The Chinese have many names to designate themselves and the land they inhabit. One of the most ancient is _Tien Hia_, meaning ‘Beneath the Sky,’ and denoting the World; another, almost as ancient, is _Sz’ Hai_, _i.e._, ‘[all within] the Four Seas,’ while a third is _Chung Kwoh_, or ‘Middle Kingdom.’ This dates from the establishment of the Chau dynasty, about B.C. 1150, when the imperial family so called its own special state in Honan because it was surrounded by all the others. The name was retained as the empire grew, and thus has strengthened the popular belief that it is really situated in the centre of the earth; _Chung Kwoh jin_, or ‘men of the Middle Kingdom,’ denotes the Chinese. All these names indicate the vanity and ignorance of the people respecting their geographical position and their rank among the nations; they have not been alone in this foible, for the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all had terms for their possessions which intimated their own ideas of their superiority; while, too, the area of none of those monarchies, in their widest extent, equalled that of China Proper. The family of Tsin also established the custom, since continued, of calling the country by the name of the dynasty then reigning; but, while the brief duration of that house of forty-four years was not long enough to give it much currency among the people, succeeding dynasties, by their talents and prowess, imparted their own as permanent appellations to the people and country. The terms _Han-jin_ and _Han-tsz’_ (_i.e._, men of Han or sons of Han) are now in use by the people to denote themselves: the last also means a “brave man.” _Tang-jin_, or ‘Men of Tang,’ is quite as frequently heard in the southern provinces, where the phrase _Tang Shan_, or ‘Hills of Tang,’ denotes the whole country. The Buddhists of India called the land _Chin-tan_, or the ‘Dawn,’ and this appellation has been used in Chinese writings of that sect.