Manchu language version of a treaty with the Russian Empire concerning criminal jurisdiction over bandits called people from the Qing as "people of the Central Kingdom (Dulimbai Gurun)". 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" (''dulimba-i gurun/'') were like the Torghut Mongols, and the "people of the Central Kingdom" referred to the Manchus. 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. Elena Barabantseva also noted that the Manchu referred to all subjects of the Qing empire regardless of ethnicity as "Chinese" (), and used the term () as a synonym for the entire Qing empire while using "Hàn rén" () to refer only to the core area of the empire, with the entire empire viewed as multiethnic. 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 ''Zhongguo'' () 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

used ''Zhongguo'' only to refer to the seventeen provinces of China and three provinces of the east (Manchuria), excluding other frontier areas. Due to Qing using treaties clarifying the international borders of the Qing state, it was able to inculcate in the Chinese people a sense that China included areas such as Mongolia and Tibet due to education reforms in geography which made it clear where the borders of the Qing state were even if they didn't understand how the Chinese identity included Tibetans and Mongolians or understand what the connotations of being Chinese were. The

Treaty of Nanking The Treaty of Nanjing was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later termed the Unequal Treaties. In the ...

(1842) English version refers to "His Majesty the Emperor of China" while the Chinese refers both to "The Great Qing Emperor" (''Da Qing Huangdi'') and to ''Zhongguo'' as well. The Treaty of Tientsin (1858) has similar language. In the late 19th century the reformer

Liang Qichao Liang Qichao (Chinese: 梁啓超 ; Wade-Giles: ''Liang2 Chʻi3-chʻao1''; Yale: ''Lèuhng Kái-chīu'') (February 23, 1873 – January 19, 1929) was a Chinese politician, social and political activist, journalist, and intellectual. His thou ...

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." The Japanese term "'' Shina''" was proposed as a basically neutral Western-influenced equivalent for "China". Liang and Chinese revolutionaries, such as Sun Yat-sen, who both lived extensive periods in Japan, used ''Shina'' extensively, and it was used in literature as well as by ordinary Chinese. But with the overthrow of the Qing in 1911, most Chinese dropped ''Shina'' as foreign and demanded that even Japanese replace it with ''Zhonghua minguo'' or simply ''Zhongguo''. Liang went on to argue that the concept of ''tianxia'' had to be abandoned in favor of ''guojia'', that is, "nation," for which he accepted the term ''Zhongguo''. After the founding of the Chinese Republic in 1912, ''Zhongguo'' was also adopted as the abbreviation of ''Zhonghua minguo''. Qing official Zhang Deyi objected to the western European name "China" and said that China referred to itself as Zhonghua in response to a European who asked why Chinese used the term '' guizi'' to refer to all Europeans. In the 20th century after the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chines ...

, educated students began to spread the concept of ''Zhōnghuá'' (/), which represented the people, including 56 minority ethnic groups and the

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

, with a single culture identifying themselves as "Chinese". The Republic of China and the People's Republic of China both used the title "Zhōnghuá" in their official names. Thus, ''Zhōngguó'' became the common name for both governments, and "Zhōngguó rén" for their citizens, though

Taiwanese people Taiwanese people may be generally considered the people of Taiwan who share a common culture, ancestry and speak Taiwanese Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka or indigenous Taiwanese languages as a mother tongue. Taiwanese people may also refer to the i ...

may reject being called as such. Overseas Chinese are referred to as ''huáqiáo'' (/), "Chinese overseas", or ''huáyì'' (/), "Chinese descendants" (i.e., Chinese children born overseas).

Middle Kingdom

The English translation of ''Zhongguo'' as the "Middle Kingdom" entered

European languages Most languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. Within Indo-European, the three largest phyla are Ro ...

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 to reflect the Western view of China as the inwards looking Middle Kingdom, or more accurately the ''Central Kingdom''. 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 their name. The term ''Zhongguo'' was also not commonly used as a name for China until quite recently, nor did it mean the "Middle Kingdom" to the Chinese, or even have the same meaning throughout the course of history ( see above).

= "Zhōngguó" in different languages

= * Burmese: * ca, País del Mig (The Middle's Country/State) * cs, Říše středu ("The Empire of the Center") * nl, Middenrijk ("Middle Empire" or "Middle Realm") * English: ''Middle Kingdom'', ''Central Kingdom'' * fi, Keskustan valtakunta ("The State of the Center") * french: Empire du milieu ("Middle Empire") or ("Middle Kingdom") * german: Reich der Mitte ("Middle Empire") *

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: (, "Middle Empire") or (, "Central Empire") * hmn, Suav Teb (), (), () * hu, Középső birodalom ("Middle Empire") * id, Tiongkok (from , the

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

name for China) * it, Impero di Mezzo ("Middle Empire") *

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: (; ) * Kazakh: () *

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: (; ) * Li: *

Lojban Lojban (pronounced ) is a logical, constructed, human language created by the Logical Language Group which aims to be syntactically unambigious. It succeeds the Loglan project. The Logical Language Group (LLG) began developing Lojban in 1987. ...

