1 Terminology
- Main article: China in world languages
1.1 "Zhongguo"
The Chinese call their country Zhongguo, which is usually translated as "Middle Kingdom" or "Central Country". The term has not been used consistently throughout Chinese history, however, and clearly has cultural and political connotations. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was used only to describe the relatively culturally advanced states of the Yellow River valley, to the exclusion of states such as Chu and Qin. Later it came to include areas farther south, including the Yangzi River and Pearl River systems. By the Tang Dynasty it even included "barbarian" regimes such as the Xianbei and Xiongnu.
During the Han Dynasty and before, Zhongguo had three distinctive meanings:
- 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 synonomous with Xia (夏) and Hua (華).
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 (夷), meaning "barbarian". The southern dynasties, for their part, recently exiled from the north, called the Northern Wei Lu (虏), 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.
The Republic of China and later People's Republic of China have used Zhongguo to mean all the territories and peoples within their political control. Thus it is asserted that all 56 recognized ethnic groups are Zhongguo ren (中國人), or Zhongguo people. Their histories are collectively the history of Zhongguo.
1.2 "China"
The English word "China" and prefix "Sino-" probably came from " Qin" (pronounced halfway between "Chin" and "Tsin"). Others believe that China may have been derived from the Chinese word for tea (cha) or silk (Chinese si, Latin seres). In any circumstance, the word China passed through many languages along the Silk Road before it finally reached Europe. The Western "China", transliterated to Shina (支那) has also been used by Japanese since the nineteenth century, and has since evolved into a derogatory term.
The term "China" can narrowly mean China proper, or, more usually and inclusively, 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. Sometimes informally, especially in the English and Chinese business world, "the Greater China region" (大中華地區) refers to China.
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.
