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China, the most familiar sacred word for as long as we can remember, is a unique name enjoyed by 1.4 billion people.
However, it is curious that when you open the Chinese dictionary, it is not uncommon to see flowery words that can be used as the name of the country, why did the word "China" become the name of the country? When did "China" begin to be accepted as the name of the country by the descendants of Yan and Huang?
In fact, the origin of the term "China" has a long history, and its original meaning is very different from what we know today, and its scope was originally only a small area.
Geographical China to Political China: From the Middle of the World to the Central Dynasty
"Yu Qi's house is in China, and he is the people."
In the 60s of the last century, a Western Zhou Dynasty bronze "He Zun" unearthed in Jia Village, Baoji County, Shaanxi Province, shocked the domestic archaeological community for a while, and a line of inscriptions on this noble sacrificial vessel directly expanded the history of "China" greatly.
According to research, the bronze records that during the reign of King Cheng of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the imperial court planned to build Luoyang as the capital, and the nobles were convened for a court meeting in April.
King Cheng said to the nobles: In the past, King Wu destroyed Yin Shang and sacrificed to heaven, and King Wu said, "I will govern the people in this part of China...... ”
Obviously, King Wu's so-called "China" refers to the old land ruled by the Shang Dynasty, combined with the record that King Cheng of Zhou built Luoyang as the capital and Zhou Gong called Luoyang "in the world" in the "Historical Records", then it can be clearly inferred that the words in "Zhaizi China" refer to Luoyang.
Geographically, within the sphere of influence that the Zhou Dynasty could radiate, Luoyang was connected to Guanzhong in the west, Shanxi was crossed by the Yellow River in the north, and the vast North China Plain was in the east.
Its geographical location happens to be the intersection of the Guanzhong plate and the North China Plain, worthy of the name of the world.
"Lü's Spring and Autumn Period" said: "The king of the ancients chose the middle of the world to establish a country." "The Zhou Dynasty, located in the remote Guanzhong, wanted to rule the Shang Dynasty's homeland, so it was natural to build Luoyang as a capital on a large scale.
It is worth noting that although the word "China" appeared in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the connotation of this word was already in the Shang Dynasty.
In the oracle bone inscription of the merchants, the concept of east, west, north, south, and middle has been very clear, the merchants call themselves "Zhongshang", and the countries in the west are called "Xior", and the countries in the east are called "Dongor", and the merchants think that they are in the center of the world.
With the passage of time, the Western Zhou Dynasty successfully promoted the Lile civilization to the north and south of the river through the feudal system, and the term "China" gradually expanded from Luoyang to the Chinese civilization circle in the Yellow River Valley.
As recorded in the "Legend of the Ram in the Spring and Autumn Period", in the early Spring and Autumn Period, there was a dangerous situation of large-scale invasion of the Xia civilization by the north and south, that is, "the south Yi and the north Di are intertwined, and China is endless".
The "China" here refers to the Chinese states in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, which is quite similar to today's European Union.
According to statistics, in the relevant classics of the 100 schools of pre-Qin Zhuzi, "there are a total of 178 times in China, and there are as many as 145 times used to express the meaning of Zhuxia, and the rest of the meanings can also mean the meaning of the capital and the geographical center." ”
It can be seen that the meaning of China is closely related to the expansion of Chinese civilization, and the history of dynasties after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period also confirms this.
After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, "Qin Shi Huang took Rong Di and built the Great Wall to border China, but the west is not Lintao." ”
This sentence in the Book of Han shows that during the Qin Dynasty, the scope of China was under the jurisdiction of the Qin Dynasty within the Great Wall, and the Han Dynasty broke the Xiongnu and opened up the Western Regions, which made China further break through the scope of the Great Wall and expand outward.
In the first year of the Western Han Dynasty, Zhao Chongguo, a veteran who still had the courage of Lian Po, led the Han soldiers to conquer the Qiang people.
Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty issued an edict to encourage Zhao Chongguo: "Today, the five stars are out of the East, China is greatly profitable, and the barbarians are defeated!" Sure enough, Zhao Chongguo won a hearty victory.
The "China" in this undoubtedly refers to the entire Han Dynasty, which was established on an equivalent basis with the Han Dynasty.
Because "China" was in a leading position in the world for most of ancient times, with a rich economy, developed commodities, and abundant martial virtues, the word "China" was admired by ethnic minorities.
The minority regimes that entered the Central Plains were often quick to abandon their own customs and accelerate the reform of the law into the Chinese civilization, so the term "China" was easily accepted by them.
Yang Zhizhi, a scholar of the Northern Wei Dynasty, wrote in his "Luoyang Jialanji", "Merchants and merchants...... Happy Chinese local style, so the house, innumerable. ”
This shows that China has expanded from the Han nationality to any minority group in the Central Plains that admires and learns from Chinese civilization.
However, strictly speaking, from the Han Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty for most of the time, each dynasty from the official to describe itself, more Chinese and Han people to call themselves, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang once described in the edict: restore the homeland of the Han people, unify the Central Xia.
Considering the Huayi worldview upheld by the ancient people, China is sometimes often equated with the Chinese civilization, and is opposed to the Yidi who do not obey the king, and there is no very clear boundary.
It was not until the Xinhai Revolution that China became the name of the country in the sense of international law that China became the name of the country today.
The establishment of the Republic of China China officially became a national concept
The invasion of the late Qing powers, the strong ships and cannons completely shattered the glory of the Celestial Empire, and the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign a series of treaties, and with this came a variety of modern national concepts brought by Western countries.
The Qing Dynasty sometimes referred to itself as the Great Qing Dynasty and sometimes as China when dealing with foreigners.
With the rise of anti-Manchu nationalist ideas in the late Qing Dynasty, the term "China" was accepted by revolutionaries for its beautiful praise in the world, and when the League was founded in 1905, it specifically stated clearly: "China, China of Chinese; China's politics is left to the Chinese. ”
With the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in the Xinhai Revolution and the establishment of the Republic of China, the word "China", which not only fits the broad and profound historical connotation of thousands of years, but also is concise and concise, has become the abbreviation of the country's name, which has continued to this day.
Zhaizi China, from the people. After the founding of New China, the descendants of Yan and Huang on this land brought China back to the right track of the strong Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty with the rapid development of each passing day, and the admiration and worship of the central country by all countries in the world are increasing day by day, and our descendants are indeed worthy of this great and glorious national name.
Resources:
Xinmin Weekly - Why is China called China? 》
Looking at the World - How was "China" born? 》