: jugygu'e or .djunguos. * Manchu: () or () were the official names for "China" in

Manchu language Manchu (Manchu:, ) is a critically endangered East Asian Tungusic language native to the historical region of Manchuria in Northeast China. As the traditional native language of the Manchus, it was one of the official languages of the Qin ...

* Mongolian: (), the official name for "China" used in

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

* pl, Państwo Środka ("The State of the Center") * pt, Estado Central ("Central State") * russian: Срединное Царство (; "Middle Kingdom") * sk, Ríša stredu ("The Empire of the Center") * es, País del Centro (The Middle's Country/State) * sv, Mittens rike (The Middle's Kingdom/Empire/Realm/State) * Tibetan: (), a PRC-era loanword from Mandarin; the normal Tibetan term for China (proper) is rgya nak (རྒྱ་ནག), lit. the "black country." * tok, ma Sonko * ug, جۇڭگو, Junggo * vi, Trung Quốc () * ii, ꍏꇩ(''Zho guop'') * Zhuang: (older orthography: )

= "Zhōnghuá" in different languages

= * id, Tionghoa (from , the

counterpart) *

: (; ) *

: (; ) * Kazakh: () * Li: * Manchu: () * Tibetan: (''krung hwa'') * ug, جۇڭخۇا, Jungxua * vi, Trung hoa () * ii, ꍏꉸ (''Zho huop'') * Zhuang: (Old orthography: )

Huaxia

The name ''Huaxia'' (/; ) is generally used as a

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

in Chinese text. Under traditional interpretations, it is the combination of two words which originally referred to the elegance of the traditional attire of the Han Chinese and the Confucian concept of rites. * ''Hua'' which means "flowery beauty" (''i.e.'' having beauty of dress and personal adornment ). * ''Xia'' which means greatness or grandeur (''i.e.'' having greatness of social customs/courtesy/polite manners and rites/ceremony ). In the original sense, Huaxia 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. During the Warring States (475–221 BCE), the self-awareness of the Huaxia identity developed and took hold in ancient China.

Zhonghua minzu

''Zhonghua minzu'' is a term meaning Chinese

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective Identity (social science), identity of a group of people unde ...

in the sense of a multi-ethnic

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

. Though originally rejected by the PRC, it has been used officially since the 1980s for

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

politics.

Tianchao and Tianxia

''Tianchao'' (; ), translated as "heavenly dynasty" or "Celestial Empire;" and ''Tianxia'' (; ) translated as " under heaven," are both phrases that have been used to refer to China. These terms were usually used in the context of

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

s or periods of division, with the term ''Tianchao'' evoking the idea of the realm's ruling dynasty was appointed by heaven; or that whoever ends up reunifying China is said to have ruled ''Tianxia'', 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 The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...

(c. 1046–256 BCE), especially the Spring and Autumn period (eighth to fourth century BCE) and the

(from there to 221 BCE, when China was reunified by the

Qin state Qin () was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Traditionally dated to 897 BC, it took its origin in a reconquest of western lands previously lost to the Rong; its position at the western edge of Chinese civilization permitted ex ...

). The phrase ''Tianchao'' continues to see use on Chinese internet discussion boards, in reference to China. The phrase ''Tianchao'' was first translated into English and French in the early 19th century, appearing in foreign publicans and diplomatic correspondences, 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 dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

in a non-prejudicial manner, 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. The translated phrase has largely fallen into disuse in the 20th century. Translations for ''Tianxia'' include: *

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Поднебесная (''Podnebésnaya''; lit. "under the heaven")

Jiangshan and Heshan

''Jiangshan'' (; ) and ''Heshan'' (; ) literally mean "rivers and mountains". This term is quite similar in usage to ''Tianxia'', and simply refers to the entire world, and here the most prominent features of which being rivers and mountains. The use of this term is also common as part of the phrase ''Jiangshan sheji'' (; ; lit. "rivers and mountains, soil and grain"), suggesting the need to implement good governance.

Jiuzhou

The name ''Jiuzhou'' (; ) means "nine provinces". Widely used in pre-modern Chinese text, the word originated during the middle of

of China (c. 400–221 BCE). During that time, the

river region was divided into nine geographical regions; thus this name was coined. Some people also attribute this word to the mythical hero and king,

Yu the Great Yu the Great (大禹) was a legendary king in ancient China who was famed for his introduction of flood control, his establishment of the Xia dynasty which inaugurated dynastic rule in China, and his upright moral character. He figures promine ...

, who, in the legend, divided China into nine provinces during his reign. (Consult Zhou for more information.)

Shenzhou

This name means ''Divine Realm'' or ''Divine Land'' (; ) and comes from the same period as Jiuzhou meaning "nine provinces". It was thought that the world was divided into nine major states, one of which is Shenzhou, which is in turn divided into nine smaller states, one of which is Jiuzhou mentioned above.

Sihai

This name, ''

Four Seas The Four Seas () were four bodies of water that metaphorically made up the boundaries of ancient China. There is a sea for each for the four cardinal directions. The West Sea is Qinghai Lake, the East Sea is the East China Sea, the North Sea ...

