From Zhihu

Since in English, China and ceramics are the same word (china), many people think that the word "China" comes from "ceramics" . This statement is so common that it has become almost an unthinkable conclusion. I searched and found a few excerpts.

1. The word "china" in English today came into being very late. Since English evolved from Latin, the origin of the English word "china" should be "sina", not a created word of English itself. Strictly speaking, the term "China" predates the emergence of ceramics. "China" came first and then ceramics. Therefore, if the two words later became the same word, it would be "ceramics" that came to be associated with "China". ", rather than "China" is named after ceramics. A more appropriate explanation for the name "China" should be that it comes from silk.

2. Originated from the ancient Sanskrit word "China" in India. This China is also called Zhina and Zhina. 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", and the first word was Cina. 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 a good name given to the country governed by the Shang Dynasty in the Yellow River Basin during the Bharata Dynasty in 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.

From a time perspective, Jingdezhen ceramics appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Qin Dynasty was established in 221 BC. According to the information provided by experts, the latest appearance of the word "Cina" in Indian Sanskrit was in the 5th century BC, and the export of Chinese tea was also later than this period. It can be seen that the "Cina" in Sanskrit in India has nothing to do with the "tea" in China, the "porcelain" in Jingdezhen, and the "Qin" in the Chinese state of Qin.

There are many records about the silk of the Seris Kingdom in many Western documents. For example, in the book "Ancient Far Eastern Documents of Greek and Latin Writers", it covers the period from the fourth century BC to the fourteenth century AD. During this period, more than ninety Greek and Latin works were written about the kingdom of Seris. The Greek historian Ctesias mentioned the country of Serica in the fourth century BC. Experts believe that the English word Silk and the Russian word Shulke, which evolved from Serica, are both derived from the homophonic pronunciation of the Chinese word "Silk" and are the names for silk in these countries. However, the name of China recorded in Indian Sanskrit is "Cina", and the derived English is "China", the Persian is "Chin", the Arabic is "Sina", the Latin is "Sinae", and the French is " Chine", German is "China", Italian is "Cina". The name "China" in Russian is derived from the transliteration of "KITAN" (kitai) of the Liao Kingdom in the ninth century AD. Obviously, in many historical documents, the country of Serica, which produced and sold silk, and the word "Cina" in Sanskrit in ancient India do not represent the same concept and do not refer to the same country. Or region, that is to say, "Cina" has nothing to do with "silk".

3. Western porcelain was originally imported from China. During the Ming Dynasty, a large number of Chinese porcelain products began to be exported to the Western world. The Persians called Chinese porcelain chini, and European merchants who purchased Chinese porcelain in Persia also brought the word back to the West. Later, they changed chini to china, and called China where china is produced. When Europeans and Americans talk about China, they often think of China as the home of china (porcelain).

4. Related to the Qin Dynasty.

The explanation of "American Heritage Dictionary" is that the word "China" is related to the Qin Dynasty in the third century BC. "China" is the transliteration of "Qin" in Qin State. This view was first proposed by the Roman missionary Wei Kuangguo ( Martini,

Martin) was first proposed in 1655.

5. In the fifth century BC, Eastern silk has become a favorite clothing material of the upper class of Greece. Therefore, some scholars believe that the word "Cina" comes from the "silk" of silk. This is based on Greek historiography. Ctesias mentioned the Serica in his writings and believed that "Serica" ??was transformed from "Cina". Scholars who hold this view are Professor Liu Xingshi of Chengdu University of Technology and Professor Zhou Qicheng of Donghua University in Shanghai. Professor Liu Xingshi once proposed in the paper "New Exploration on the Interpretation of CHINA" that not only did the word "China" originate from silk, but he also believed that the location of "Cina" recognized by various Western countries in ancient times was the ancient Shu Kingdom, which is today's Chengdu area. "Silk Country" does not refer to the entire territory of China today.