From: Andrew C. West (andrewcwest@alumni.princeton.edu)
Date: Mon May 19 2003 - 17:58:58 EDT
On Mon, 19 May 2003 03:52:08 -0700, "Ben Monroe" wrote:
> Modern usage is generally derogatory, but the term does not seem to be Japanese
> in origin. Nor does it seem to be "the Japanese ideographic representation of
> the English word China". Several J-J dictionaries at hand indicate that U+652F
> U+90A3 (x) first appears in Indian literature and is generally thought to
be a
> transliteration from U+79E6 (`), or Qin
> (http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/GetUnihanData.pl?codepoint=79e6 ).
> One online reference (in Japanese) is from Daijirin:
> http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/search.php?MT=%BB%D9%C6%E1&kind=jn&mode=0
> ["An expression used by foreigners to refer to China. Thought to come from `
(J:
> shin) [U+79E6]. The transliteration for the term used in India found in China
> for Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures. Used in Japan from the middle
> of the Edo period to the end of World War II."]
Yes, of course you're right, the term Zhina was first used in Chinese
translations of Sanskrit works, as early as the Tang dynasty (618-907), to refer
to the country we know as China.
Nevertheless, I would maintain that the resurrection of this name by the
Japanese from the latter half of the 19th century was directly influenced by the
English name for China, and can be considered as the borrowing of a convenient
pre-existing word to in effect translate the new English word. More particularly
the pervasive use of the Zhina for China during the period of Japanese
aggression against China was a deliberate attempt to degrade and disinherit
China - no longer the "middle kingdom" at the centre of the world, but simply
meaningless "zhina".
Andrew
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