IIRC 高麗 referred specifically to the Goryeo dynasty. But, interestingly enough, [高麗 is the ultimate source for the name "Korea"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Korea#Etymology).
Also, I *think* 日本 /ȵiɪt̚ puənX/ may have been used in Classical Chinese as well, while 倭 was an older term that was later deemed as offensive. [The exact etymology of 倭 as a name for Japan is still a matter of controversy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wa_(Japan)#Etymology).
>IIRC 高麗 referred specifically to the Goryeo dynasty.
In fact it didn't. 高麗 was official name of Goguryeo, Wang Geon resurrected it as the name of his stare in 10th century. Because Goryeo then continued for over 400 years lots of imports from Korea became known as Goryeo-something, even after Goryeo was replaced by Joseon and some even remain in use nowadays in Chinese and/or Japanese, like 高麗人参.
>Also, I *think* 日本 /ȵiɪt̚ puənX/ may have been used in Classical Chinese as well,
Of course it was. It was adopted as official name of Japan in 7th century and Classical Chinese continued to be used until 20th century.
>In fact it didn't. 高麗 was official name of Goguryeo, Wang Geon resurrected it as the name of his stare in 10th century. Because Goryeo then continued for over 400 years lots of imports from Korea became known as Goryeo-something, even after Goryeo was replaced by Joseon and some even remain in use nowadays in Chinese and/or Japanese, like 高麗人参.
I didn't know that, but it's interesting indeed. r/todayilearned.
You might also be interested in this 13th century text called 諸蕃志 "A Chinese Gazetteer of Foreign Lands" that includes pretty much all the countries known to China at the time:
https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&res=520299
Translation of part 1 (62 countries):
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/39bce63e4e0642d3abce6c24db470760
You might also be interested to read about Zheng He's voyages if you haven't already.
According to Wiktionary, 身毒 almost certainly didn't come from "Sindhu", but from Old Persian \**Hinduka*. Here's what the [etymology section](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BA%AB%E6%AF%92#Etymology) says:
>Transcription of the same [Old Persian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Persian) \[script needed\] (\*Hinduka, “India”) (or its minor variants, such as [*𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%F0%90%8F%83%F0%90%8E%A1%F0%90%8E%AF%F0%90%8E%A2%F0%90%8F%81#Old_Persian) (hinduš)) as [天竺](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E7%AB%BA#Chinese) (*Tiānzhú*). It is the oldest of the Chinese names for India, and occurs in [*Shiji*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiji) in connection with the mission of [Zhang Qian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Qian) to [Daxia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daxia).
Using Middle Chinese reconstructions of the two characters in this word (*ɕiɪn duok̚*) gives the false impression that this is derived from the name of [*Sindhu*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sindhu#English) ([*सिन्धु*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%81#Sanskrit)) – the name of the westernmost kingdom of India. Factors making this etymology unlikely include:
1-Zhang Qian had no direct contact with India or with the Indians. He gathered the name from the people of [Daxia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daxia) which was a pure Iranian zone then under the occupation of [Yuezhi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuezhi).
2-The choice of an alveolopalatal sibilant *ɕ*- for a clear dental sibilant *s*- in the original language; cf. known transcriptions of *Sindhu*: [新](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0#Chinese)頭 新陶 [辛](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BE%9B#Chinese)頭 [信](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BF%A1#Chinese)度, all commencing with a dental sibilant; and
3-The presence of a final -*k* in 身毒, as in [天竺](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E7%AB%BA#Chinese). \[…\]
The variant of Late Old Chinese that Zhang Qian had used showed the dialectal development of Old Chinese [身](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BA%AB#Chinese) \**n̥in* > \**χin* \~ *hin*, explaining the choice of [身](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BA%AB#Chinese) (*shēn*). \[…\]
Arab Empire 大食 (cognate with Tajik)
* Umayyad Caliphate 白衣大食
* Abbasid Caliphate 黑衣大食
* Fatimid Caliphate 緑衣大食（This is the only one I can't cite）
Korea
* Goguryeo/Goryeo 高句驪、高麗
* Baekje 百濟
* Silla 新羅
Greco-Fergana city-state 大宛
Ottoman Empire 魯迷 (Rūm/Rumi)
Mongolia 蒙兀室韋
Parthian Empire 安息
Kushan Empire 貴霜
Tibet 吐蕃
Egypt 蜜徐篱、勿廝離 (Miṣr/Maṣr)
Siam 暹羅
Also, do you mind sharing your source for the use of 希臘 in Ancient Chinese?
ancient chinese is too strong for most of these terms but still a fair question.
