2.  Native  appellations  are  various.  Hua  Hsia,  Flow-
ery Hsia,  T'aiig  Shan,  Hills  of  T'^ang,  and  Ta  Ch'ing
Kuo,  Great  Pure  Kingdom,  are  phrases  derived  from
celebrated  dynasties  of  the  past  and  present,  while
the  commonest  name,  Chung  Kuo,  Middle  Kingdom,
points  back  to  the  time,  more  than  3,000  years  ago,
when  the  Chou  dynasty  called  the  royal  domain —
located  in  modern  Ho-nan  —  by  that  name,  because
it  was  in  the  centre  surrounded  by  its  feudal  states.
Ssu  Hai  [all  within] ,  the  Four  Seas,  and  T  'ien  Hsia,
Beneath  the  Sky,  are  very  ancient  appellations,  while
Chin-tan,  Dawn,  and  Tiing  T'u,  Land  of  the  East —
a  Mohammedan  name — are  of  comparatively  recent
date.     Our  phrase,  the  Celestials,  comes  from  T'ien


THE   WORLD  OF  THE  CHINESE


Ch^ao,  Heavenly  Dynasty,  meaning  the  kingdom
which  is  ruled  over  by  the  dynasty  appointed  by
Heaven.  Clmng  Hua  Kuo,  Middle  Flowery  King-
dom, does  not  so  much  refer  to  a  land  of  flowers  as
to  the  fact  that  the  Chinese  regard  themselves  as
among  the  most  polished  and  civilized  of  nations
(cf.  our  word  flowery  in  its  rhetorical  sense).
