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Someone brought an interesting point.
中国 means China. But literally it means "Middle Kingdom" or "Central Country" etc., and there is no denial of that. This was more or less because in ancient time folks thought whatever place they lived in was the centre (like how the sun spins around the earth?). The tradition lived on (why would anyone want to change it? It sounds "fine"). Because the vocabulary is so deep embedded, more native speakers cannot extract the literal meaning from the word.
On the other hand, if you still think it's atrocious, here's something to keep in mind: the following countries also have specific names that are not direct transliterations:
- 英国 (Great Britain), lit. Country of Bravery
- 法国 (France), lit. Country of Law
- 德国 (Germany), lit. Country of Virtue
- 美国 (US), lit. Country of Beauty
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Canada5565 Posts
I think the meaning of Middle Kingdom has more to do with Confucian orthodoxy than economic or material status
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On October 01 2009 16:31 Xxio wrote:
I think the meaning of Middle Kingdom has more to do with Confucian orthodoxy than economic or material status
I think it's 中华
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On October 01 2009 16:25 illu wrote:
On the other hand, if you still think it's atrocious, here's something to keep in mind: the following countries also have specific names that are not direct transliterations:
- 英国 (Great Britain), lit. Country of Bravery
- 法国 (France), lit. Country of Law
- 德国 (Germany), lit. Country of Virtue
- 美国 (US), lit. Country of Beauty
This is all bullshit and complete transliteration.
The Chinese names take the first sound of every country's original name.
En, Fr, Deu, Me
There's no reason anyone needs to even defend the name "Middle Kingdom." It came into use not at the beginning but sometime later, and it's built into the identity of the country's long history.
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I see this as an epic ego stroking.
Who really gives a shit about how important or how 'middle' the country is? I rather see all you fenqings get off your high horses and start talking about how to make modern China better instead of mesmerising on how 'great' or how 'important' it was 2000 fucking years ago.
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why does it matter what is the "center of the world"?
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On October 01 2009 15:45 psion0011 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 01 2009 15:26 Disregard wrote:
Anyone here from Southern China (Excluding Hong Kong and Macau)? Hunan motherfuckers whoo.
This. Not originally from Hunan, but I live there now.
And I don't see why people have to shit up a thread like this... Who cares about who was the center of the world, this is a great day for China and it should be celebrated as such. Forget about any political or moral or whatever agendas you might have, just enjoy the day for what it is: a day of celebration and pride for a great country whose people love it.
I'm proud to have the opportunity to be in China and to participate in the festivities and enjoyment that have been shared here on this day and over the past week. Although I really wish I hadn't stayed out all night and slept through the parade 
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OMFG i opened the stream and the first thing i saw was a KFC commercial atrocious. Here's hoping china and all of the world will be good friends in the future! a military parade isn't the best way to show a friendly face though :p
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On October 01 2009 19:04 nttea wrote:OMFG i opened the stream and the first thing i saw was a KFC commercial atrocious. Here's hoping china and all of the world will be good friends in the future! a military parade isn't the best way to show a friendly face though :p
I hope so too, but the military parade tradition has been going on since the birth of the PRC and it's not changing now.
The Olympics were probably for showing a friendly face.
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lol another china thread. no comment.
didnt see the parade. is it up on youtube or somewhere? thanks.
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On October 01 2009 19:48 pyrogenetix wrote:
lol another china thread. no comment.
didnt see the parade. is it up on youtube or somewhere? thanks.
They'll be rebroadcasting it at 22:45 Chinese time, as well as 3:54 and 9:45 tomorrow.
That's 10:45 AM, 3:54 PM, and 9:45 PM EDT. You can find it here:
http://zhibo.guoqing.cctv.com/special/gqzb/p2p/index.shtml?chal=CCTV-1
On another note, the night celebration is currently live, and it has lots of famous Chinese singers.
Edit: You need to use IE to watch the stream.
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On October 01 2009 14:50 meegrean wrote:
China has been generous. China will grow larger.
Ahahahaha command and conquer generals!
I signed up just to say that.
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Northern Ireland22213 Posts
Chaingun upgrade is compwete
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Baa?21248 Posts
We got hackers in Generals. Ownage.
I saw some clips of the parade, pretty cool. The people are
generally happy that they get a week off =P
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On October 01 2009 22:19 tredmasta wrote:Show nested quote +On October 01 2009 19:48 pyrogenetix wrote:
lol another china thread. no comment.
didnt see the parade. is it up on youtube or somewhere? thanks. They'll be rebroadcasting it at 22:45 Chinese time, as well as 3:54 and 9:45 tomorrow. That's 10:45 AM, 3:54 PM, and 9:45 PM EDT. You can find it here: http://zhibo.guoqing.cctv.com/special/gqzb/p2p/index.shtml?chal=CCTV-1On another note, the night celebration is currently live, and it has lots of famous Chinese singers. Edit: You need to use IE to watch the stream.
Thanks for this 
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On October 01 2009 18:58 Orlandu wrote:Show nested quote +On October 01 2009 15:45 psion0011 wrote:On October 01 2009 15:26 Disregard wrote:
Anyone here from Southern China (Excluding Hong Kong and Macau)? Hunan motherfuckers whoo. This. Not originally from Hunan, but I live there now. And I don't see why people have to shit up a thread like this... Who cares about who was the center of the world, this is a great day for China and it should be celebrated as such. Forget about any political or moral or whatever agendas you might have, just enjoy the day for what it is: a day of celebration and pride for a great country whose people love it. I'm proud to have the opportunity to be in China and to participate in the festivities and enjoyment that have been shared here on this day and over the past week. Although I really wish I hadn't stayed out all night and slept through the parade
hunan people unite
where are you guys at? changsha?
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I am from NanChang, JiangXi. I haven't visited for 3 years now, planning to go back and visit family next year.
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On October 01 2009 15:26 Disregard wrote:
Anyone here from Southern China (Excluding Hong Kong and Macau)?
I'm from Guangzhou Represent!
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On October 01 2009 11:49 Kennigit wrote:
Oh god here we fucking go....next even slightly nationalistic/china bash/racist comment = 1000 year ching chong bing bong ban.
r u kidding? go ban yourself then mr "ching chang bing bong" yes that is "even slightly racist"
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On October 02 2009 02:39 LeoTheLion wrote:Show nested quote +On October 01 2009 18:58 Orlandu wrote:On October 01 2009 15:45 psion0011 wrote:On October 01 2009 15:26 Disregard wrote:
Anyone here from Southern China (Excluding Hong Kong and Macau)? Hunan motherfuckers whoo. This. Not originally from Hunan, but I live there now. And I don't see why people have to shit up a thread like this... Who cares about who was the center of the world, this is a great day for China and it should be celebrated as such. Forget about any political or moral or whatever agendas you might have, just enjoy the day for what it is: a day of celebration and pride for a great country whose people love it. I'm proud to have the opportunity to be in China and to participate in the festivities and enjoyment that have been shared here on this day and over the past week. Although I really wish I hadn't stayed out all night and slept through the parade hunan people unite where are you guys at? changsha?
Yeah, Changsha is where I'm at.
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EPT