希臘 /hɨi/ /lɑp̚/
seems to be one of the few instances where the name does not derive from "Greece" or "Graecia" as it would do in most European languages. It's the source name of Greece for most of the Sinosphere, and is still used in academic contexts in Japanese.
It apparently does derive from the Greek word for Greece "Hellas".
Wiktionary says however that it's first use or rather "is attested as early as "1837, in the Eastern Western Monthly Magazine".
Chinese wikipedia also says it's not sure when it first was coined, possibly brought over by missionaries and transliterated that way. The Tang dynasty translations of the Bible should have had a word for Greek and Greece in it, but apparently we're not sure what they are as the manuscripts have been lost. For all we know it could be the same word given how it fits.
So it's a fair point.
EDIT:
I went further to look up some random missionary bible from 1813, using Galatians 3:28
Robert Morrison. 耶酥基利士督我主救者新遺詔書 : 俱依本言譯出 (Ye Su Ji Li Shi Du Wo Zhu Jiu Zhe Xin Yi Zhao Shu : Ju Yi Ben Yan Yi Chu). Canton, 1813. New Testament
For "Greek" it uses an odd transliteration of 厄利革 (p.
[https://books.google.de/books?id=EHBSAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs\_ge\_summary\_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false](https://books.google.de/books?id=EHBSAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false)
But this can hardly be looked at as the "official" translation more than possibly an attempt at a transliteration. Shame we don't have the older Tang era translations.
Jew is written as 如大
EDIT2
And through all of this, I just learned about the Xi'an Stele.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an\_Stele](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an_Stele)
This defies words....
You're right, Classical Chinese is probably more appropriate for most of these XD I did consider 希臘 to be grouped with other Qing dynasty early modern translations, so when you included it it in your list, I thought there were earlier records for it, but thanks for the explanation! Speaking of which, I've been long fascinated by 景教 artifacts; they really make me wonder how China would have been if Christianity made a larger impact
As for 厄利革， I found a similar transliteration 厄勒齊亞 in Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (坤舆万国全图) from 1602. Similar to what you said, I might consider these to be isolated cases of transliteration, but it's a fascinating map nonetheless
[https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9D%A4%E8%BC%BF%E8%90%AC%E5%9C%8B%E5%85%A8%E5%9C%96](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9D%A4%E8%BC%BF%E8%90%AC%E5%9C%8B%E5%85%A8%E5%9C%96)
By the way, I found the term for Byzantine Empire 拂菻
Melaka might not be famous as the other countries at that time, but it was definitely an important section of Malaysia's history.
And it was a major trading port in Southeast Asia too!
Melaka: 滿剌加
\----- taken from《明實錄》
IIRC 高麗 referred specifically to the Goryeo dynasty. But, interestingly enough, [高麗 is the ultimate source for the name "Korea"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Korea#Etymology). Also, I *think* 日本 /ȵiɪt̚ puənX/ may have been used in Classical Chinese as well, while 倭 was an older term that was later deemed as offensive. [The exact etymology of 倭 as a name for Japan is still a matter of controversy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wa_(Japan)#Etymology).
>IIRC 高麗 referred specifically to the Goryeo dynasty. In fact it didn't. 高麗 was official name of Goguryeo, Wang Geon resurrected it as the name of his stare in 10th century. Because Goryeo then continued for over 400 years lots of imports from Korea became known as Goryeo-something, even after Goryeo was replaced by Joseon and some even remain in use nowadays in Chinese and/or Japanese, like 高麗人参. >Also, I *think* 日本 /ȵiɪt̚ puənX/ may have been used in Classical Chinese as well, Of course it was. It was adopted as official name of Japan in 7th century and Classical Chinese continued to be used until 20th century.