'' (; ), is sometimes used to refer to the world, or simply China, which is perceived as the civilized world. It came from the ancient notion that the world is flat and surrounded by sea.

Han

The name ''Han'' (/; ) derives from the

(206 BC–AD 220), who presided over China's first "golden age". The Han dynasty collapsed in 220 and was followed by a long period of disorder, including

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

, Sixteen Kingdoms, and

Southern and Northern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

periods. During these periods, various non-Han ethnic groups established various dynasties in northern China. It was during this period that people began to use the term "Han" to refer to the natives of North China, who (unlike the minorities) were the descendants of the subjects of the

. During the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

, subjects of the empire was divided into four classes:

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

Semu Semu () is the name of a caste established by the Yuan dynasty. The 31 Semu categories referred to people who came from Central and West Asia. They had come to serve the Yuan dynasty by enfranchising under the dominant Mongol caste. The Semu were ...

or "Colour-eyeds", Hans, and "Southerns". Northern Chinese were called Han, which was considered to be the highest class of Chinese. This class "Han" includes all ethnic groups in northern China including Khitan and Jurchen who have in most part sinicized during the last two hundreds years. The name "Han" became popularly accepted. During the

, the Manchu rulers also used the name Han 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

, is used by the People's Republic of China to refer to the most populous of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups of China. The "Han Chinese" are simply referred to as "Chinese" by some.

Tang

The name ''Tang'' (; ) comes from the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

(618–690, 705–907) that presided over China's second golden age. It was during the Tang dynasty that South China was finally and fully

Sinicized Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix , 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies come under the influence of Chinese culture, particularly the language, societal norms, cul ...

; Tang would become synonymous with China in Southern China and it is usually Southern Chinese who refer to themselves as "''People of Tang''" (, ). For example, the sinicization and rapid development of

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

during the Tang period would lead the Cantonese to refer to themselves as ''Tong-yan'' () in Cantonese, while China is called ''Tong-saan'' (; ). Chinatowns worldwide, often dominated by Southern Chinese, also became referred to ''Tang people's Street'' (, Cantonese: Tong-yan-gaai; ). The Cantonese term ''Tongsan'' (Tang mountain) is recorded in

Old Malay Malay was first used in the first millennia known as Old Malay, a part of the Austronesian language family. Over a period of two millennia, Malay has undergone various stages of development that derived from different layers of foreign influen ...

as one of the local terms for China, along with the Sanskrit-derived ''Cina''. It is still used in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

today, usually in a derogatory sense. Among Taiwanese, ''Tang mountain'' (Min-Nan: Tn̂g-soaⁿ) has been used, for example, in the saying, "has Tangshan father, no Tangshan mother" (; ). This refers how the Han people crossing the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a ...

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 ''tii'' (, hand) or ''karatii'' (, Tang hand) because ''too-nu-kuku'' or ''kara-nu-kuku'' () was a common Ryukyuan name for China; it was changed to ''karate'' (, open hand) to appeal to Japanese people after the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...

Dalu and Neidi

''Dàlù'' (/; ), literally "big continent" or "mainland" in this context, is used as a short form of ''Zhōnggúo Dàlù'' (/, Mainland China), excluding (depending on the context) Hong Kong and

, and/or

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. This term is used in official context in both the mainland and Taiwan, when referring to the mainland as opposed to Taiwan. In certain contexts, it is equivalent to the term ''Neidi'' (; , literally "the inner land"). While ''Neidi'' 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. Increasingly, it is also being used in an official context within mainland China, 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 ''Neidi'' 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 names

People's Republic of China

The name New China has been frequently applied to China by the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

as a positive political and social term contrasting pre-1949 China (the establishment of the PRC) and the new name of the socialist state, Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó (in the older postal romanization, Chunghwa Jenmin Konghokuo) or the "People's Republic of China" in English, was adapted from the CCP's short-lived

Chinese Soviet Republic The Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) was an East Asian proto-state in China, proclaimed on 7 November 1931 by Chinese communist leaders Mao Zedong and Zhu De in the early stages of the Chinese Civil War. The discontiguous territories of the ...

in 1931. This term is also sometimes used by writers outside 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 "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

to the exclusion of Hong Kong,

and

. The official name of the People's Republic of China in various official languages and scripts: *

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

: () – Official language and script, used in mainland China,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

: () – Official script in Hong Kong and Macau, and commonly used in Taiwan (ROC) * English: People's Republic of China – Official in Hong Kong * Kazakh: As used within the Republic of Kazakhstan, Қытай Халық Республикасы (in

Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking co ...

), ''Qıtay Xalıq Respwblïkası'' (in

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern I ...

