"支那"为"齐"考述

关于支那名称的起源,许多著名的中西交通史专家都曾作过考证.有认为支那为西汉时的日南郡;也有认为是古滇国;而其中影响最大的是支那为秦一说.前两种观点是以中印交通线上的中转站为考察点提出的,后一说则是从国家的声威和影响出发来考虑的,他们共同的缺陷是忽视了支那与丝产地的关系.通过对先秦时代中国重要的丝产地--齐国的丝织业及海外交通的考察,支那一词当指齐,而非秦.

A Study on Cina Being Qi

The origin of the name of Cina has been studied by many famous experts in the communication between east and west.The German geographer Richthofen thought Cina was Jih-nan prefecture of West Han;French scholar Lacouperie thought Cina was old Dian(Chen) country;the most influential opinion was M.Pauthier's,who thought Cina was Qin.The author disagrees with them because their common limitation was that they neglected the relation of Cina and the silk producing areas.Through a research into the producing district Qi and its communication with foreign countries,the author thinks Cina should be Qi,not Qin.