<p>Ancient Chinese <strong>has no concept</strong> of the modern-called continents. Instead, they describe the world as a &quot;China-Foreign&quot; system, while China is the centre of the world, and other countries are scattered around China.<br />
The name of Asia firstly appeared in China in 1582, on the map <em>Kunyu Wanguo Quantu</em>. The name was translated by Matteo Ricci, assisted by Chinese officials.</p>

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2020-07-06T12:02:53.077Z
2020-07-06T12:28:40.297Z
2020-07-06T12:28:40.297Z
Winfred Huang
<p>The Chinese word for Asia is 亞細亞 (yaxiya).</p>
<p>The root of these words seems to be the greek word &quot;Asia&quot;, derived from the Akkadian <em>&quot;asu&quot;</em> which means <em>&quot;to rise&quot;</em>.</p>
<p>Thus, Asia is the land of the rising sun. But this only has meaning if Asia is seen from the West (historically from the region around the Aegean Sea).</p>
<p>The Chinese historical name of China is 中國 (zhongguo) and means <em>&quot;central region&quot;</em>. From the perspective of a Chinese, it is natural to name his own land that way.</p>
<p>But what is the Chinese ancient name of the whole region/continent of Asia?</p>

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2020-07-02T10:46:10.207Z
No. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent#Number - The division of "Asia" from "Europe" is an arbitrary Greek division which is not rooted in any kind of geography. If you want to see an arbitrary Chinese division instead, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinocentrism#Sinocentric_system.
dROOOze
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2020-07-02T10:58:07.307Z
I think 九服 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9D%E6%9C%8D  already cover the whole Asia, I guess today's Vietnam was in around 衛服 and 蠻服 area. the furthest  藩服 probably reached  Russia
Tang Ho
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2020-07-02T11:15:32.767Z
To give a cogent answer, a definition of "ancient" is necessary. How far ancient back do you want to go since ancient China, (using this term loosely), could go back over 5000 years. In any case, there was no such thing as "Asia", (meaning a defined geographical landmass east of the  Bosporus river) or "the West", (where white people lived), in ancient Chinese geopolitical ideology.
Wayne Cheah
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2020-07-02T11:21:50.847Z
I'd define "ancient" to mean "before the need to translate the western word/concept "Asia"".
Bao
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2020-07-02T15:07:39.673Z
亞細亞/亚细亚  is only a phonetic rendering of the (Greco-Latin) word _Asia_, and not used other than for transliterating the name of companies, and for the ancient Roman province of Asia, or if someone by chance bears the name _Asia_ and a transliteration of the name is needed, e.g. in the lack of a proper Chinese name. The Chinese word commonly used for _Asia_ is 亞洲/亚洲.
imrek
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2020-07-02T15:54:03.943Z
@imrek 亞細亞 is the original transliterated Chinese word for *Asia*, and is what will actually turn up if someone tries to search for the Chinese word for *Asia* in historical Chinese literature.
dROOOze
<history><place-names>
Is there an ancient chinese name for Asia?
# Is there an ancient chinese name for Asia?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-07-02)

The Chinese word for Asia is 亞細亞 (yaxiya).

The root of these words seems to be the greek word "Asia", derived from the Akkadian *"asu"* which means *"to rise"*.

Thus, Asia is the land of the rising sun. But this only has meaning if Asia is seen from the West (historically from the region around the Aegean Sea).

The Chinese historical name of China is 中國 (zhongguo) and means *"central region"*. From the perspective of a Chinese, it is natural to name his own land that way.

But what is the Chinese ancient name of the whole region/continent of Asia?

**Tags:** history, place-names

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: No. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent#Number - The division of "Asia" from "Europe" is an arbitrary Greek division which is not rooted in any kind of geography. If you want to see an arbitrary Chinese division instead, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinocentrism#Sinocentric_system.  
> **username_2**: I think 九服 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%9D%E6%9C%8D  already cover the whole Asia, I guess today's Vietnam was in around 衛服 and 蠻服 area. the furthest  藩服 probably reached  Russia  
> **username_3**: To give a cogent answer, a definition of "ancient" is necessary. How far ancient back do you want to go since ancient China, (using this term loosely), could go back over 5000 years. In any case, there was no such thing as "Asia", (meaning a defined geographical landmass east of the  Bosporus river) or "the West", (where white people lived), in ancient Chinese geopolitical ideology.  
> **username_0**: I'd define "ancient" to mean "before the need to translate the western word/concept "Asia"".  
> **username_4**: 亞細亞/亚细亚  is only a phonetic rendering of the (Greco-Latin) word _Asia_, and not used other than for transliterating the name of companies, and for the ancient Roman province of Asia, or if someone by chance bears the name _Asia_ and a transliteration of the name is needed, e.g. in the lack of a proper Chinese name. The Chinese word commonly used for _Asia_ is 亞洲/亚洲.  
> **username_1**: @username_4 亞細亞 is the original transliterated Chinese word for *Asia*, and is what will actually turn up if someone tries to search for the Chinese word for *Asia* in historical Chinese literature.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2020-07-06. Score: 3

Ancient Chinese **has no concept** of the modern-called continents. Instead, they describe the world as a "China-Foreign" system, while China is the centre of the world, and other countries are scattered around China.  
The name of Asia firstly appeared in China in 1582, on the map *Kunyu Wanguo Quantu*. The name was translated by Matteo Ricci, assisted by Chinese officials.


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