), (in Arabic script); as used within the People's Republic of China, (in Arabic script), Жұңxуа Халық Республикасы (in

), ''Juñxwa Xalıq Respwblïkası'' (in

). The

is the predominant script in the Republic of Kazakhstan, while the Arabic script is normally used for the Kazakh language in the People's Republic of China. *

: (; ''Junghwa Inmin Gonghwaguk'') – Used in Yanbian Prefecture (

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

) and Changbai County ( Liaoning) * Manchurian: (''Dulimbai niyalmairgen gunghe' gurun'') or (''Junghūwa niyalmairgen gungheg'o'') * Mongolian: (''Bügüde nayiramdaqu dumdadu arad ulus'') – Official in

; Бүгд Найрамдах Хятад Ард Улс (''Bügd Nairamdakh Khyatad Ard Uls'') – used in

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: República Popular da China – Official in

* – Official in PRC's Tibet ** – Official in Tibet Government-in-Exile * (''Jungxua Xelq Jumhuriyiti'') – Official in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

* Yi: (''Zho huop rep mip gop hop guop'') – Official in Liangshan (

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

) and several Yi-designated autonomous counties * Zaiwa: ' – Official in

Dehong The Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture is located in western Yunnan province, People's Republic of China, and is one of the eight autonomous prefectures of the province, bordering Baoshan to the east and Burma's Kachin State to the west. ...

(

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

) * Zhuang: ''Cunghvaz Yinzminz Gunghozgoz'' (Old orthography: ''Cuŋƅvaƨ Yinƨminƨ Guŋƅoƨ'') – Official in Guangxi The official name of the People's Republic of China in major neighboring countries official languages and scripts: *

: (, ''Chūka Jinmin Kyōwakoku'') – Used in Japan *

: (''Kitayskaya Narodnaya Respublika'') – Used in Russia and Central Asia *

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

: (''Cheenee janavaadee ganaraajy'') – Used in India *

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Burmese: (''Tarotepyishusammataninengan'') – Used in Myanmar *

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

: – Used in Vietnam * Thai: (''S̄āṭhārṇrạṭ̄h Prachāchn Cīn'') – Used in Thailand * Khmer: – Used in Cambodia * Lao: (''Sathalanalad Pasasonchin'') – Used in Laos * Nepali: (''Jana Gaṇatāntrika Cīna'') – Used in Nepal

Republic of China

, t5 = , s5 = , l5 = beautiful island , bpmf5 = ㄈㄨˊ ㄦˇ ㄇㄛˊ ㄕㄚ , w5 = Fu²-êrh³-mo²-sha¹ , p5 = Fú'ěrmóshā , tp5 = Fú'ěrmósha , mps5 = Fúěrmóshā , gr5 = Fwueelmosha , mi5= , myr5=Fúěrmwóshā , j5 = Fuk1ji5mo1saa1 , poj5 = Hok-ní-mô͘-sa , phfs5 = , altname6 = Republic of Taiwan , t6 = , s6 = , bpmf6 = ㄊㄞˊ ㄨㄢ
ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ , w6 = Tʻai²-wan¹ Min²-kuo² , p6 = Táiwān Mínguó , tp6 = Táiwan Mínguó , myr6 = Táiwān Mín'gwó , mps6 = Táiwān Mínguó, gr6 = Tair'uan Min'gwo , psp6 = Taiwan Minkuo , poj6 = Tâi-oân Bîn-kok, tl6 = Tâi-uân Bîn-kok, phfs6 = Thòi-vàn Mìn-koet Thòi-vân Mìn-koet In 1912, China adopted its official name, Chunghwa Minkuo (rendered in pinyin Zhōnghuá Mínguó) or in English as the "Republic of China", which also has sometimes been referred to as " Republican China" or the "Republican Era" (), in contrast to the empire it replaced, or as " Nationalist China", after the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

). (''Chunghwa'') is a term that pertains to "China" while (''Minkuo''), literally "People's State" or "Peopledom", stands for "republic". The name had stemmed from the party manifesto of

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China (or T'ung-meng Hui, variously translated as Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance, United Allegiance Society, ) was a secret society and underground resistance movement ...

in 1905, which says the four goals of the Chinese revolution was "to expel the Manchu rulers, to revive ''Chunghwa'', 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 ''Chunghwa Minkuo'' as the assumed name of the new country when the revolution succeeded. With the separation from mainland China in 1949 as a result of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, the territory of the Republic of China has largely been confined to the island of

and some other small islands. Thus, the country is often simply referred to as simply "

", although this may not be perceived as politically neutral. (See Taiwan Independence.) Amid the hostile rhetoric of the Cold War, the government and its supporters sometimes referred to itself as "Free China" or "Liberal China", in contrast to People's Republic of China (which was historically called the "Bandit-occupied Area" () by the ROC). In addition, the ROC, due to pressure from the PRC, was forced to use the name " Chinese Taipei" () whenever it participates in international forums or most sporting events such as the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

. Taiwanese politician Mei Feng had criticised the official English name of the state "Republic of China" fails to translate the Chinese character "Min" ( English: people) according to Sun Yat-sen's original interpretations, while 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. To avoid confusion, the

Chen Shui-ban Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...

led

DPP DPP may stand for: Business *Digital Production Partnership, of UK public service broadcasters * Direct Participation Program, a financial security * Discounted payback period Photography * Digital Photo Professional, Canon software Law en ...

