What do China and Taiwan call themselves? Around 1000 BCE during the Zhou Dynasty, these characters, meaning middle and country, were inscribed onto the Hutsun Ritual Bronze vessel, pronounced Trunquac at the time, this term refers to the core territory of the dynasty. Over time, however, it came to refer to China itself, as China placed a self at the center of the world, with various barbarians at the periphery. Now pronounced China in Standard Mandarin, this name also serves as a contraction of the official names of both China and Taiwan. Zhonghua, Renmin, Gonghe-guo, and Zhonghua, Ming-guo. Both names contain another traditional name for China, Zhonghua. This term derives from Hua Xia, a cultural identity that formed in the late fourth century BCE, among the many countries that emerged from the Zhou Dynasty's collapse. With Hua Xia meaning beautiful ranger, Zhonghua could be understood to mean central beauty.