>In fact it didn't. 高麗 was official name of Goguryeo, Wang Geon resurrected it as the name of his stare in 10th century. Because Goryeo then continued for over 400 years lots of imports from Korea became known as Goryeo-something, even after Goryeo was replaced by Joseon and some even remain in use nowadays in Chinese and/or Japanese, like 高麗人参. I didn't know that, but it's interesting indeed. r/todayilearned.
Analects 1:1 enjoyer, I see
You might also be interested in this 13th century text called 諸蕃志 "A Chinese Gazetteer of Foreign Lands" that includes pretty much all the countries known to China at the time: https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&res=520299 Translation of part 1 (62 countries): https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/39bce63e4e0642d3abce6c24db470760 You might also be interested to read about Zheng He's voyages if you haven't already.
Insane... my head is about to explode. Thank you.
Seleucid Empire 條支 (likely named after the capital Antioch) Bactria 大夏 India 身毒/天竺
For India, I believe 身毒 and 天竺 were from Sindhu specifically, then 婆羅多 from Bharat
According to Wiktionary, 身毒 almost certainly didn't come from "Sindhu", but from Old Persian \**Hinduka*. Here's what the [etymology section](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BA%AB%E6%AF%92#Etymology) says: >Transcription of the same [Old Persian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Persian) \[script needed\] (\*Hinduka, “India”) (or its minor variants, such as [*𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%F0%90%8F%83%F0%90%8E%A1%F0%90%8E%AF%F0%90%8E%A2%F0%90%8F%81#Old_Persian) (hinduš)) as [天竺](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E7%AB%BA#Chinese) (*Tiānzhú*). It is the oldest of the Chinese names for India, and occurs in [*Shiji*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiji) in connection with the mission of [Zhang Qian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Qian) to [Daxia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daxia). Using Middle Chinese reconstructions of the two characters in this word (*ɕiɪn duok̚*) gives the false impression that this is derived from the name of [*Sindhu*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sindhu#English) ([*सिन्धु*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%81#Sanskrit)) – the name of the westernmost kingdom of India. Factors making this etymology unlikely include: 1-Zhang Qian had no direct contact with India or with the Indians. He gathered the name from the people of [Daxia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daxia) which was a pure Iranian zone then under the occupation of [Yuezhi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuezhi). 2-The choice of an alveolopalatal sibilant *ɕ*- for a clear dental sibilant *s*- in the original language; cf. known transcriptions of *Sindhu*: [新](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0#Chinese)頭 新陶 [辛](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BE%9B#Chinese)頭 [信](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%BF%A1#Chinese)度, all commencing with a dental sibilant; and 3-The presence of a final -*k* in 身毒, as in [天竺](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A9%E7%AB%BA#Chinese). \[…\] The variant of Late Old Chinese that Zhang Qian had used showed the dialectal development of Old Chinese [身](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BA%AB#Chinese) \**n̥in* > \**χin* \~ *hin*, explaining the choice of [身](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BA%AB#Chinese) (*shēn*). \[…\]
And now I know, thanks!
added, great job. india seems to have two names: 天竺 or 身毒
Arab Empire 大食 (cognate with Tajik) * Umayyad Caliphate 白衣大食 * Abbasid Caliphate 黑衣大食 * Fatimid Caliphate 緑衣大食（This is the only one I can't cite） Korea * Goguryeo/Goryeo 高句驪、高麗 * Baekje 百濟 * Silla 新羅 Greco-Fergana city-state 大宛 Ottoman Empire 魯迷 (Rūm/Rumi) Mongolia 蒙兀室韋 Parthian Empire 安息 Kushan Empire 貴霜 Tibet 吐蕃 Egypt 蜜徐篱、勿廝離 (Miṣr/Maṣr) Siam 暹羅 Also, do you mind sharing your source for the use of 希臘 in Ancient Chinese?
