When was 华/華 first used as a reference to China?

Question

E.g. as in 中华 or 华语, and other similar words.

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 09 '15 at 02:37

5

In 春秋左傳 (722/468 BCE). http://ctext.org/chun-qiu-zuo-zhuan has the statement 楚失華夏.

Huaxia used to denote tribes that later became the Han people, and later the term shifted to symbolize China. Hua is the beautiful clothes worn by the Chinese, xia is for the grandness of the culture.

「中國有禮儀之大，故稱夏；有服章之美，謂之華。」《春秋左傳正義》

References:

Wikipedia: Huaxia

維基百科：華夏

維基百科：華夏族

Wikipedia: Xia Dynasty

維基百科：夏朝

維基百科：中華

edited Jul 09 '15 at 02:37

leo4jc

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answered Jul 08 '15 at 18:54

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Also 華 and 夏 sound the same in the ancient 吳語 (Wu Chinese). So they might be used interchangeably in the old days. – leo4jc Jul 08 '15 at 19:26
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the source provided predates the existence of wu chinese – Colin Jul 09 '15 at 00:17

When was 华/華 first used as a reference to China?

1 Answers1