Many friends know that in the beginning, "shina" was a neutral word without any derogatory connotation. This word originates from the Sanskrit language of ancient India, and has also been translated as Zhina, Zhina, and Mahachina, which has the same meaning as Aurora, and is the name of China in ancient India.
Some scholars believe that in ancient India, the term China originally referred to the region north of the Himalayas, and later with the establishment of the unified dynasty of China, it specifically referred to China.
The Mauryan Empire's Political Treatise records the abundance of silk in China, so the term was already very popular in India at least around the 1st century AD. Later, in many Buddhist scriptures, the word "Zhina" also appeared, including the "Milan Wang Wen Sutra", "Huayan Sutra" and so on.
With the spread of Buddhism in China, a large number of Buddhist scriptures were introduced to China, and ancient Indians and Chinese also had more communication and exchanges. Therefore, the Sanskrit word for China was also introduced. The Chinese have also come to know that the Chinese are the word that Indians call China.
During the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties, Chinese Buddhists used China as another name for China. For example, Xuanzang, a famous monk of the Tang Dynasty, used China to refer to China throughout his book "The Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty". Tang Xuanzong Li Longji once wrote a poem, "Zhina ** is speechless, and the bearded monk nods with a smile."
After Buddhism was introduced to Japan from China, the word Shina also began to circulate in Japan and became a term for China. On the one hand, some Japanese scholars at the time believed that Japan should be the center, and Japan should be China. Japan, on the other hand, has a region called Chugoku. Therefore, for the sake of distinction, China is called China.
During the Qing Dynasty, literati Gong Zizhen, Peng Xishu, Jiang Zhiyou and others also used China as the name of China in their works.
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan's national strength became stronger, and many Chinese, mainly some revolutionaries, went to Japan to study. So, they brought the title of Shina back to the country. For example, the publication "China in the Twentieth Century" founded by Huang Xing and others, and the "242nd Anniversary Commemoration Meeting of the Fall of China" held by Zhang Taiyan, Feng Freedom, and others in Tokyo, and so on.
At this time, Shina was still a non-derogatory term. The revolutionaries called China China, mainly to express their dissatisfaction with the Manchus, hoping to create a new China.
The point is that after the Qing Dynasty lost to Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War, some Japanese began to use the term "China" with some contemptuous connotations. Gradually, with the decline of the Qing Dynasty, warlords fighting inside and foreign powers waiting for them, China entered the darkest period in history. The discrimination against China by the Japanese has become more and more serious, and the derogatory meaning of the word China has become more and more serious.
At that time, the official name of the Qing Dynasty was the Qing Empire. However, the Japanese call it the country of China. In 1912, after the establishment of China**, Japan called it the "Republic of China", which was confirmed in an official document in July 1913.
Since then, China has repeatedly asked Japan to abolish the title of "Republic of China" and change it to "China **" through diplomatic channels, but the Japanese side has ignored China's request.
Editor: In 1915, Yuan Shikai** signed the "Twenty-one Articles" with the Japanese side to lose power and humiliate the country, handing over control of Shandong, southern Manchuria, and eastern Inner Mongolia to Japan, and hiring Japanese as advisers in political, financial, and military aspects. The Japanese version of the treaty uses "Shina" as the name for China.
Since this time, the official, non-governmental, and ** disputes between China and Japan around the word China have not been interrupted.
After the end of World War II and Japan's surrender, the Political Advisory Group of the Allied Forces Command (GHQ) in Japan investigated the term "Shina" and determined that it was a demeaning term that discriminated against China, and instructed Japan to correct it immediately. Subsequently, Japan accepted China's request and issued the "Matters on Avoiding the Use of the Name of China", requiring all levels to no longer use China, and the textbooks also changed the name of "China" to all "China".
Uncle Cao believes that this incident tells us that the country must be strong. If you are weak, you can only be bullied by a stronger country, and you will not even be recognized by your own country, and you will become a laughing stock that others despise.