Contents
China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
China
Traditional Chinese: 中國
Simplified Chinese: 中国
Transliterations
Kejia (Hakka)
- Romanization: Chûng-koet
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōngguó
- Tongyong Pinyin: Jhongguó
- Wade-Giles: Chung¹-kuo²
Listen (help·info)
Min
- Hokkien POJ: Tiong-kok
Yue (Cantonese)
- Jyutping: zung¹ gwok³
China (traditional Chinese: 中國; simplified Chinese: 中国; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhongguó; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōngguó (help·info); Wade-Giles (Mandarin): Chung¹kuo²) is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia.
China has one of the world's oldest people and continuous civilizations, consisting of states and cultures dating back more than six millennia. It has the world's longest continuously used written language system, and is the source of many major inventions, such as what the British scholar and biochemist Joseph Needham called the "four great inventions of Ancient China": paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing. Historically, China's cultural sphere has extended across East Asia as a whole, with Chinese religion, customs, and writing systems being adopted to varying degrees by neighbors such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam. The first evidence of human presence in the region was found at the Zhoukoudian cave and is one of the first known specimens of Homo Erectus, now commonly known as the Peking Man, estimated to have lived approximately from 300,000 to 550,000 years ago. Noticeably, it is also known that the Peking Man was able to control and use Fire.
The last Chinese Civil War has resulted in two political entities using the name China:
- the People's Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, has control over mainland China, and the largely self-governing territories of Hong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999).
- the Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, has control over the islands of Taiwan, Pescadores, Kinmen, and Matsu.
Etymology
China
Marco Polo introduced the word "2" to Europe. This word, as well as the earlier "Sino-" and "Sin-" prefixes, derive from Sanskrit Cīnā (चीन). This may in turn derive from Qin Kingdom, the Westernmost of the Chinese kingdoms during the Zhou Dynasty. The pronunciation of Qin is similar to the phonetic "cheen".[1] The official name of China changed with each dynasty. The common name is Zhōngguó (中國), which means "Central Nation," traditionally translated as "Middle Kingdom."
'China' was referred to by many other names, such as Sinae, Seres, Kina, Cathay, etc, by western historians before the modern period.
Zhōngguó the Middle Kingdom
China is known as 'Zhōngguó' in Mandarin and pinyin (中國 in traditional chinese or 中国 in simplified chinese). The character zhōng means "middle" or central; the letter, guó, means land, kingdom or country. An appropriate English translation would be "middle kingdom".
The name "Zhōngguó" first appeared in the Classic of History (6th century BCE), and was used to refer to the late Zhou Dynasty, as they believed that they were the "center of civilization",[2] while peoples in the four cardinals were called Eastern Yi, Southern Man, Western Rong and Northern Di respectively. Some texts imply that "Zhōngguó" was originally meant to refer to the capital of the sovereign, to differ from the capital of his vassals.[3] The use of "Zhōngguó" implied a claim of political legitimacy, and "Zhōngguó" was often used by states who saw themselves as the sole legitimate successor to previous Chinese dynasties; for example, in the era of the Southern Song Dynasty, both the Jin Dynasty and the Southern Song state claimed to be "Zhōngguó".[4]
"Zhōngguó" came to official use as an abbreviation for the Republic of China (Zhonghua Minguo) after the government's establishment in 1912. Since the People's Republic of China, established in 1949, now controls the great majority of the area encompassed within the traditional concept of "2", the People's Republic is the political unit most commonly identified with the abbreviated name "Zhōngguó".[5]
History
ANCIENT
3 Sovereigns and 5 Emperors
Xia Dynasty 2100–1600 BCE
Shang Dynasty 1600–1046 BCE
Zhou Dynasty 1122–256 BCE
Western Zhou
Eastern Zhou
Spring and Autumn Period
Warring States Period
IMPERIAL
Qin Dynasty 221 BCE–206 BCE
Han Dynasty 206 BCE–220 CE
Western Han
Xin Dynasty
Eastern Han
Three Kingdoms 220–280
Wei, Shu & Wu
Jin Dynasty 265–420
Western Jin 16 Kingdoms 304–439
Eastern Jin
Southern & Northern Dynasties 420–589
Sui Dynasty 581–618
Tang Dynasty 618–907
( Second Zhou 690–705 )
5 Dynasties &
10 Kingdoms
907–960 Liao Dynasty
907–1125
Song Dynasty
960–1279
Northern Song W. Xia
Southern Song Jin
Yuan Dynasty 1271–1368
Ming Dynasty 1368–1644
Qing Dynasty 1644–1911
MODERN
Republic of China 1912–1949
People's Republic
of China (Mainland China) 1949–present
Republic of China
(Taiwan)
1945–present