Names of Kingdoms in a balkanized China

I know very little of Chinese history. I'm looking for believable names for Chinese states without using actual historical ones like Cai or Wu. Or, at least nothing that well known. Ideas?
 
The balkanized China is very peripheral, so I haven't thought it out. I just want some names for a map. Assume that the POD is far enough out that damned near any butterfly is possible, but I don't want Cai, Chin, Wu, etc.
 
Your best bet is for the area to stay tribal and each area taking the name from each individual leader's family.

Well you have the common names such as:
- Tibet
- Mongolia
- Manchuria

Without a massive china, would the three kingdom of korea, be able to spread out rather than attacking and engulfing each other:
- Baekje
- Silla
- Goguryeo

Based on the Turkic peoples of Göktürks, you could have a large area known as
- East Turkey/Turkestan
 
Do we want to go back to these days:

bcfbc5a5870df9c582a9229cfc63ca14.jpg
 
I know very little of Chinese history. I'm looking for believable names for Chinese states without using actual historical ones like Cai or Wu. Or, at least nothing that well known. Ideas?

That's more or less highly improbable and a very parvenu thing to do.The only way that can happen would be if a number of Chinese states happen to be the vassal of a larger one like what happened towards the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten kingdoms period.Some states like Southern Tang were forced to changed their names to Jiangnan when they were forced to become the vassal of Later Zhou.Once a state gets strong enough to break their vassalage,they will probably change back to whatever they used to be called.
Do we want to go back to these days:

bcfbc5a5870df9c582a9229cfc63ca14.jpg
Better.
45d0cac7074c4a409b18561fe22040ac
 
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Try researching Chinese history before you make topics like this. I mean really, you're going to ignore why Chinese state names were decided as such and other such cultural-political conventions when you're supposedly trying to write something?

If this sounds trollish, then you'll have to excuse me, since I find it quite unbelievable for you to ask such questions in a void of information.
 
If this sounds trollish, then you'll have to excuse me, since I find it quite unbelievable for you to ask such questions in a void of information.

Yeah, you're coming across as preachy, there. ;) Frankly, everyone has their priorities, Brother, and though I'd like your help I certainly don't live for your approval. "Unbelievable?" Really? Considering some of the rank idiocy I see on these forums? But if you want more info:

This is for a cheap little one-off project, and this part of it is sort of what you'd only see very blurry in the background of a movie or something. I wanted to avoid the usual names only because they've been done so much and would stand out to anyone familiar with them as laziness on my part. Some alternate names of what were historically vassals or provinces as mentioned above would work just fine for me- I just don't want to use the names of any of the Warring Kingdoms- and I figured there'd be someone who could just spit them out off the top of their head, here. I have certainly answered similar requests. And in fact it isn't even alternate history- it's science fiction- but I figured if anyone could come up with appropriate names for culturally Chinese polities it would be here. I could manage Russian, but I would fail spectacularly and amusingly if I tried to produce Chinese names. It would be like the fake English writing you see on some counterfeit stuff- it sort of looks right to a non-native speaker, but it's gibberish.

I tried to put the request in terms familiar to everyone here but, yes, it's not really alternate history so sorry if anyone feels misled. Does that help? So, it's a chance for someone to get creative...
 
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When the Chinese named other countries they tried to use positive terms in their names for example the United States is Meiguo (美国) which literally means 'Beautiful Country', assuming that these states have languages similar to Mandarin maybe the countries would use positive/descriptive terms for themselves. For example an eastern nation might call itself Xiaoguo (晓国) 'Dawn Country'.
 
When the Chinese named other countries they tried to use positive terms in their names for example the United States is Meiguo (美国) which literally means 'Beautiful Country', assuming that these states have languages similar to Mandarin maybe the countries would use positive/descriptive terms for themselves. For example an eastern nation might call itself Xiaoguo (晓国) 'Dawn Country'.