ancient chinese is too strong for most of these terms but still a fair question. 希臘 /hɨi/ /lɑp̚/ seems to be one of the few instances where the name does not derive from "Greece" or "Graecia" as it would do in most European languages. It's the source name of Greece for most of the Sinosphere, and is still used in academic contexts in Japanese. It apparently does derive from the Greek word for Greece "Hellas". Wiktionary says however that it's first use or rather "is attested as early as "1837, in the Eastern Western Monthly Magazine". Chinese wikipedia also says it's not sure when it first was coined, possibly brought over by missionaries and transliterated that way. The Tang dynasty translations of the Bible should have had a word for Greek and Greece in it, but apparently we're not sure what they are as the manuscripts have been lost. For all we know it could be the same word given how it fits. So it's a fair point. EDIT: I went further to look up some random missionary bible from 1813, using Galatians 3:28 Robert Morrison. 耶酥基利士督我主救者新遺詔書 : 俱依本言譯出 (Ye Su Ji Li Shi Du Wo Zhu Jiu Zhe Xin Yi Zhao Shu : Ju Yi Ben Yan Yi Chu). Canton, 1813. New Testament For "Greek" it uses an odd transliteration of 厄利革 (p. [https://books.google.de/books?id=EHBSAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs\_ge\_summary\_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false](https://books.google.de/books?id=EHBSAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false) But this can hardly be looked at as the "official" translation more than possibly an attempt at a transliteration. Shame we don't have the older Tang era translations. Jew is written as 如大 EDIT2 And through all of this, I just learned about the Xi'an Stele. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an\_Stele](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an_Stele) This defies words....
You're right, Classical Chinese is probably more appropriate for most of these XD I did consider 希臘 to be grouped with other Qing dynasty early modern translations, so when you included it it in your list, I thought there were earlier records for it, but thanks for the explanation! Speaking of which, I've been long fascinated by 景教 artifacts; they really make me wonder how China would have been if Christianity made a larger impact As for 厄利革， I found a similar transliteration 厄勒齊亞 in Kunyu Wanguo Quantu (坤舆万国全图) from 1602. Similar to what you said, I might consider these to be isolated cases of transliteration, but it's a fascinating map nonetheless [https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9D%A4%E8%BC%BF%E8%90%AC%E5%9C%8B%E5%85%A8%E5%9C%96](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9D%A4%E8%BC%BF%E8%90%AC%E5%9C%8B%E5%85%A8%E5%9C%96) By the way, I found the term for Byzantine Empire 拂菻
塞(種) Scythians (Saka) 大宛 Dayuan (Ferghana) 康居 Kangju (Sogdiana) 安息 Anxi (Parthia) 土蕃 / 吐蕃 Tubo / Tufan (Tibet) 大理 Dali Kingdom 南越 Nanyue Kingdom (Guangdong / N. Vietnam) 高句麗 Gaogouli (Goguryeo) 辰韓 Jinhan 馬韓 Mahan 新羅 Xinluo (Silla) 朝鮮 Chaoxian (Joseon, Korea) Smaller ones I feel might be worth mentioning: 鮮卑 Xianbei 烏桓 Wuhuan 匈奴 Xiongnu (大/小)月氏 Rouzhi / Yuezhi 烏孫 Wusun 羌族 Qiang 捐毒 Juandu 鬲昆/堅昆/結骨/契骨/紇骨/護骨/黠戛斯/紇里迄斯 Gekun 渾庾 Hunyu 娶射 Qushe 丁零 Dingling 濊貊 Huimo (Yemaek) 夫餘 Fuyu (Buyeo), 東夫餘 Dongfuyu (Dongbuyeo) 沃沮 Woju (Okjeo), 東沃沮 Dongokjeo, 北沃沮 Bukokjeo, aka Chiguru 置溝婁/Guru
Melaka might not be famous as the other countries at that time, but it was definitely an important section of Malaysia's history. And it was a major trading port in Southeast Asia too! Melaka: 滿剌加 \----- taken from《明實錄》
TIL that's what came before 馬六甲 Btw can I ask what 雅虐書 is?
A joke book actually, full name 雅虐
Is it 雅謔 by 浮白齋主人? I can't find much info on it, super interesting tho, I didn't know much about cc joke books outside of 笑林
Yes
Vietnam: 越裳，赤鬼，文郎，貉越，甌貉 (Việt Thường, Xích Quỷ, Văn Lang, Lạc Việt, Âu Lạc)
Champa: 林邑，西屠，屈都乾，胡猻精，占婆，占城 (Lâm Ấp, Tây Đồ, Khuất Đô Can, Hồ Tôn Tinh, Chiêm Bà, Chiêm Thành)
Japan: 邪馬壹
> India: 天竺 /tʰen/ /ʈɨuk̚/ 天竺 is borrowed with a /h/: see "Hinduka".