How China Got Its Name

China, the world's oldest surviving civilization, acquired its name in the 3rd century BC. In 221, Cheng, ruler of the small state of Ch’in, from which the country’s modern name comes, annexed the last of six rival kingdoms and took the title of Ch’in Shih Huang Ti, meaning “First August Emperor of Ch’in”. The Anglicised form of Chinese names has changes since the introduction in 1957 of pinyin, a new system for transliterating Chinese characters into Roman letters. In pinyin Cheng became Zheng, Ch’in became Qin and his title became Qin Shi Huangdi. China itself in pinyin is Zhong Guo.