administration began to put an aside of "Taiwan" next to the nation's official name since 2005. The official name of the Republic of China in various official languages and scripts: * English: Republic of China – Official in Hong Kong, commonly used by the United States until 1979, Chinese Taipei – official designation in several international organizations (

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

, FIFA,

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

), Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu –

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

, Governing authorities on Taiwan – Official name used by the United States from 1979 *

: (), (), (), () – Official script in Hong Kong,

and Taiwan and the islands controlled by the ROC *

: (), (), (), () – Official language and script, used in

and

* Kazakh: As used within Republic of Kazakhstan, Қытай Республикасы (in

), ''Qıtay Respwblïkası'' (in

), (in Arabic script); as used within the People's Republic of China, Жұңxуа Республикасы (in

), ''Juñxwa Respwblïkası'' (in

), (in Arabic script). The

is the predominant script in the Republic of Kazakhstan, while the Arabic script is normally used for the Kazakh language in the People's Republic of China. *

: (; ''Junghwa Minguk'') – Official in

Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture Yanbian (; Chosŏn'gŭl: , ''Yeonbyeon''), officially known as the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in the east of Jilin Province, China. Yanbian is bordered to the north by Heilongjiang Province, on the west ...

* Manchurian: (''Dulimbai irgen' gurun'') * Mongolian: Дундад иргэн улс (''Dumdadu irgen ulus'') – Official for its history name before 1949 in

and Mongolia; Бүгд Найрамдах Хятад Улс (Bügd Nairamdakh Khyatad Uls) – used in

for Roc in Taiwan *

: ''República da China'' – Official in

, ''Formosa'' – former name * , – Official in PRC's Tibet ** – Official in Tibet Government-in-Exile * – Official in

* Yi: (''Zho huop mip guop'') – Official in Liangshan (

) and several Yi-designated autonomous counties * Zaiwa: ' – Official in

(

) * Zhuang: ''Cunghvaz Mingoz'' (Old orthography: ''Cuŋƅvaƨ Minƨƅoƨ'') – Official in Guangxi The official name of the Republic of China in major neighboring countries official languages and scripts: *

: (; ''Chūka Minkoku'') – Used in Japan *

: (; ''Junghwa Minguk'') – Used in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

: (''Kitayskaya Respublika'') – Used in Russia and Central Asia *

: (''Cheenee ganaraajy'') – Used in India *

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Burmese: (''Tarotesammataninengan'') – Used in Myanmar *

: – Used in Vietnam * Thai: (''S̄āṭhārṇrạṭ̄h Cīn'') – Used in Thailand (during 1912–1949) * Khmer: – Used in Cambodia * Lao: (''Sathalanalad Chin'') – Used in Laos * Nepali: (''Gaṇatāntrika Cīna'') – Used in Nepal

Names in non-Chinese records

Names used in the parts of Asia, especially

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and Southeast Asia, are usually derived directly from words in one of the languages of China. Those languages belonging to a former dependency (tributary) or Chinese-influenced country have an especially similar pronunciation to that of Chinese. Those used in

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

, however, have indirect names that came via other routes and may bear little resemblance to what is used in China.

Chin, China

English, most

, and many others use various forms of the name ''China'' and the prefix "Sino-" or "Sin-" from the Latin ''Sina''. Europeans had knowledge of a country known in

as ''Thina'' or ''Sina'' from the early period; the ''

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' ( grc, Περίπλους τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς Θαλάσσης, ', modern Greek '), also known by its Latin name as the , is a Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and ...

'' from perhaps the first century AD recorded a country known as ''Thin'' (''θίν''). The English name for "China" itself is derived from

(''Chīnī'' ). This modern word "China" was first used by Europeans starting with Portuguese explorers of the 16th century – it was first recorded in 1516 in the journal of the Portuguese explorer

Duarte Barbosa Duarte Barbosa (c. 14801 May 1521) was a Portuguese writer and officer from Portuguese India (between 1500 and 1516). He was a Christian pastor and scrivener in a '' feitoria'' in Kochi, and an interpreter of the local language, Malayalam. Barbo ...

. The journal was translated and published in England in 1555. CEM-09-Asiae-Nova-Descriptio-China-2510

The traditional etymology, proposed in the 17th century by Martin Martini and supported by later scholars such as

Paul Pelliot Paul Eugène Pelliot (28 May 187826 October 1945) was a French Sinologist and Orientalist best known for his explorations of Central Asia and his discovery of many important Chinese texts such as the Dunhuang manuscripts. Early life and career ...

and

Berthold Laufer Berthold Laufer (October 11, 1874 – September 13, 1934) was a German anthropologist and historical geographer with an expertise in East Asian languages. The American Museum of Natural History calls him, "one of the most distinguished sinologi ...

, 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 The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 ...

: ''*dzin'') in the 3rd century BC, but existed as a state on the furthest west of China since the 9th century BC. "There are reasons however for believing the word 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 ... 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..." This is still the most commonly held theory, although the etymology is still a matter of debate according to the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...

