CHINA’s relationship with China
1. Relationship with porcelain
In the seventeenth century, Western European royal families and courts began to collect Chinese porcelain. A celadon bowl now in the Langde Museum in Kassel (Keisel, Germany) bears the heraldry of Count Kazerenberg (1435-1455). It is the earliest Ming Dynasty porcelain in Europe with a date mark. It is hundreds of years old. It has been a Hessian family heirloom for many years. After Portugal opened up new shipping routes, porcelain became the most precious gift in European society. Vascar da Gama and Armanda both used porcelain to win the favor of King Manuel I of Portugal. The existing blue and white ewer with the coat of arms of Manuel I (1469-1521) in the Jose Cortes Exhibition Hall in Lisbon is the earliest porcelain produced by China for special orders from Western Europe. During the Zhengde and Jiajing years, most of these orders were sold to Europe via Portugal. In 1604, the Dutch looted the Portuguese galleon Santa Caterina, which was carrying porcelain back to Europe. They named the Chinese porcelain Kraaksporeleint and shipped it to Amsterdam for auction. King Henry IV of France and King James I of England also participated in the purchase. , so the influence of Chinese ceramics spread like wildfire in Europe.
The European Rococo art style, which originated at the end of the 17th century and continued to the end of the 18th century, is characterized by vividness, gracefulness, lightness and nature. The artistic style it advocates is closely related to Chinese art. The delicacy, softness, delicacy and elegance of the style lead to the same goal in different ways. [font color=#0000cc]Rococo[/font] style is popular in France, and the French are particularly fond of Chinese tea, silk, and porcelain. At that time, France was the center of European literature, art, drama, etiquette, clothing, and decoration imitation, so items with "Chinese style" spread throughout European society.
When porcelain first entered Europe, the French called celadon after the hero Celadon in the then-popular novel "The Shepherdess Estegelle". King Louis XIV of France ordered Prime Minister Mazarin to establish a Chinese company and go to Guangdong to order porcelain marked with the French armor coat of arms. There was a special room in the Palace of Versailles to collect Chinese ceramics; while the British in the seventeenth century directly used "Chinese goods" ( Chinaware refers to porcelain from China. Queen Mary II of England was also obsessed with Chinese porcelain and set up many glass cabinets in the palace to display all kinds of porcelain. As a result, the trend of using Chinese porcelain for decoration and daily use became popular in British society, and porcelain gradually became an indispensable furnishing in living rooms and interior rooms.
With the spread of Chinese porcelain in the UK and continental Europe, the word China has become synonymous with porcelain, making "China" and "porcelain" an inseparable pun.
According to the introduction of the China entry in "The English-Chinese Word-Ocean Dictionary" (compiled by Wang Tongyi, National Defense Industry Press, 1987), the meaning of China as porcelain is Originated from the Persian chini (Chinese or Chinese), due to the influence of China's representation of China, the vowel sound changed from chini to china, becoming a proper noun for porcelain.
It is unknown when this change was finally finalized, but what is certain is that it was based on the brilliant achievements of ancient Chinese ceramics and the resulting spread of ceramics. This item with unique Chinese characteristics is loved by people all over the world and combines China and porcelain forever. Also because the place where porcelain was produced at that time was Changnan. So it’s called china.
2. Relationship with ancient Sanskrit
At the beginning of the 20th century, the origin of the word China was discussed in academic circles, with different opinions and no consensus. The literary monk Su Manshu (1884-1918) was proficient in English, French, Japanese and Sanskrit, and once wrote the "Sanskrit Dictionary". He believes that China originated from the ancient Sanskrit word "China". It was originally written as Cina and was used to refer to China. He studied the ancient Indian epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana" three thousand years ago, and found that the word "China" was first seen in these two works, and its original meaning is "wisdom and skill". He believed that this was the laudatory name given to the country governed by the Shang Dynasty in the Yellow River Basin during the Bharata Dynasty of India 3,400 years ago.
The connotation of "Zhiqiao" is slightly different from the "thinking" mentioned by Huiyuan. The meaning of "Zhiqiao" has evolved due to the times.
The foreigners called me China, the earliest was Cina, then Tabac, and finally Kitai. Today's China is China, first the name of the country. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese sold porcelain to Europe and called their trade name Chinaware. If translated into Chinese, it should be "Chinaware". Ceramic products were called pottery in ancient times. Here ware should be the transliteration of tile. Chinese porcelain is Chinese porcelain. China is placed before "ware", which shows that the name of China did not have the meaning of "porcelain" at first. Later, the word "ware" was omitted and shortened to "China", so the prefix was lowered and the meaning of "porcelain" was obtained. This is a recent thing.
3. Relationship with silk
From the perspective of the evolution history of Western languages ??and the history of exchanges between Chinese and Western civilizations, it is believed that the word "CHINA" comes from silk.
According to the evolution history of European languages, the connection between silk and the word "CHINA" is explained. During the Greek civilization period, Chinese silk had reached Europe through the "Silk Road", so the word "silk" also appeared in Greek. The pronunciation of "silk" in Greek is similar to that in Chinese. Later, in Latin, the pronunciation of "Si" was basically similar to the later pronunciation of "CHINA". In French, the spelling of "Si" was "CHINE", which was very close to the pronunciation and spelling of "CHINA" in English. Finally, it officially "transitioned" from French to the current word "CHINA".
In the English translation of the "Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War", China is translated as "SINO", which is closer to the Latin word "Si", while in Indian, "Si" is called It was called "CINA", which was later translated as "China".
Silk is the earliest and most important carrier of cultural exchanges between China and the West. In the eyes of Westerners, silk is a symbol of the splendid civilization of ancient China. Therefore, the translation of "China" in English is "CHINA" It is logical that it comes from silk.