| Proper noun
中華
(Pinyin): Zhōnghuá
(Jyutping): zung1 waa4 |
1. (formal, poetic, exalted) China (a cultural region and civilization in East Asia, occupying the region around the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers, taken as a whole under its various dynasties)
2. (formal, poetic, exalted) China (a large country in East Asia, occupying the region around the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers; the People's Republic of China, since 1949)
3. (～里) an urban village in Songshan district, Taipei, Taiwan
4. short for 中華臺北／中华台北 (Zhōnghuá Táiběi, “Chinese Taipei”)
Usage notes
In traditional East Asian thought, 華／华 (Huá) or 中華／中华 (Zhōnghuá), often translated as ""Chinese"", has a philosophical connotation of civilizedness and decorous behavior that transcends a strictly ethnic definition. This is in opposition to ""foreigners"" or ""barbarians"", 夷 (yí) or 夷狄 (yídí), whose cultures are uncivilized and lacking in proper morality. Therefore, in certain contexts, other nations of the East Asian cultural sphere could refer to themselves as 中華／中华 (Zhōnghuá) in the sense that they were civilized people following the classical traditions first established in Ancient China, without meaning that they saw themselves as Chinese in an ethnic sense.
Although also used in the formal names of both the Republic and People's Republic of China, the term carries a somewhat broader sense than 中國／中国 (Zhōngguó, “state of China”) and connotes something like the ""nation of the Chinese people"" or ""land of the Chinese culture"". | 中華文明／中华文明 ― Zhōnghuá wénmíng ― Chinese civilization
中華世紀壇／中华世纪坛 ― Zhōnghuá shìjì tán ― China Millennium Monument
振興中華／振兴中华 ― zhènxīng Zhōnghuá ― to revitalize China
中華名小吃／中华名小吃 ― Zhōnghuá míngxiǎochī ― famous Chinese snack
中華文化／中华文化 ― Zhōnghuá wénhuà ― Chinese culture
中華隊／中华队 ― Zhōnghuá duì ― Team Chinese Tapei |