'', and many other suggestions have been mooted. The existence of the word ''Cīna'' in ancient Indian texts was noted by the

scholar

Hermann Jacobi Hermann Georg Jacobi (11 February 1850 – 19 October 1937) was an eminent German Indologist. Education Jacobi was born in Köln (Cologne) on 11 February 1850. He was educated in the gymnasium of Cologne and then went to the University of Ber ...

who pointed out its use in the Book 2 of '' Arthashastra'' with reference to silk and woven cloth produced by the country of ''Cīna'', although textual analysis suggests that Book 2 may not have been written long before 150 AD. The word is also found in other Sanskrit texts such as the '' Mahābhārata'' and the '' Laws of Manu''. The Indologist Patrick Olivelle argued that the word ''Cīnā'' 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.Liu, Lydia He,
The clash of empires
', p. 77. . "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." Some Chinese and Indian scholars argued for the state of Jing (, another name for Chu) as the likely origin of the name. Another suggestion, made by Geoff Wade, is that the '' Cīnāh'' in Sanskrit texts refers to an ancient kingdom centered in present-day

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to the ...

, called

Yelang Yelang, also Zangke, was an ancient political entity first described in the 3rd century BC in what is now western Guizhou province, China. It was active for over 200 years. The state is known to modern Chinese from the idiom, "Yelang thinks too ...

, in the south Tibeto-Burman highlands. The inhabitants referred to themselves as ''Zina'' according to Wade. The term ''China'' can also be used to refer to: * a modern state, indicating the People's Republic of China (PRC) or the Republic of China (ROC), where recognized; * "

" (/, ''Zhōngguó Dàlù'' in Mandarin), which is the territory of the PRC minus the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and

; * "

", a term used to refer to the historical heartlands of China without peripheral areas like

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

, and

In economic contexts, "

Greater China Greater China is an informal geographical area that shares commercial and cultural ties with the Han Chinese people. The notion of "Greater China" refers to the area that usually encompasses Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan in East ...

" (/, ''dà Zhōnghuá dìqū'') is intended to be a neutral and non-political way to refer to Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and

. Sinologists usually use "Chinese" in a more restricted sense, akin to the classical usage of ''Zhongguo'', to the Han ethnic group, which makes up the bulk of the population in China and of the overseas Chinese. CEM-11-Chinae-nova-descriptio-2521

List of derived terms

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

: ''Sjina,'' spelling now obsolete and spelled as ''China'' (pronunciation is the same) () * Albanian: ''Kinë'' () * Amharic: ''Chayna'' (from English) *

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

: Չինաստան () * Assamese: () * Azeri: ''Çin'' () *

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

: ''Txina'' () * Bengali: () *

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

: ''တရုတ်'' () *Catalan: ''Xina'' () *Chinese: ''Zhīnà'' (obsolete and considered offensive due to historical Japanese usage; originated from early Chinese translations of Buddhist texts in Sanskrit) * Chinese: Zhèndàn transcription of the Sanskrit/Pali "Cīnasthāna" in the Buddhist texts. *

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

: ''Čína'' () * Danish: ''Kina'' () *

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''China'' () *English: ''China'' * Esperanto: ''Ĉinujo'' or ''Ĉinio'', or ''Ĥinujo'' (archaic) * Estonian: ''Hiina'' () *

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

: ''Tsina'' () *

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

: ''Kiina'' () *French: ''Chine'' () * Galician: ''China'' () * Georgian: ჩინეთი () *German: ''China'' ( and , in the southern part of the German-speaking area also ) *

: Κίνα (''Kína'') () * Gujarati: ''Cīn'' (IPA ) * Hindustani: ''Cīn'' or (IPA ) * Hungarian: ''Kína'' () * Icelandic: ''Kína'' () * Indonesian: ''Cina'' () *

Interlingua Interlingua (; ISO 639 language codes ia, ina) is an international auxiliary language (IAL) developed between 1937 and 1951 by the American International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). It ranks among the most widely used IALs and is t ...

: ''China'' *

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: ''An tSín'' () *

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Cina'' () *Japanese: ''Shina'' () – considered offensive in China, now largely obsolete in Japan and avoided out of deference to China (the name ''Chūgoku'' is used instead); See Shina (word) and kotobagari. * Javanese: ''Cina'' (low speech level); ''Cinten'' (high speech level) * Kapampangan: ''Sina'' * Khmer: () *

: ''Jina'' (; ) * Latvian: ''Ķīna'' () * Lithuanian: ''Kinija'' () * Macedonian: ''Кина'' (Kina) () * Malay: ''Cina'' () *

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

: ''Cheenan''/''Cheenathi'' * Maltese: ''Ċina'' () * Marathi: ''Cīn'' (IPA ) * Nepali: ''Cīn'' (IPA ) *

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

: ''Kina'' () * Pahlavi: ''Čīnī'' *

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: ''Chīn'' () * Polish: ''Chiny'' () *

: ''China'' () * Romanian: ''China'' () *

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...

