Names of China: Encyclopedia II - Names of China - Sinitic names

Names of China - Sinitic names

In modern China, the term Zhongguo is used to refer to all of China, including China proper, Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet. By contrast, Han refers to the Han Chinese ethnic group, who are mostly concentrated in China proper, Manchuria, and only parts of the other three regions. There is no general Chinese term for just China proper, or just the territories inhabited by Han Chinese.

Zhonghua is a more literary term used synonymously with Zhongguo; it appears in the official names of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China. Tang is used synonymously with Han among southern Chinese, though some restrict the term further to refer to just Cantonese or some other south Chinese language group.

Names of China - Zhongguo

Central Kingdom (中國/中国 pinyin: zhōngguó) in Mandarin

The Chinese traditionally positioned the emperor of China at the center of the world, conceiving of concentric rings that extend from the cultural center to barbaric borderlands. This notion was accepted in Korea, Vietnam, and other countries to some degree, but not in the "northwestern crescent" that includes Mongolia, Turkestan and Tibet. They did not have terms to refer to this concept in the first place. The ROC and PRC impose it on them either by literal translation or transliteration. This word can be traced back as early as the Zhou dynasty; however, the actual use of this term only became popularized during the modern age in both China and other East Asian nations.

• Chinese: Zhōngguó (中國； 中国)
• Indonesian: Tiongkok (from the Min-nan name for China)
• Japanese: Chūgoku (中国; ちゅうごく)
• Korean: Jungguk, Chungguk (중국; 中國)
• Manchu:
• Mongol:
• Tibetan: Krung-go (ཀྲུང་གོ་)
• Uighur: Junggo (جۇڭگو)
• Vietnamese: Trung Quốc
• Zhuang: Cunghgoz (older orthography: Cungƅgoƨ)

Names of China - Zhonghua

This means Middle Prosperity (中華/中华 pinyin: zhōnghuá) in Mandarin and originally referred to the culturally rich land of Henan. In Chinese it is used today only in certain compounds (e.g., 中华文化 "Chinese culture") or for poetic effect, and carries a positive connotation, unlike zhongguo, which is neutral.

• Indonesian: Tionghua (from the Min-nan counterpart)
• Japanese: Chūka (中華; ちゅうか)
• Korean: Junghwa, Chunghwa (중화; 中華)
• Vietnamese: Trung Hoa

Overseas Chinese are referred to as huaqiao (華僑 or 华侨), literally "Chinese overseas", or huayi (華裔 or 华裔), literally "Chinese descendent" (i.e., Chinese children born overseas).

Names of China - Han

The name Han (漢/汉 pinyin: hàn) comes from the Han Dynasty, who presided over China's first golden age. During the Sixteen Kingdoms and Northern and Southern Dynasties periods, various non-Chinese ethnic groups invaded from the north and conquered North China, which they held for several centuries. It was during this period that people began to use the term "Han" to refer to the natives of North China, who (unlike the invaders) were the descendants of the subjects of the Han Dynasty.

During the Yuan Dynasty Mongolian ruler divided people into four classes: Mongolians, "Color-eyeds", Hans, and "Southerns". Northern Chinese were called Han, which was considered to be the highest class of Chinese. The name "Han" became popularly accepted.

During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu rulers also used the name Han to distinguish the local Chinese from the Manchus. When the Republic was set up, the Han became the name of a nationality within China.

Today the term Han Chinese 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 outside of China, especially among advocates of independence for non-Han regions.

Names of China - Tang

The name Tang (唐 pinyin: táng, Cantonese: tong4) comes from the Tang Dynasty, who presided over China's second golden age. It was during the Tang Dynasty that South China was finally and fully Sinicized; hence it is usually South Chinese who refer to themselves as "Tang". For example, Chinatowns worldwide are usually dominantly Cantonese; they are hence referred to generally as Tong-yan-gaai (唐人街 pinyin: tángrénjiē), or "Street (i.e., town) of Tang People". The name karate (空手）(a form of martial arts) was originally written as (唐手) (Chinese: Tangshou, Japanese: karate; meaning: Chinese hands) in respect of its Chinese origin. Cantonese people may also use Tang to refer exclusively to Cantonese themselves.

Names of China - Huaxia

The name Huaxia (华夏 pinyin: huáxià) is the combination of two words:

• Hua which means prosper.
• Xia which could mean the Xia dynasty or grandiose.

This word has been widely used to refer to the Huang He river valley, by analogy with Zhonghua, which means "middle prosper", before Han became popular.

Names of China - Tianxia

Tianxia (天下 pinyin: tiānxià) literally means "under heaven". This term is usually used in the context of civil wars or periods of division, in which whoever ends up reunifying China is said to have gotten tianxia, or everything under heaven. Although it was known since ancient times that this is, geographically speaking, not strictly true, this metaphor is nevertheless very common in both ancient and modern usage.

Names of China - Jiuzhou

The name Jiuzhou (九州 pinyin: jiǔ zhōu) means "nine states." The word originated during the middle of Warring States Period of China. During that time, the Huang He river region was divided into nine geographical regions; thus this name was coined. (Consult Zhou for more information.) In present-day usage, Jiuzhou would most likely be the Chinese rendition of "Kyushu", one of the islands that comprise Japan.

Names of China - Chixian Shenzhou

This name means Divine Land (神州 pinyin Shénzhōu) and comes from the same period as Jiuzhou. It was thought that the world was divided into nine major states, each of which was in turn divided into nine smaller states, one of which was Jiuzhou mentioned above. This small state was also called 赤县神州 (pinyin Chìxiàn-Shénzhōu), meaning Red Territory and Divine Land.

Names of China - Sihai

This name, Four Seas (四海 pinyin sìhǎi), is sometimes is used to refer to China. At other times it simply means "the country". It came from the ancient notion that land was surrounded by sea in all four directions.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Sinitic names", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki