Editing China (section)

== Etymology ==

{{Main|Names of China}}
[[File:CEM-09-Asiae-Nova-Descriptio-China-2510.jpg|thumb|''China'' (today's [[Guangdong]]), ''Mangi'' (inland of ''[[Shandong|Xanton]]''), and ''Cataio'' (inland of ''China'' and ''[[Zhejiang|Chequan]]'', and including the capital ''[[Khanbaliq|Cambalu]]'', ''[[Shangdu|Xandu]]'', and a [[Marco Polo Bridge|marble bridge]]) are all shown as separate regions on this 1570 map by [[Abraham Ortelius]].]]

The word "China" has been used in English since the 16th century; however, it was not used by the Chinese themselves during this period. Its origin has been traced through [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Malay language|Malay]], and [[Persian language|Persian]] back to the [[Sanskrit]] word {{transliteration|sa|Cīna}}, used in [[ancient India]].<ref name="OED">{{Cite web |title=China |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/31735? |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712030439/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/31735 |archive-date=12 July 2023 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=Oxford English Dictionary}}{{ISBN|0-1995-7315-8}}</ref> "China" appears in [[Richard Eden (translator)|Richard Eden]]'s 1555 translation{{efn|"...{{nbsp}}Next into this, is found the great China, whose king is thought to be the greatest prince in the world, and is named Santoa Raia".<ref>[[Richard Eden (translator)|Eden, Richard]] (1555), ''Decades of the New World'', [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/a20032.0001.001/511?page=root;size=125;vid=4616;view=text p. 230] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811170243/https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/a20032.0001.001/511?page=root;size=125;vid=4616;view=text |date=11 August 2023}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Myers |first=Henry Allen |title=Western Views of China and the Far East, Volume 1 |date=1984 |publisher=Asian Research Service |page=34}}</ref>}} of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer [[Duarte Barbosa]].{{efn|"...{{nbsp}}The Very Great Kingdom of China".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barbosa |first=Duarte |title=The Book of Duarte Barbosa |date=1918 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-8-1206-0451-3 |editor-last=Dames |editor-first=Mansel Longworth |volume=II |location=London |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=edzW9fuOF-cC&pg=PA211 211]}}</ref> ({{langx|pt|...{{nbsp}}O Grande Reino da China{{nbsp}}...}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barbosa |first=Duarte |url=http://purl.pt/435 |title=Livro em que dá Relação do que Viu e Ouviu no Oriente |date=1946 |publisher=Agência Geral das Colónias |editor-last=Augusto Reis Machado |location=Lisbon |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20081022202824/http://purl.pt/435 |archive-date=22 October 2008 |url-status=dead}}. {{in lang|pt}}</ref>}}<ref name="OED" /> Barbosa's usage was derived from Persian {{transliteration|fa|Chīn}} ({{lang|fa|{{linktext|چین}}}}), which in turn derived from Sanskrit {{transliteration|sa|[[Chinas|Cīna]]}} ({{lang|sa|{{linktext|चीन}}}}).<ref name="AmHer">"[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/China?qsrc=2888 China] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921131850/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/China?qsrc=2888 |date=21 September 2011}}". ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (2000). Boston and New York: Houghton-Mifflin.</ref> The origin of the Sanskrit word is a matter of debate.<ref name="OED" /> {{transliteration|sa|Cīna}} was first used in early [[Hindu]] scripture, including the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' (5th century&nbsp;BCE) and the ''[[Manusmriti|Laws of Manu]]'' (2nd century&nbsp;BCE).<ref name="wade">Wade, Geoff. "[http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp188_yelang_china.pdf The Polity of Yelang and the Origin of the Name 'China'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117222125/http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp188_yelang_china.pdf |date=17 November 2017}}". ''[[Sino-Platonic Papers]]'', No. 188, May 2009, p. 20.</ref> In 1655, [[Martino Martini]] suggested that the word China is derived ultimately from the name of the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206 BCE).<ref name="Martini">Martino, Martin, ''Novus Atlas Sinensis'', Vienna 1655, Preface, p. 2.</ref><ref name="wade" /> Although use in Indian sources precedes this dynasty, this derivation is still given in various sources.<ref name="Bodde-1978">{{Cite book |last=Bodde |first=Derk |author-link=Derk Bodde |title=The Cambridge History of China: Volume 1, The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC – AD 220 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-5212-4327-8 |editor-last=Denis Twitchett |editor-link=Denis Twitchett |page=20 |chapter=The state and empire of Ch'in |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521243278.003 |editor-last2=Michael Loewe |editor-link2=Michael Loewe}}</ref> Alternative suggestions include the names for [[Yelang]] and the [[Chu (state)|Jing]] or Chu state.<ref name="wade" /><ref name="Yule-1866">{{Cite book |last=Yule |first=Henry |title=Cathay and the Way Thither |publisher=Asian Educational Services |year=1866 |isbn=978-8-1206-1966-1 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SAqgAb41ifIC&pg=PA3 3–7]}}</ref>