: ''Kina'' or () * Sinhala: ''Chinaya'' චීනය * Slovak: ''Čína'' () *

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''China'' () * Somali: ''Shiinaha'' *

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Kina'' () * Tamil: ''Cīnam'' () * Thai: (' ) * Tibetan: ''Rgya Nag'' () * Turkish: ''Çin'' () *

: ''Chấn Đán 震旦'' ( or Chi Na 支那 ()(in Buddhist texts). * Welsh: ''Tsieina'' ()

Seres, Ser, Serica

''Sēres'' (Σῆρες) was the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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, ''sī'' (/;

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

''sɨ'',

*''slɯ'', per Zhengzhang). It is itself at the origin of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for silk, "''sērica''". See the main article Serica for more details. *

: Σῆρες ''

Seres Seres are the people of Serica, one of the easternmost countries of Asia known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Seres may also refer to: People * * * Brands and enterprises * See also * Celes (disambiguation) Celes may refer to: * ...

'', Σηρικός ''Serikos'' *

: ''Serica'' *

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

: ''Seiria'', as seen in Dúan in chóicat cest This may be a back formation from ''sērikos'' (σηρικός), "made of silk", from ''sēr'' (σήρ), "silkworm", in which case ''Sēres'' is "the land where silk comes from."

Sinae, Sin

''Sīnae'' was an ancient Greek and Roman name for some people who dwelt south of the

(Serica) in the eastern extremity of the habitable world. References to the Sinae include mention of a city that the Romans called ''Sēra Mētropolis'', which may be modern

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin S ...

. The Latin prefixes ''Sino-'' and ''Sin-'' as well as words such as ''Sinica'', which are traditionally used to refer to China or the Chinese, came from ''Sīnae''. It is generally thought that ''Chīna'', ''Sīna'' and ''Thīna'' are variants that ultimately derived from Qin, which was the westernmost state in China that eventually formed the Qin Dynasty. There are however other opinions on its etymology (See section on China above).

Henry Yule Sir Henry Yule (1 May 1820 – 30 December 1889) was a Scottish Orientalist and geographer. He published many travel books, including translations of the work of Marco Polo and ''Mirabilia'' by the 14th-century Dominican Friar Jordanus. ...

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 ''Thin''. Hence the ''Thin'' of the author of the

, who appears to be the first extant writer to employ the name in this form; hence also the Sinæ and Thinae of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

. Some denied that Ptolemy's Sinae really represented the Chinese as

called the country ''Sērice'' and the capital ''Sēra'', but regarded them as distinct from ''Sīnae''.

Marcian of Heraclea Marcian of Heraclea ( grc-gre, Μαρκιανὸς Ἡρακλεώτης, ''Markianòs Hērakleṓtēs''; la, Marcianus Heracleënsis; fl. century AD) was a minor Greek geographer from Heraclea Pontica in Late Antiquity. His known works are: * ...

(a condenser of Ptolemy) tells us that the "nations of the Sinae lie at the extremity of the habitable world, and adjoin the eastern

Terra incognita ''Terra incognita'' or ''terra ignota'' (Latin "unknown land"; ''incognita'' is stressed on its second syllable in Latin, but with variation in pronunciation in English) is a term used in cartography for regions that have not been mapped or do ...

". The 6th century

Cosmas Indicopleustes Cosmas Indicopleustes ( grc-x-koine, Κοσμᾶς Ἰνδικοπλεύστης, lit=Cosmas who sailed to India; also known as Cosmas the Monk) was a Greek merchant and later hermit from Alexandria of Egypt. He was a 6th-century traveller who ma ...

refers to a "country of silk" called ''Tzinista'', which is understood as referring to China, beyond which "there is neither navigation nor any land to inhabit". It seems probable that the same region is meant by both. According to

, 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. In the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Sinim in the Book of Isaiah 49:12 which some had assumed to be a reference to China. In Genesis 10:17, a tribes called the

Sinite This list contains tribes or other groups of people named in the Bible of minor notability, about whom either nothing or very little is known, aside from any family connections. A Accaba, descendants of For the descendants of "Accaba" (1 Esd ...

s were said to be the descendants of

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

, the son of

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...

, but they are usually considered to be a different people, probably from the northern part of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. *

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: ''Ṣīn'' * French/English (prefix of adjectives): ''Sino-'' (i.e. Sino-American), ''Sinitic'' (the Chinese language family). *

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: ''Sin'' * ga, An tSín * la, Sīnae * gd, Sìona

Cathay

This group of names derives from Khitan, an ethnic group that originated in

and conquered parts of Northern China early tenth century forming the

Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...

