What would the Chinese name America?

Yelnoc

If China had discovered the Americas, what might they have called them?

Zheng He was the commander of the fleet that would have discovered the continent, so I would like to use a form of his name. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue about the Chinese language so I need some help.
 
9 Fanged Hummingbird

9 Fanged Hummingbird

They name they use now might still be used. In Mandarin America is "Meiguo", obviously just a Chinese-version of the word America but it basically means "beautiful country" or something like that. So there's a chance they still name the New World that.
 

tormsen

Wasn't Meiguo imposed as part of the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion? I heard that the Chinese were made to come up with names for foreign nations with positive connotations. Hence the UK is known as Yingguo, meaning "pleasant land" or something to that effect.

Penglai, Fusang and other names derived from myth are certainly possible. Another possibility to consider is misinterpretations of native words and names, such as OTL's Canada and other examples. Chinese explorers wouldn't be any less prone to dubbing tracts of coastline based on some hapless local repeating "What? What are you saying?" than the OTL Europeans were.
 

LeX

Meiguo: Beautiful Country
Yingguo (UK): Heroic Country
Deguo (Germany): Virtuous Country
Faguo (France): Lawful Country

"Meiguo" could work since the US, especially the West Coast, is exceptionally beautiful in terms of natural landmarks.
 

Malta

Its also because they sound alike. aMEIrica and MEIguo

In my TL "Ming of the West"

Tomb said:
To Name A Land

The name of the eastern continent has vexed many a atlas maker throughout its history as it seems that many have wanted to call the untamed lands for what they saw or what they wanted from the land. In this short piece we will go over the different names used for the land and why its present monkier is used.

Mei-Guo: 美国 Beautiful Country
The usage of this term for the Eastern Continent was first expressed by none other then Jin Ma, the discoverer of the vast landscape even before any other names came into place. Mei being the word for beauty in Chinese, 美 such the name is a simple expression by Jin Ma of the beauty he witnessed of the natural landscape, devoid of civilization (for the most part). This name is also expressed for the European term of, America for the continent based on the name of Amerigo Vespucci, a Italian explorer.

Jin Guo 金国 Gold Country
This usage came into major use in various periods and is one of the most common terms for the country as expressed by many of the early Golden Gate or Dajinmen's governors and rulers and every goldseeker following the discovery of gold. This is the main nickname for the area surrounding the Golden Gate to the Dongshan Mountains as it is expressed as a usage of the golden hills of the Golden Gate, the Gold of the Dongshan Mountains, and the family name of the Jin family the founders of Sino Civlization in the New World. A fourth reason for this expression could also be the wealth of the country for its commerical enterprises.

Ye Guo 野国 Open Country
This term of usage is the offical name of the eastern continent and the Republic of Yeguo, of the Open Country or of America as expressed by European cartographers. The name derives in part from the Yelamu people who inhabited the Bay Area previous to Chinese colonization. This is the most common expression for the Oriental name of the eastern continent and of the Republic centered around Dajinmen or the Golden Gate city that is the first Sino city on the continent and the capital of the Repulic of Yeguo, and greatest city on the western coast of the continent. Yeshangguo 野生国 and Yemenguo 野蛮国 is also a common name for the land, as a term of negative expression by those from China usually expressing the independent and anti-confucian mindset of the Yeguo people as brutal and uncivilized. As such the nicknames were used by the Yeguo people as a source of pride following the independence of Yeguo after the fall of the Ming in China and the Shanghai Conflict, where Yeguo representatives declined to join the Republic of China.
Click to expand...
 

charl

Those names are just coincidence you know. They are attempts to Sinify the native (or at least the English) names of countries, and the meanings are completely coincidental.

The Chinese might just name America Meiguo because they find it beautiful but it would be awfully coincidental considering the OTL name and its origins.
 

Color-Copycat

LeoXiao said:
Meiguo: Beautiful Country
Yingguo (UK): Heroic Country
Deguo (Germany): Virtuous Country
Faguo (France): Lawful Country

"Meiguo" could work since the US, especially the West Coast, is exceptionally beautiful in terms of natural landmarks.
Click to expand...

Whoa, I never knew that those names (beyond Meiguo) had any real meaning behind them. I always thought they were attempts to mimic the sound of name in the country's respective language

Ying-guo sounds like the "Eng" in England.
De-guo sounds like kind of like Deustchland.
The Fa in Fa-guo sounds kind of like France the way you pronounce it in French.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top