Do you know why China is called the Celestial Empire?

Russian name for China is happening from the Turkic Qytan, and it, in turn, from the word “Khitan” is a group of nomadic tribes from Manchuria who founded the Liao dynasty in 907. The tribes themselves were lost in history over time, but the toponym remained.

But you've probably heard that the eastern economic giant these days is also called the Celestial Empire. And many are interested in why. Let's figure it out.

Chinese civilization is one of the oldest in the world. For a long time, this state was the most developed in its region. And the countries surrounding him - Japan, Korea, the Ryukyu Kingdom and Vietnam - were subject to him and were under his influence.

Only the Emperor of China owned the so-called Mandate of Heaven with all that it entails. This meant that he was the Son of Heaven, whose power was entrusted to him by the gods themselves. The rulers of Korea, Vietnam and other neighboring countries had no family ties with higher powers and could only be called kings.

Japanese only during the Asuka period (538–710) torn apart vassal relations and also dubbed their ruler the Son of Heaven and Emperor. Naturally, after this, he and his former overlord developed mutual hostility.

Due to their superiority over their neighbors, the Chinese have developed a worldview called Sinocentrism.

China for its people introduced himself the center of the world, surrounded either by vassals loyal to the emperor, or by “barbarians” from whom nothing good can be expected. In general, it would be nice to fence yourself off from them with a higher wall.

Sinocentrism also dictated the self-names of the Chinese. their country christened Zhongguo. This term is more than two thousand years old, and it is translated as “Middle State” - that is, what is located in the very center of the world.

Also China for a long time called Tianxia is translated as “All that is under the sky” or “The Celestial Empire”. The word meant all the lands subject to the emperor. The catch is that in Confucian ideology the latter was seen as the representative of the gods on Earth. This means that the entire existing world was considered the territory subordinate to it.

According to views inhabitants of medieval China, their country was located in the geographical center of the Earth (which, by the way, according to the ideas of that time, had a square shape). Its heart was the emperor's court. Around him were high-ranking officials, behind them were their subordinates, and then were ordinary citizens of the empire. On the very outskirts of this structure were vassals and those whom the Chinese considered barbarians.

Yes, the inhabitants of all Europe and America also belonged to his imperial greatness - they just didn’t know about it. They're savages.

Sinocentrism traceable in many historical documents. For example, in one of the most famous works, “Zhou Li,” written in the 3rd century AD, the philosopher Chuang Tzu stated: “The greatness of China lies in the fact that it is the center of the world, uniting all peoples and countries under its wing."

True, in the 18th–19th centuries, when the Celestial Empire was closer met with Europe, and in particular with Great Britain, it turned out that the Western barbarians were head and shoulders above China in matters of military power, trade and logistics.

The surrender of the Qing Empire in 1842, after the First Opium War, shocked many. And after the defeat in the Second Opium War, in 1860, the emperor was forced to sign the Treaty of Tianjin, in which he had to call Britain a “sovereign nation” equal to itself. Unheard of, right?

In general, by the middle of the 19th century, the custom of calling the country the Celestial Empire gradually faded away. Modern Chinese in general apply the word "Tianxia" simply refers to the whole world, without implying that it is ruled by one emperor descended from the gods.

And in other countries - including Russia - the term “Celestial Empire” is used simply as an artistic epithet. Firstly, it’s a beautiful word that helps diversify the text. And secondly, it allows emphasize outstanding achievements of modern China in terms of economics and state development.