What Was China Formerly Called?

The question seems simple on the surface—what was China formerly called? But behind those words lies a story that spans thousands of years, countless dynasties, philosophical revolutions, foreign perceptions, and a shifting world that has, time and again, tried to label a civilization too old and too vast to be named by any one word. So, to answer this question, we need to journey through history—not just to pinpoint a name, but to understand the many names that China has held, what they meant, and who gave them.

First off, let’s look at how China refers to itself. In modern Mandarin, the country is called Zhōngguó (中国), which literally means “Middle Kingdom.” This name carries a deep cultural weight. It reflects the ancient belief that China was the center of the civilized world, surrounded by “barbarian” lands. The term has been in use for over two millennia, and even though it wasn’t always the official name of the ruling state, it captured a collective sense of identity across different dynasties. The Chinese people saw their land as the heart of order, culture, and harmony.

But if we go further back, long before modern borders and ideologies, we find other names too—names tied to the dynasties that ruled over the land. For example, during the Qin dynasty, which began in 221 BCE under Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the state was referred to as Qin (pronounced "Chin"). It’s from this short-lived but influential dynasty that many historians believe the name “China” ultimately derives. Foreign traders, particularly those passing through Central Asia and India, are believed to have picked up the term “Qin” and passed it westward, eventually morphing into “China” in Latin and other European languages.

Interestingly, before Qin unified the region, the area we now know as China was not one singular country. It was a patchwork of competing kingdoms, often at war, sometimes aligned. These kingdoms had names like Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi. Each saw itself as legitimate, and each had a role in shaping early Chinese civilization.

After Qin, came the Han dynasty, one of the most culturally influential periods in Chinese history. The Han dynasty is so central to Chinese identity that the ethnic majority of China today still call themselves the Han people (Hànrén). For centuries, outsiders—particularly in Central Asia—referred to China as Han or variations of it.

Later, during the Tang and Song dynasties, the country was often referred to by those ruling names as well—Tang and Song—especially by neighboring states. This was common across East Asia. Even in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, Chinese dynasties were often used to refer to the country as a whole, because the state and the dynasty were often seen as one and the same.

Another term used historically is Cathay, which might sound odd to modern ears. This name came from the Khitan people, who ruled parts of northern China during the Liao dynasty (around the 10th–12th centuries). European travelers, like Marco Polo, who journeyed across Asia and into China, adopted this term. “Cathay” became a common word in medieval Europe to describe China. Even today, you might still find the term in some contexts—think of Cathay Pacific, the airline based in Hong Kong. It's a legacy of that old name, still echoing in the present.

In Muslim and Persian texts from the medieval period, another name appears: Chīn and Māchīn. These terms were used to distinguish different parts of China, usually based on geography—Northern versus Southern regions—especially during times when China was divided.

Fast forward to the 20th century, and we begin to see another shift—not so much in the name itself, but in how it was officially used and perceived globally. After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the Republic of China was established. For several decades, this was China’s official name on the world stage. Even after the Communist victory in 1949, which led to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the older term didn’t vanish—it was retained by the government-in-exile in Taiwan, which continues to this day.

So, when someone asks “what was China formerly called,” there isn’t just one answer. It depends on who you ask, when you ask, and from where you're looking. Was it Qin, Han, Cathay, Zhongguo, or the Middle Kingdom? The answer is all of them, and more. Each name is a reflection of a moment in time, a perspective, a worldview. And each name tells a different part of the same long, intricate story.

China isn’t a country that was born recently. It’s not a modern construct with a clear beginning. It is one of the oldest continuous civilizations on Earth, and its names carry the weight of that history. From dynasties and emperors to poets and peasants, from Mongol invaders to European explorers, from ancient philosophers to modern statesmen—the land we now call China has been named and renamed across time, always adapting, always enduring.

And maybe that’s the real answer. China has always been more than a name. It's an idea. A culture. A civilization that, no matter what it's called, has always seen itself as something whole, something central. A Middle Kingdom, not just on a map, but in the imagination of its people.