, and later in the twelfth century dominated Central Asia as the Kara Khitan Khanate. Due to long period of domination of Northern China and then Central Asia by these nomadic conquerors, the name Khitan become associated with China to the people in and around the northwestern region. Muslim historians referred to the Kara Khitan state as ''Khitay'' or ''Khitai''; they may have adopted this form of "Khitan" via the

Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...

of Kocho in whose language the final -n or -ń became -y. The name was then introduced to medieval and early modern Europe through Islamic and Russian sources. 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 The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the ...

to refer to China. However, its use by Turkic speakers within China, such as the

, is considered pejorative by the Chinese authority who tried to ban it. * Belarusian: Кітай (''Kitay'', ) * Bulgarian: Китай (''Kitay'', ) * Buryat: Хитад (''Khitad'') * Classical Mongolian: ''Kitad'' * English: ''Cathay'' *French: ''Cathay'' * Kazakh: Қытай (''Qıtay''; ) * Kazan Tatar: Кытай (''Qıtay'') * Kyrgyz: Кытай (''Kıtaj''; ) * * Mongolian: Хятад (''Khyatad'') (the name for China used in the State of

) * Polish: ''Kitaj'' (; now archaic) *

: ''Catai'' () *

: Китай (''Kitay'', ) *

: Kitaj or Китај (now archaic; from Russian) * Slovene: ' () *

: ''Catay'' * Tajik: Хитой ("Khitoy") * Turkmen: Hytaý ("Хытай") * Ukrainian: Китай (''Kytai'') * * Uzbek: ''Xitoy'' (Хитой) 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 Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulegu ( mn, Хүлэгү/ , lit=Surplus, translit=Hu’legu’/Qülegü; chg, ; Arabic: fa, هولاکو خان, ''Holâku Khân;'' ; 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of West ...

(the grandson of Genghis Khan) in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(1256–65), and the reigns of his successors, Chinese

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

s were employed on the banks of the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

, 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 character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanj ...

s—perhaps affording the earliest specimen of those characters to reach western Europe.

Tabgach

The word '' Tabgach'' came from the metatheses of ''

'' (''*t'akbat''), a dominant tribe of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into th ...

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. * Byzantine Greek: ''Taugats'' * Orhon Kok-Turk: ''Tabgach'' (variations ''Tamgach'')

Nikan

''Nikan'' ( Manchu: , means "Han/China") was a Manchu ethnonym of unknown origin that referred specifically to the ethnic group known in English as the

; the stem of this word was also conjugated as a verb, ''nikara(-mbi)'', and used to mean "to speak the

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the ...

." Since ''Nikan'' was essentially an ethnonym and referred to a group of people (i.e., a

) rather than to a political body (i.e., a

), the correct translation of "China (proper)" into the Manchu language is ''Nikan gurun'', literally the "Nikan state" or "country of the Nikans" (i.e., country of the Hans). This exonym for the Han Chinese is also used in the

Daur language The Dagur, Daghur, Dahur, or Daur language, is a Mongolic language, as well as a distinct branch of the Mongolic language family, and is primarily spoken by members of the Dagur ethnic group. Distribution Dagur is a Mongolic language consistin ...

, in which it appears as ''Niaken'' ( or ). As in the case of the Manchu language, the Daur word ''Niaken'' 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 ''Niaken gurun'', while ''niakendaaci-'' is a verb meaning "to talk in Chinese."

Kara

Japanese: ''Kara'' (; variously written in

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

as or ). An identical name was used by the ancient and medieval Japanese to refer to the country that is now known as

, and many Japanese historians and linguists believe that the word "Kara" referring to China and/or Korea may have derived from a

metonymic Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name ...

extension of the appellation of the ancient city-states of Gaya. The Japanese word '' karate'' (, lit. "empty hand") is derived from the Okinawan word ''karatii'' (, lit. "Chinese/Asian/foreign hand/trick/means/method/style") and refers to Okinawan martial arts; the character for ''kara'' was changed to remove the connotation of the style originating in China.

Morokoshi

Japanese: ''Morokoshi'' (; variously written in

as or ). This obsolete Japanese name for China is believed to have derived from a ''kun'' reading of the Chinese compound ''Zhūyuè'' or Bǎiyuè 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 ''tōmorokoshi'' (), which refers to

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

, appears to contain an element cognate with the proper noun formerly used in reference to China. Although ''tōmorokoshi'' is traditionally written with Chinese characters that literally mean "jade Shu millet," the etymology of the Japanese word appears to go back to " Tang morokoshi," in which "morokoshi" 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.

Mangi

1837 Malte-Brun Map of the Mongol Empire in Asia and Europe - Geographicus - AsiaMongol-mb-1837

From Chinese ''Manzi'' (southern barbarians). The division of

North China and South China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climates ...

under the Jin dynasty and

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. Manzi often appears in documents of the Mongol-led

as a disparaging term for Southern China. The Mongols also called Southern Chinese ''Nangkiyas'' or ''Nangkiyad'', and considered them ethnically distinct from North Chinese. The word ''Manzi'' reached the Western world as ''Mangi'' (as used by Marco Polo), which is a name commonly found on medieval maps. Note however that the Chinese themselves considered ''Manzi'' to be derogatory and never used it as a self-appellation. Some early scholars believed ''Mangi'' to be a corruption of the Persian ''Machin'' () and Arabic ''Māṣīn'' (), which may be a mistake as these two forms are derived from the Sanskrit ''Maha Chin'' meaning Great China. *Chinese: ''Manzi'' () *

: ''Mangi''

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Countries and languages lists History of China China China Articles containing Mongolian script text Geographical naming disputes