Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.s3.t1.1

v2.c13.s3.t1.1

"Cina" is one of the Indian names for China. The Chinese name for China, "Zhongguo" appeared as early as the 11^th century BCE, in inscriptions of the Western Zhou's bronze vessels of He Zun. "Zhongguo" initially referred to the central part of China centered on Luoyang. With the progressive expansion of Chinese civilisation into new territories, the region around the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River also came to be known as "Zhongguo". In the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States periods, each state called its capital as "Zhongguo" and "guo" meant the fiefdom of a feudal lord. From the Han dynasty onward, the word "Zhongguo" developed as the sign of the legitimate dynasty. In 1689, when the Qing government signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk with Russia, "Zhongguo" was formally used as the name of China for the first time. In 1912, when the Republic of China was founded, and also after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the country's name was called "Zhongguo" for short.