The official name of the modern state is the "People's Republic of China" ({{lang-zh|s={{linktext|中华人民共和国}}|p=Zhōnghuá rénmín gònghéguó|t={{linktext|中華人民共和國}}}}). The shorter form is "China" ({{lang-zh|s={{linktext|中国}}|t={{linktext|中國}}|p=Zhōngguó|labels=no}}), from {{transliteration|zh|zhōng}} ('central') and {{transliteration|zh|guó}} ('state'), a term which developed under the [[Western Zhou]] dynasty in reference to its [[demesne|royal demesne]].{{efn|Its earliest extant use is on the [[ritual bronze]] vessel [[He zun]], where it apparently refers to only the [[Shang dynasty|Shang]]'s immediate demesne conquered by the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chen |first=Zhi |author-mask=Chen Zhi |date=9 November 2004 |title=From Exclusive Xia to Inclusive Zhu-Xia: The Conceptualisation of Chinese Identity in Early China |journal=[[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society]] |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=185–205 |doi=10.1017/S135618630400389X |jstor=25188470 |s2cid=162643600}}</ref>}}{{efn|Its meaning "Zhou's royal demesne" is attested from the 6th-century BC [[Classic of History]], which states "[[Tian (god)|Huangtian]] bestowed the lands and the peoples of the central state to the ancestors" ({{lang|zh|皇天既付中國民越厥疆土于先王}}).<ref>{{lang|zh|[[:s:zh:尚書|《尚書》]], [[:s:zh:尚書/梓材|梓材]].}} {{in lang|zh}}</ref>}} It was used in official documents as an synonym for the state under the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]].<ref name="wilx">{{Cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Endymion |title=Chinese History: A Manual |date=2000 |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |isbn=978-0-6740-0249-4 |series=Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph No. 52 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ERnrQq0bsPYC&pg=PA132 132]}}</ref> The name ''Zhongguo'' is also translated as {{nowrap|'Middle Kingdom'}} in English.<ref name="Tang-2010">{{Cite book |last1=Tang |first1=Xiaoyang |title=Greater China in an Era of Globalization |last2=Guo |first2=Sujian |last3=Guo |first3=Baogang |date=2010 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-0-7391-3534-1 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4n8u0HG-iYEC&pg=PA52 52–53]}}</ref> China is sometimes referred to as [[mainland China]] or "the Mainland" when distinguishing it from the [[Republic of China]] or the [[Special administrative regions of China|PRC's Special Administrative Regions]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=美国唐人街两面"中国"国旗之争 |trans-title=The dispute over two "Chinese" flags in Chinatown, USA |url=https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-49585512 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202000227/https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-49585512 |archive-date=2 December 2020 |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=[[BBC News]] |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Chou Hsi-wei on Conflict Zone |url=https://www.dw.com/en/chou-hsi-wei-on-conflict-zone/av-49624866 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416094447/https://www.dw.com/en/chou-hsi-wei-on-conflict-zone/av-49624866 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |access-date=5 November 2020 |work=[[Deutsche Welle]] |quote=So-called 'China', we call it 'Mainland', we are 'Taiwan'. Together we are 'China'.}}</ref><ref name="asia-34729538"/>