日中関係

Unhoo-san,

I am really impressed by the research you have done regarding the background of using "Shina" instead of China. It seems to me that many people here claim that since English and Americans can use China and "Shina" is thekatakana-ized version of China, why can't use it? Well, it is important to know one thing. The English word "China" or "Chinese" is not in any way used in a derogatory manner. It has been used since in Europe or in America since the western missionaries arrivedin China a few centuries ago. At that time, the missionaries were very impressed by the magnificence of the Chinese kingdom and used the word "China" to refer to the Middle Kingdom in the letters they sent back to Europe. France, in particular, was themost enthusiastic in learning about China at that time. As a result of the knowledge of a large advanced kingdom in the east, the French people began to make Chinese style ceramics, use Chinese style furniture,and even some French philosophers refer toChinese sources for their work or thoughts. The word "China" is of course used in a respectful or if not the least in a non-derogatory way. Then in this case, "China" is an appropriate word to use. However, China's magnificent history did not last long; thelast 2 centuries of China's history were a disaster. China became weak and people started to rethink their view of China; so they started to use other words instead of China or Chinese to call Chinese people, which is "chin.k". This is just the same assomeone calls Japanese people "ja.p", which I'll never use because it is not respectful towards Japanese people. Now, in the case of Japan, "chuugoku" is equivalent to "China", and "Shina" is equivalent to "chin.k". You can have millions of reasons to backup the legitimacy of calling "Shina" instead of "China", but isn't it important to know the background and how Chinese people feel about being called derogatory names? If someone calls you "Ja.p" in America (Americans used this word during WWII), willyou be happy about it?