<p>The name <strong>西藏 / Xīzàng</strong> is fairly recent. </p>

<p>Both <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_Tibet#In_English" rel="noreferrer">Wikipedia</a> and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Tibet" rel="noreferrer">Encyclopedia Britannica</a> agree that the name "Tibet" is derived from a different language than Chinese, probably Persian "Tubbat", but that may not be the original source of the name (Wikipedia). Britannica says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The name Tibet is derived from the Mongolian Thubet, the Chinese
  Tufan, the Tai Thibet, and the Arabic Tubbat.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Dr. Elliot Sperling wrote that " in discussing Tibet as an integral historical unit the name is clearly of limited utility and can create confusion" and that the Chinese edition of the book <em>Authenticating Tibet</em> therefore uses a different name, namely "Tubote" (a name closer to the non-Chinese origin of the name "Tibet"): </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Indeed, it is due to the specific limitations of that term that it was
  decided that the Chinese edition of Authenticating Tibet would employ
  the term “Tubote” 圖伯特, a name that is used now by a growing number of
  writers and bloggers on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. As a result,
  I prepared the following introductory essay for the Chinese-language
  edition of Authenticating Tibet in order to explain the choice while
  at the same time pointing out that the term “Tubote”is not a recent
  concoction: it has a history as a recognized Chinese-language
  designation for Tibet.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>His essay <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/tibetanpoliticalreview/articles/tubotetibetandthepowerofnaming" rel="noreferrer">Tubote, Tibet, and the Power of Naming</a> also discusses the etymology of 西藏 / Xīzàng.</p>

<p>The origin of the name <strong>"Peking"</strong> instead of Beijing is a different story. European commercial travellers to China often came to the country through ports in south-east China, where dialects other than Mandarin are spoken. For this reason, some people think that the name "Peking" derives from one of those dialects, most likely Cantonese, where the pronunciation may have sounded like [pakkiŋ]. An alternative theory is that the European name was borrowed from Mandarin before the shift in pronunciation from [k] to [ʧ]. See Bill Poser's article <a href="http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000583.html" rel="noreferrer">BEIJING, PEKING, PEIPING AND ALL THAT</a> on Language Log.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-07T03:25:37.493Z
Similarly, the name for China in English (i.e. "China") is not *Zhongguo* or something like that for these same general reasons
haksayng
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-07T12:17:29.790Z
@haksayng I have now added an explanation for the origin of "Peking". The name "China" may go back to stories about the Qin dynasty. I'll look that up.
Tsundoku
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-07T15:32:59.693Z
Okay! Interesting findings in this answer. I think more so than lots of other places because of the (mostly not phonetically informative) nature of Chinese characters, there is relatively more naming chaos in the case of Chinese than with other languages;
haksayng
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-06T17:35:55.043Z
2017-08-07T12:16:28.147Z
2017-08-07T12:16:28.147Z
Tsundoku
<p>We use 吐蕃 in the Tang dynasty, which is exactly Tibet. See <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%90%E8%95%83" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wikipedia/吐蕃</a>. There are three traditional regions in Tibet, Ü-Tsang, Amdo, and Kham, in which Ü-Tsang is the largest and strongest. Also, Ü-Tsang is the cultural center of Tibet. So appears its modern name 藏 in the Qing dynasty.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-29T12:45:54.360Z
2022-04-29T12:45:54.360Z
Youran
<p>In this case it looks like it was taken from another language as Christophe Strobbe wrote. </p>

<p>Many times the English is taken from previous romanizations. For example "Peking" was an earlier romanization of 北京. Now English uses the more accurate "Beijing".</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-29T13:01:05.197Z
Peking and Beijing is because of a famous mismatch of Chinese and western language's Consonant. See https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/210023/why-are-student-and-suspend-not-pronounced-as-written/210060#210060
Youran
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-07T02:21:28.300Z
2017-08-07T02:21:28.300Z
Michael Angel
<p>Perhaps it is the name given by English users when they first reached that region, but as we know after 1949, China adopted the pinyin and unified the spelling of English of names of place, Peking was changed into Beijing, something like Bombay of India into Mumbai, as the result of the nationalist efforts to make special identity. But Tibet is still in use, but not as Xizang. Why is it so? Hope it is not a political question. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-06T18:18:14.177Z
བོད་ (Bö) is the Tibetan name of the Greater Tibet region (might be related to European name).
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-07T12:09:52.580Z
For a foregner, Tibet is more popular, just like Canton for Guangzhou.
Daniel Yang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-29T12:29:25.943Z
We use 吐蕃 in the Tang dynasty, which is exactly Tibet. See [wikipedia/吐蕃](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%90%E8%95%83).
Youran
<meaning-in-context><place-names>
Why is 西藏 Tibet but not Xizang in English as are other names of place in China?
# Why is 西藏 Tibet but not Xizang in English as are other names of place in China?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-08-06)

