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Why is China called Middle Kingdom? Does Middle mean a period of time or a geographic situation? And what is the best Chinese translation? “天朝王国”？
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Why is China called Middle Kingdom?
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Posted 02 August 2009 - 04:14 AM
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Posted 02 August 2009 - 02:02 PM
ccss1989, on Aug 2 2009, 05:14 AM, said:
Why is China called Middle Kingdom? Does Middle mean a period of time or a geographic situation? And what is the best Chinese translation? “天朝王国”？
From Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China
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The official name of China changed with each dynasty. The common name is Zhōngguó (中國 in traditional chinese or 中国 in simplified chinese). This translates as "central nation" or (traditionally) as "middle kingdom".
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Posted 02 August 2009 - 11:14 PM
because the ancient Chinese believe that China is the center of the world, its in the middle of earth, thats why
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Posted 02 August 2009 - 11:19 PM
Like the name of "Middle Earth" in the Lord of Ring
一日不作，一日不食
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Posted 02 August 2009 - 11:23 PM
In ancient China, the Son of Heaven gave the land to vassals, each vassal was a kingdom, and the Son of Heaven himself was in the central land surrounded by the vassals' land.
一日不作，一日不食
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Posted 03 August 2009 - 03:23 AM
YvesYew, on Aug 3 2009, 12:14 AM, said:
because the ancient Chinese believe that China is the center of the world, its in the middle of earth, thats why
thats it!
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Posted 03 August 2009 - 11:31 PM
ccss1989, on Aug 2 2009, 05:14 PM, said:
Why is China called Middle Kingdom? Does Middle mean a period of time or a geographic situation?
Why China is called "Middle Kingdom" (Zhongguo) originated from the concept of Sinocentrism dated back to Spring/Autumn period. It originated from the cultural-ethnic consciousness of 'civilized' and those "uncivilized barbarian" who consequently migrated into the central plain of China. Thus, the Chinese began to call the states within central plain of China "Zhongguo" meaning "Middle Kingdom" and its peripheral "yi 夷" (barbarians). The ancient Chinese believed that they are the only civilization on earth while being surrounded by barbarians.
For more info, refer to http://en.wikipedia....ki/Sinocentrism
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And what is the best Chinese translation? "天朝王国"？
The best translation for "Tianchao 天朝" is "Celestial Empire" (referring to China). The ancient Chinese regarded that the Heaven had given the mandate to the Emperor (i.e. "Son of Heaven") to rule the "Celestial Empire" (all under heaven).
For more info, refer to http://en.wikipedia....ndate_of_Heaven
This post has been edited by General_Zhaoyun: 03 August 2009 - 11:32 PM
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Posted 05 August 2009 - 10:37 AM
Thanks very much！
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