English names

English names

The word "China" is derived from Cin (چین), a Persian name for China popularized in Europe by Marco Polo.[13][14] The first recorded use in English dates from 1555.[15] In early usage, "china" as a term for porcelain was spelled differently from the name of the country, the two words being derived from separate Persian words.[16] Both these words are derived from the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन),[16] used as a name for China as early as AD 150.[17]

There are various scholarly theories regarding the origin of this word. The traditional theory, proposed in the 17th century by Martin Martini, is that "China" is derived from "Qin" (秦, pronounced chin), the westernmost of the Chinese kingdoms during the Zhou dynasty, or from the succeeding Qin dynasty (221 – 206 BC).[18] In the Hindu scriptures Mahābhārata (5th century BC)[19] and Laws of Manu (2nd century BC), the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन) is used to refer to a country located in the Tibeto-Burman borderlands east of India.[20] Another theory is that this word is derived from Yelang, an ancient kingdom in what is now Guizhou whose inhabitants referred to themselves as 'Zina'.[21]