中華

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See also: 中华

Chinese

middle; center flowery; flourishing; magnificent
trad. (中華)
simp. (中华)
anagram 華中华中
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Etymology

So named because the first ancient Chinese settlements were around the Yellow River, which was considered to be the center, and because the culture was considered to be magnificent and flourishing.

First attested in Huan Wen's memorial recommending Qiao Xiu (dated ), quoted in Sun Sheng's lost Annals of Jin (晉陽秋) and later quoted in Pei Songzhi's Annotations to Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms (translation by Farmer, 2017[1]).

皇極道消群黎顛沛中華顧瞻幽谷遷喬 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
皇极道消群黎颠沛中华顾瞻幽谷迁乔 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
From: Pei Songzhi, Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms, circa 5th century CE
Yú shí huángjí gòu dàoxiāo zhī huì, qúnlí dǎo diānpèi zhī jiān, zhōnghuá yǒu gùzhān zhī āi, yōugǔ wú qiānqiáo zhī wàng.
At this time, the imperial court has encountered a time of decline in the Way, the peasants have been trampled down by oppressive hardships, Zhonghua has the anguish of looking backward , and the dark valley has no hope of moving upward.

Pei himself uses 中華 when annotating Chen's "Biography of Zhuge Liang"

使游步中華龍光多士沈翳 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
使游步中华龙光多士沈翳 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
From: Pei Songzhi, Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms, circa 5th century CE
Ruò shǐ yóubù Zhōnghuá, chěng qí lóngguāng, qǐ fú duōshì suǒ néng chényì zāi!
If allowed to roam Zhonghua and give free rein to his dragon's brilliance, how could literati's abilities drown and obscure him?

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2 1/3
Initial () (9) (33)
Final () (2) (99)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Closed
Division () III II
Fanqie
Baxter trjuwng hwae
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ʈɨuŋ/ /ɦˠua/
Pan
Wuyun
/ʈiuŋ/ /ɦʷᵚa/
Shao
Rongfen
/ȶiuŋ/ /ɣua/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ʈuwŋ/ /ɦwaɨ/
Li
Rong
/ȶiuŋ/ /ɣua/
Wang
Li
/ȶĭuŋ/ /ɣwa/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ȶi̯uŋ/ /ɣwa/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
zhōng huá
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
zung1 waa4
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/2 2/3
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
zhōng huá
Middle
Chinese
‹ trjuwng › ‹ hwæ ›
Old
Chinese
/*truŋ/ /*N-qʷʰˁra/
English center flower (v.); flowery (adj.)

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character
Reading # 1/2 2/3
No. 17407 5312
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0 0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*tuŋ/ /*ɡʷraː/
Notes

Proper noun

中華

  1. (formal, poetic, exalted) China (the civilization of China; nowadays, the nation of the Chinese people)
    振興中華振兴中华  ―  zhènxīng Zhōnghuá  ―  to revitalize China
    中華名小吃中华名小吃  ―  Zhōnghuá míngxiǎochī  ―  famous Chinese snack
    中華文化中华文化  ―  Zhōnghuá wénhuà  ―  Chinese culture
    中華文明中华文明  ―  Zhōnghuá wénmíng  ―  Chinese civilization
    中華世紀中华世纪  ―  Zhōnghuá shìjì tán  ―  China Millennium Monument
  2. () An urban village in Songshan district, Taipei, Taiwan
  3. Short for 中華臺北中华台北 (Zhōnghuá Táiběi, “Chinese Taipei”).
    中華中华  ―  Zhōnghuá duì  ―  Team Chinese Tapei

Usage notes

  • In traditional East Asian thought, (Huá) or 中華中华 (Zhōnghuá), often translated as "Chinese", has a philosophical connotation of civilizedness and decorous behavior that transcends a strictly ethnic definition. This is in opposition to "foreigners" or "barbarians", () or 夷狄 (yídí), whose cultures are uncivilized and lacking in proper morality. Therefore, in certain contexts, other nations of the East Asian cultural sphere could refer to themselves as 中華中华 (Zhōnghuá) in the sense that they were civilized people following the classical traditions first established in Ancient China, without meaning that they saw themselves as Chinese in an ethnic sense.
  • Although also used in the formal names of both the Republic and People's Republic of China, the term carries a somewhat broader sense than 中國中国 (Zhōngguó, “state of China”) and connotes something like the "nation of the Chinese people" or "land of the Chinese culture".

Synonyms

  • (China):

Derived terms

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (中華):

Others:

References

  1. ^ Farmer, J. Michael (2017) "Sanguo Zhi Fascicle 42: The Biography of Qiao Zhou", Early Medieval China, 23, 22-41, p. 39
  2. ^ Huan Wen "Memorial", translated by Choo J. C. Jessey in "Return To The North? The Debate On Moving The Capital Back To Luoyang" in Schwartz, Campany, Lu & Choo (eds.) (2014) Early Medieval China: A Sourcebook. Columbia University Press. pp. 17-31

Japanese

Kanji in this term
ちゅう
Grade: 1

Grade: S
on'yomi

Pronunciation

Noun

(ちゅう)() (chūka

  1. (Internet slang) product that is made by Chinese company

Adjective

(ちゅう)() (chūka

  1. (Internet slang) made by Chinese company

Proper noun

(ちゅう)() (Chūka

  1. (usually in compounds) China, Chinese (adjective)
  2. Short for 中華料理 (chūka ryōri, Chinese cuisine); Chinese
    今晩(こんばん)中華(ちゅうか)する
    konban chūka suru ka
    Are we having Chinese food tonight?

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term

Proper noun

中華 (junghwa) (hangeul 중화)

  1. hanja form? of 중화 (China)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term

Proper noun

中華

  1. chữ Hán form of Trung Hoa (China).