China

:This article is about Chinese civilization. For the modern-day state commonly referred to as "China", see People's Republic of China. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation).

Terminology

:Main article: Name of China in various languages

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"Zhongguo"

The Chinese call their country Zhongguo (also Jhongguo or Chung-kuo), which is usually translated as "Middle Kingdom", but could also be translated as, "Central State". It literally means "middle (or center) land," referring to the historic position of China at the centre of the known world, surrounded by lesser tributary states.

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The term has not been used consistently throughout Chinese history, however, and carries certain cultural and political connotations, and early states considered part of Chinese history are not called "Zhongguo". During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was used only to describe the states politically descended from the Western Zhou, in the Yellow River (Huang He) valley, to the exclusion of states such as Chu and Qin. The "Chinese" thus defined their nation as culturally and politically distinct from - and as the axis mundi of surrounding nations; a concept that continued well into the Qing dynasty, although being continually redefined while the central political influence expanded territorially, and its culture assimilated alien influences.

Related Topics:
Spring and Autumn Period - Western Zhou - Yellow River - Chu - Qin - Axis mundi - Qing dynasty

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Thus "Zhongguo" quickly came to include areas farther south, including the Yangtze River and Pearl River systems, and by the Tang Dynasty it even included "barbarian" regimes such as the Xianbei and Xiongnu. As the PRC now governs Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet, and the ROC now governs Taiwan (also claimed by the PRC), these regions are also often included as a part of "Zhongguo", though acceptance or denial of such claims remains politically controversial, especially where Zhongguo means PRC.

Related Topics:
Yangtze River - Pearl River - Tang Dynasty - Barbarian - Xianbei - Xiongnu - Inner Mongolia - Xinjiang - Tibet - Taiwan

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During the Han Dynasty and before, Zhongguo had three distinctive meanings:

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• The area around the capital or imperial domain. The Book of Poetry explicitly gives this definition.
• Territories under the direct authority of central authorities. The Historical Records states: "Eight mountains are famed in the empire. Three are with the Man and Yi barbarians. Five are in Zhongguo."
• The area now called the North China Plain. The Sanguo Zhi records the following monologue: "If we can lead the host of Wu and Yue (the area of southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang) to oppose Zhongguo, then we should break off relations with them soon." In this sense, the term is synonymous with Hua (?) and Xia (?).

During the period of division after the fall of the Han Dynasty, the term Zhongguo was subjected to transformation as a result of the surge of nomadic peoples from the northern frontier. This was doubly so after the loss of the Yellow River valley, the cradle of Chinese civilization, to these peoples. For example, the Xianbei called their Northern Wei regime Zhongguo, contrasting it with the Southern Dynasties, which they called the Yi (?), meaning "barbarian". The southern dynasties, for their part, recently exiled from the north, called the Northern Wei Lu (?), meaning "criminal" or "prisoner". In this way Zhongguo came to represent political legitimacy. It was used in this manner from the tenth century onwards by the competing dynasties of Liao, Jin and Song. The term Zhongguo came to be related to geographic, cultural and political identity and less to ethnic origin.

Related Topics:
Northern Wei - Southern Dynasties - Liao - Jin - Song

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The Republic of China as it controlled mainland China, and later, the People's Republic of China, have used Zhongguo to mean all the territories and peoples within their political control (people in the Republic of China now usually uses Zhongguo to refer to the PRC and Taiwan to refer to itself). Thus it is asserted that all 56 officially recognized ethnic groups are Zhongguo ren (???), or Zhongguo people. Their disparate histories are collectively the history of Zhongguo.

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"China"

The most commonly accepted theory as to the origin of the English word "China" (and the prefix "Sino-") is that they came from the "Qin" dynasty that first unified the country.http://www.bartleby.com/61/80/C0298000.html Despite the fact that the Qin dynasty was short-lived and was often regarded as overly tyrannical it unified the written language in China and gave the supreme ruler of China the title of "Emperor", hence, the subsequent Silk Road traders would identify themselves by that name. There are also other minor alternative theories on the origin of the world.

Related Topics:
English - Word - Prefix - "Qin"

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In any circumstance, the word China passed through many languages along the Silk Road before it finally reached Europe and England. The Western "China", transliterated to Shina (??) has also been used by Japanese since the nineteenth century, and has since evolved into a derogatory term in that language.

Related Topics:
Silk Road - Shina - Japan

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The term "China" can narrowly mean China proper, or, often, China proper and Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang; the boundaries between these regions do not necessarily follow provincial boundaries. In many contexts, "China" is commonly used to refer to the People's Republic of China or mainland China, while "Taiwan" is used to refer to the Republic of China. Informally, in economic or business contexts, "the Greater China region" (?????) refers to Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Related Topics:
China proper - Manchuria - Inner Mongolia - Tibet - Xinjiang - Provincial boundaries - Economic - Business - Greater China - Mainland China - Hong Kong - Macau - Taiwan

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Sinologists usually use "Chinese" in a more restricted sense, more akin to the classical usage of Zhongguo, or to the meaning of the "Han ethnic group", who make up the bulk of Mainland China.

Related Topics:
Sinologists - Han

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In many contexts it may be more appropriate to speak of "mainland China" (????,zh?ngguó dàlù in Mandarin), especially when contrasting it with other, politically different regions like Hong Kong, Macau, and territories administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Related Topics:
Mainland China - Hong Kong - Macau - Republic of China (Taiwan)

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