The Virginia enterprise., 1900-08-03
CHlNA'S QUEER NAMES.
Long List Of Words Of Great An
tiquity in Their Vo-
Cabularv

The many various names given by the
Chinese to their country, the nation and
individuals are extremely curious and in
terestlng. The Western custom of Civ
ing one or two names only shows. TO the
Celestlal way OF thinking, grievuus lack
OF imagination. The Chnaman has a
long list of words to denote his country,
ana goes so tar as to make Il new one
1or every new dynasty. The word Chi
na Is never used 10y tncm. It's origin is
not quite certain. but 1t may be assumed
mat 1t dates from the time (rbout go
b: Co. when the family Of Tsn rose
! ,iI.o power. lnrlr rrovinc" was the one
most frequently visited by strangers. and,
SINCE IT was cailed by the name OF the
re!l!Sn1nT family, it is a plausible Slppo-
sltion that the word Tsin or Chin cnme
to he used by neiyhbors to denote the
whole empire
"Fhe Celestial Empire"
Ihc Chinese themselves have many
names tor their country. "T'in- -Chov.;'
Whlch is translated into ''The Celestial
empire. I'M IS a poetic and uncommon title
Beneath the Sky" i. e.. the whoIe
world. 4 similar name is ''Sz' Hal j..
e., "An Within the -Four Seas" But by
far the most common designation is
"Chung KWoh,' the Middle Kingdom. :"
Ihls name dates, in ali probability. from
llOO Is: c.. or earlier. The secret of it's
popularity is not far to seek. Origin~
ally the term was used to denote the
province OF Honan, which is we'll in the
center of China. Then as the family
relSn!ng, in that province Increased in
power they gave the old name to the
whole country. 1t became popular be-
cause, even more than the ancient Greeks
and Romans, the Chinese dc<pise the out
side world. The Middle Kingdom meant
the center Of the earth; and it may be
added in proof of this feeling that even
now maps may be. found in China which
make the Celestial empire occupy almost
the whole of the globe, with little dots
for England, Germany and America.
"Cathay' is a Persian name for China,
and is comparatively modern. 1t is de-
the north of the empire in the Tenth
century A: D: 1t is interesting to note
that the Russians still call China Khitai.
The term Chung kwoh jim meaning
"Men of the Middle KinGdom,'' is used
frequently to denote the Chinese them
selves; 1t was customary, however, to
call the people after the name of the
and .'Han-tse" ("Men of Han" or Sons
OF Han') is another common name 1t
has latterly been adopted by a famous
or rather lnfamCuS-Secret society, the
object of which is to restore the ancient
dynasty. The latter of these two terms
carries with it the idea Of courage. and is
proportionately esteemed. Tang -jin,' or
Sons of Tang,' one OF the most cele-
bratcd of the imperial houses of China, is
also common. The present Using dynas-
ty has never been able to impose it's
name on the people-a sign of the cndur-
ing hatred of the nation for their Tartar
conquerors. ia Using Kdoh,' or "Great
Pure Kingdom" is used officially to des-
ignatc the country, but is never hyphen-
people: The Chinese also Call themselves
the Blacl-haired Race and the more
educated insist on the term Men of the
Middle Flowery Kingdom.' the word
Flowery dcnoting polish in speech and
manner.
Life's Progress alarkcd by Names.
Throughout life names play an impol-
tant part i'll Chinaman'S life. At the
age of one month he receives his first.
he gets his ''book' name. At marriage
his "great' name comes to hln. Ii he
enters official life he finds himself pos
scsscd Of an 'otticiaI' name After death,
in the solemnity of the Hall OF AncrS-
tors, he has at last his 'permanent"
name. Besides these. he has his un-
changing family name, and another, or
ly. This last is like the name of the
gems in old Rome. 1t denotes the family
in general, while his surname tells his
particular branch of it,
The Chinese have four words for
"city,' and with these designations they
attempt to make plain the Importance of
the place. TO certain extent this is ac-
| complished, but the word also indicates
the Importance Of the province or district
in which the city is situated. Each d-
vision Of province has a city of the
same name s. Foo Ting "Chow"
''Hien' form descending scale, indicat-
ing a towns land by Inference a prov
by an official responsible directly to the
heads of the provincial government; a
Ting" and "Chow' are either cities
Of departments included in Foo" or of
smaller independent provinces. ''Hien''
is always city of a dependent province
Table of Chinese Words.
A table of Chinese words appearing,
or likely to appear, in news dispatches,
follows:
Hwang-:Emperor-yellow.
Tsin Wang -"Kindred Prince" i. e.,
prince of the blood.
Tsung-Clan, family sometimes board).
Nui Ku-Privy council.
Tsungtuh-Viceroy, Or rule of more
than one province.
Footai-Governor (of a provincc)
Tituh-Major general, chief military
officer of province.
Taotai-Governor of city.
Shan n-Tung-Province east Of the
! mountain.
Shan-Hill or mountain.
Shih-Imperial.
Yamen-Ofice (where official business
is transacted).-Eew York Commercial
Advertiser.
From the 1000-year-old petrihel for
est Of Arizona has been hewn a present
for President. Mckinley. 1t is now in
%ho bands of nonvor lop;1or,, n,,l :,