关于中国的英语演讲

China

Chinahasoneoftheworld'soldestpeopleandcontinuouscivilizations,consistingofstatesandculturesdatingbackmorethansixmillennia.Ithastheworld'slongestcontinuouslyusedwrittenlanguagesystem,andisthesourceofmanymajorinventions,suchaswhattheBritishscholarandbiochemistJosephNeedhamcalledthefourgreatinventionsofAncientChina:paper,thecompass,gunpowder,andprinting.Historically,China'sculturalspherehasextendedacrossEastAsiaasawhole,withChinesereligion,customs,andwritingsystemsbeingadoptedtovaryingdegreesbyneighborssuchasJapan,KoreaandVietnam.ThefirstevidenceofhumanpresenceintheregionwasfoundattheZhoukoudiancaveandisoneofthefirstknownspecimensofHomoErectus,nowcommonlyknownasthePekingMan,estimatedtohavelivedapproximatelyfrom300,000to550,000yearsago.Noticeably,itisalsoknownthatthePekingManwasabletocontrolanduseFire.

EnglishandmanyotherlanguagesusevariousformsofthenameChinaandtheprefixSino-orSin-.TheseformsarethoughttoderivefromthenameoftheQinDynastythatfirstunifiedthecountry(221–206BCE).ThepronunciationofQinissimilartothephoneticcheen,whichisconsideredthepossiblerootofthewordChina.[1]However,theChinesethemselvesneverreferredtotheirnationastheQin.Instead,theMandarinpronunciation(alanguagedevelopedintheMiddleAges)isZhongGuo.

TheoriginsofthewordChina,mayalsocomefromamispronunciationofthelastChineseDynasty,the17thcenturyQingDynasty.'China'wasreferredtobymanyothernames,suchasSinae,Seres,Kina,Cathay,etc,bywesternhistoriansbeforethemodernperiod,thefactthatthewordChinabecamepopularduringtheQingDynastygivescredencetothisidea.

Chinaisknownas'Zhōngguó'inMandarinandpinyin(中国intraditionalchineseor中国insimplifiedchinese).Thecharacterzhōngmeansmiddleorcentral;theletter,guó,meansland,kingdomorcountry.AnappropriateEnglishtranslationwouldbemiddlekingdom.

ThenameZhōngguófirstappearedintheClassicofHistory(6thcenturyBCE),andwasusedtorefertothelateZhouDynasty,astheybelievedthattheywerethecenterofcivilization,[2]whilepeoplesinthefourcardinalswerecalledEasternYi,SouthernMan,WesternRongandNorthernDirespectively.SometextsimplythatZhōngguówasoriginallymeanttorefertothecapitalofthesovereign,todifferfromthecapitalofhisvassals.[3]TheuseofZhōngguóimpliedaclaimofpoliticallegitimacy,andZhōngguówasoftenusedbystateswhosawthemselvesasthesolelegitimatesuccessortopreviousChinesedynasties;forexample,intheeraoftheSouthernSongDynasty,boththeJinDynastyandtheSouthernSongstateclaimedtobeZhōngguó.[4]

ZhōngguócametoofficialuseasanabbreviationfortheRepublicofChina(ZhonghuaMinguo)afterthegovernment'sestablishmentin1912.SincethePeople'sRepublicofChina,establishedin1949,nowcontrolsthegreatmajorityoftheareaencompassedwithinthetraditionalconceptofChina,thePeople'sRepublicisthepoliticalunitmostcommonlyidentifiedwiththeabbreviatednameZhōngguó.[5]