Awesome! Yes, this is exactly the sort of stuff that would work perfectly for me. (I readily admit utter ignorance of Chinese linguistics, and I'm a hell of a lot better on modern as opposed to ancient Chinese history.) I was sort of coming at it from the (admittedly Western) perspective that they might name a new country after some other pre-existing place- "New England", etc.- and that thus old provinces and such might be candidates. But if you all who know so much more about this that I do think this is better then I'm all for it.

And I didn't want to accidentally name some country "diseased penis" or whatever, so I had thought that the obscure-historical-names approach would be safe.
 
Prior to Yuan, Chinese state names were based on the single-character (=pre-unification) name of the region where the founder originated from. This is a virtually invariable rule; why would it change?

If not, there's the possibility of an elemental name, like Ming (meaning "brightness," thus associated with fire out of the five Chinese elements) or Qing (meaning "clear" and with the water radical, so having to do with the element of water). Most East Asian dynasties were associated with a certain element. In Korea we have Silla (metal) --> Koryo (water) --> Chosôn (wood), etc.

The positive names that Western countries have in Mandarin are recent developments caused by imperialism. As recently as the 18th century (and in some cases up to the Communist Revolution) non-Han peoples were regularly written with the "dog" radical.
 
Yet again, my ignorance is spelled out for me...

I really should read more on ancient China, someday. But as it is my to-read pile is challenging the structural integrity of my house. (When I build my 'dream house' it's going to have an actual library, by God.) I'm better on Japan. I'm pretty bad at India, though I'm reasonably competent at central Asia and more or less on top of Russia. I'm getting better on Africa. Slowly. I'm all over the Middle East and North Africa, in addition to Europe and its descendants of course.
 
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If you are going to create a whole new country or dynasty, just don't use Google translate to "generate" the Chinese character you want. The result is always something too modern(too inelegant,compare to the Classical Chinese)for imperial china.
 
I know very little of Chinese history. I'm looking for believable names for Chinese states without using actual historical ones like Cai or Wu. Or, at least nothing that well known. Ideas?

Eh. I recommended the Baiyue names. It's the only ones I can think of without changing the entire fabric of Chinese society. Mostly because a Baiyue invasion actually would change the entire fabric of Chinese society. And it'd be before China established all of its fiefdoms and stuff.

Basically, it's difficult to name Chinese kingdoms anything but Cai and Wei and Wu and Yan because those are the main fiefdoms. It's sort of like asking "How do I name new German kingdoms without using common names like Prussia or Saxony or Burgundy or Lorraine, or any of those other historical names?"

I hope this doesn't come across as insulting. I apologize if so.
 
It's sort of like asking "How do I name new German kingdoms without using common names like Prussia or Saxony or Burgundy or Lorraine, or any of those other historical names?"

Actually, I was rather inspired by quite a few ahistorical state names that I've seen on these forums... granted most of these are still based upon regions/noble houses that didn't prosper into independent states historically. Republic of Silesia, etc. (humor).

Stuff like what SeaBos posted works great. I only need a half-dozen or so ideas, if that. I mean, I could just start naming states after provinces, like Fujian or whatnot, but that seems lazy. His more modern naming convention seems best for my needs.

Or Zheng and Xi were vassal states, and not one of the Warring Kingdoms per se. Conceivably might someone in a fit of nostalgia name a new Chinese-derived state after them?

And, wow, the Baiyue are interesting, aren't they? Thanks for the pointer to them. But not really what I need.
 
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The grand unity mentality of China was established after Qin Shi Huang unified China all the way back in 2 century BC, after that, all Balkanization of China was temporary and will be unified eventually.
The China proper are basically impossible to balkanize and stay that way without having an extremely early POD.
Let's say Ming China, the only place that I believe could possibly separate out was Giao Chỉ (Modern north Vietnam) and Manchuria.
Even today, there is still a strong mentality in modern Chinese to reunify Vietnam, Outer Mongolia and Outer Manchuria, at least unofficially.
But if you really want to do it, I suggest you to never use 夏 (xia), every single dynasty except the first one that use this name had a really bad ending.
 
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