Perhaps it is the name given by English users when they first reached that region, but as we know after 1949, China adopted the pinyin and unified the spelling of English of names of place, Peking was changed into Beijing, something like Bombay of India into Mumbai, as the result of the nationalist efforts to make special identity. But Tibet is still in use, but not as Xizang. Why is it so? Hope it is not a political question.

**Tags:** meaning-in-context, place-names

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: བོད་ (Bö) is the Tibetan name of the Greater Tibet region (might be related to European name).  
> **username_2**: For a foregner, Tibet is more popular, just like Canton for Guangzhou.  
> **username_3**: We use 吐蕃 in the Tang dynasty, which is exactly Tibet. See [wikipedia/吐蕃](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%90%E8%95%83).  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-08-06. Score: 8

The name **西藏 / Xīzàng** is fairly recent.

Both [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_Tibet#In_English) and the [Encyclopedia Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/Tibet) agree that the name "Tibet" is derived from a different language than Chinese, probably Persian "Tubbat", but that may not be the original source of the name (Wikipedia). Britannica says:

> The name Tibet is derived from the Mongolian Thubet, the Chinese
> Tufan, the Tai Thibet, and the Arabic Tubbat.

Dr. Elliot Sperling wrote that " in discussing Tibet as an integral historical unit the name is clearly of limited utility and can create confusion" and that the Chinese edition of the book *Authenticating Tibet* therefore uses a different name, namely "Tubote" (a name closer to the non-Chinese origin of the name "Tibet"):

> Indeed, it is due to the specific limitations of that term that it was
> decided that the Chinese edition of Authenticating Tibet would employ
> the term “Tubote” 圖伯特, a name that is used now by a growing number of
> writers and bloggers on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. As a result,
> I prepared the following introductory essay for the Chinese-language
> edition of Authenticating Tibet in order to explain the choice while
> at the same time pointing out that the term “Tubote”is not a recent
> concoction: it has a history as a recognized Chinese-language
> designation for Tibet.

His essay [Tubote, Tibet, and the Power of Naming](https://sites.google.com/site/tibetanpoliticalreview/articles/tubotetibetandthepowerofnaming) also discusses the etymology of 西藏 / Xīzàng.

The origin of the name **"Peking"** instead of Beijing is a different story. European commercial travellers to China often came to the country through ports in south-east China, where dialects other than Mandarin are spoken. For this reason, some people think that the name "Peking" derives from one of those dialects, most likely Cantonese, where the pronunciation may have sounded like [pakkiŋ]. An alternative theory is that the European name was borrowed from Mandarin before the shift in pronunciation from [k] to [ʧ]. See Bill Poser's article [BEIJING, PEKING, PEIPING AND ALL THAT](http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000583.html) on Language Log.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Similarly, the name for China in English (i.e. "China") is not *Zhongguo* or something like that for these same general reasons  
> **username_4**: @username_5 I have now added an explanation for the origin of "Peking". The name "China" may go back to stories about the Qin dynasty. I'll look that up.  
> **username_5**: Okay! Interesting findings in this answer. I think more so than lots of other places because of the (mostly not phonetically informative) nature of Chinese characters, there is relatively more naming chaos in the case of Chinese than with other languages;  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-04-29. Score: 1

We use 吐蕃 in the Tang dynasty, which is exactly Tibet. See [wikipedia/吐蕃](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%90%E8%95%83). There are three traditional regions in Tibet, Ü-Tsang, Amdo, and Kham, in which Ü-Tsang is the largest and strongest. Also, Ü-Tsang is the cultural center of Tibet. So appears its modern name 藏 in the Qing dynasty.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2017-08-07. Score: 0

In this case it looks like it was taken from another language as Christophe Strobbe wrote.

Many times the English is taken from previous romanizations. For example "Peking" was an earlier romanization of 北京. Now English uses the more accurate "Beijing".

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Peking and Beijing is because of a famous mismatch of Chinese and western language's Consonant. See https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/210023/why-are-student-and-suspend-not-pronounced-as-written/210060#210060  

---

