Did the ancient Chinese call India as Tianzhu? Why?

古代中国人称印度为天竺吗？为什么？

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Exploring the Tapestry of History-A Journey Through Time

Yes, the ancient Chinese did refer to India as Tianzhu, which literally means "Heavenly Domain" or "Celestial Realm." The name likely came from the Chinese perception of India as a land of great spiritual significance, with a rich tradition of religious and philosophical thought that was seen as being closely tied to the heavens.

是的，古代中国人确实把印度称为天竺，字面意思是“天域”或“天界”，可能是因为中国人认为印度是一片非要重要的精神圣地，拥有丰富的宗教和哲学文化，与天堂紧密相连。

The earliest known reference to India as Tianzhu can be found in the 1st-century CE work known as the "Shiji" (Records of the Grand Historian), written by the Chinese historian Sima Qian. In this work, Sima Qian describes the various kingdoms and peoples of the world, including Tianzhu, which he identifies as a great empire located to the west of China.

Over time, the name Tianzhu became more closely associated with the Buddhist religion, which originated in India and spread to China and other parts of East Asia. In Chinese Buddhist texts, India is often referred to as "The Land of the Buddha" or "The Land of Dharma," but the name Tianzhu continued to be used as well.

已知最早将印度称为天竺的文献是公元1世纪中国历史学家司马迁编纂的《史记》。在这部作品中，司马迁记载了世界上各个王国和民族，其中就包含了天竺，他认为天竺是位于中国西面的一个伟大帝国。

随着时间的推移，天竺这个名字与佛教的联系越来越紧密，佛教起源于印度，并传播到中国和东亚其他地区。在中国的佛教经书中，印度经常被称为“佛国”或“达摩”，但天竺这个名字也继续被使用。

Remnant

Yes, the ancient Chinese called India as Tianzhu. Tianzhu was also referred to as Wutianzhu (五天竺, literal meaning is “Five Indias”), because there were five geographical regions in the Indian subcontinent known to the Chinese: Central, Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern India .

The name Tianzhu comes from the Chinese transliteration of unattested Old Persian diminutive *Hinduka-, which is from attested h-i-du-u-š (Hindu), which is itself derived from the Proto-Indo-Iranian *síndʰuš, the etymon also of Sanskrit Sindhu, the native name of the Indus River. Persians travelling in northwest India (present-day Pakistani Sindh and Punjab) named the region after the river around the 6th century BC .

是的，古代中国人称印度为天竺。天竺也被称为五天竺(字面意思是“五个印度”），因为中国人知道印度次大陆分为5块：印度中部、东部、西部、北部和南部。

天竺这个名字来自于未经证实的古波斯词*Hinduka-的中文音译，Hinduka起源于已被证实的h-i-du-u-š（印度教），h-i-du-u-š本身来源于原印度-伊朗语*síndʰuš，也是梵语Sindhu的原型，印度河的本名。公元前6世纪左右，抵达印度西北部（今巴基斯坦信德省和旁遮普邦）的波斯人以这条河的名字命名了该地区。

Jacky Zou

All the other answers did not touch on the most important reason, and that is that 天竺 sounded close to Hindu back during the Han era when the term was coined. Late Old Chinese pronounciations has significant differences compared to any form of modern Chinese varieties today. 天 was originally pronounced as /l̥ˤi[n]/ during the Spring and Autumn period, and it changed to /hen/ in Western and /tʰen/ in Eastern China during the Han period. 竺 was pronounced as /truk/ back then, where the “r” in IPA is an alveolar trill like how r is pronounced in Spanish/Russian (this trill type of sound is lost in all Chinese languages today, where in the North it merged with the intial to produce the retroflex initials like “zh” present in Mandarin today). So back then the word 天竺 in Western China sounds something like /hen truk/ which is way closer to Hindu than “tianzhu”. It’s the exact same thing with 佛陀, which sounded like /but da/ but has now chanegd to something that does not resemble buddha at all. Many people are not aware of the significant changes in phonology of the Chinese language throughout the millennia.

其他人都没有提到最重要的原因，那就是汉代在造天竺这个词的时候听起来就很有印度教的味道。

古汉语的发音与现代汉语相比有着显著的差异。在春秋时期，“天”的发音为/l̥ˤi[n]/，汉代时在中国西部发/hen/，

在中国东部发/tʰen/。“竺”在当时的发音为/truk/，其中“r”是齿槽颤音，很像西班牙语/俄语中r的发音（这种颤音在现代汉语中消失了，

在北方，它与声母融合，产生了今天普通话中的“zh”这样的卷舌声母）。

所以当时“天竺”这个词在中国西部的发音有点像/hen-truk/，比“tianzhu”的发音更接近印度语。这和“佛陀”一样, 古时候的发音更像/but da/，但现在已经完全不相干了。

很多人没有意识到一千年来汉语音位学发生了巨大的变化。

Wenjie Piao

It's a transcription of Sanskrit word Sinhdu.

Han Dynasty called it 身毒, Shendu.

We used it referring to South Asia, not just India.

In Tang Dynasty Xuanzhuang suggested to change the name to 印度, based on the name Indus River.

这是梵语单词Sinhdu的音译。

汉朝称之为身毒, shendu。

我们用身毒指代南亚，并非只有印度。

唐朝的玄奘建议将身毒改名为印度, 以印度河来命名。

Jiang Cheng

India, in Chinese today is “印度/Yin Du”。

In history, the name of India changed several times.

In the begng, India firstly appeared in the China history record, it was called “身毒/Shendu”, in Han dynasty（202BC—8BC）.

The diplomat of Han dynasty, Zhang Qian once visited central Asia （BC128）. When he came back, he reported to the Chinese emperor that in center Asia he found the goods made from Sichuan province of China. The local people told him that these Chinese goods were purchased from Shendu/身毒。He got learned that Shendu country is about a few thousand miles southeast of center Asia. The custom is similar as center Asia. The climate is hot and humid. The people rode elephants to fight in wars. It is near Ocean. Zhang Qian also estimated Shendu country has the products of Sichuan, which means that it is not far from Sichuan province.

印度，在今天的汉语中是“印度/Yin Du”

但在历史上，印度的名字曾经历多次更改。

最早出现在中国史书中时，印度被称为“身毒/shen du，当时是汉代（公元前202年—公元前8年）。

汉代外交家张骞曾访问中亚（公元前128年）。回国后他向中国皇帝报告，他在中亚发现了产自中国四川的商品。

当地人告诉他，这些中国商品是从shendu/身毒购买的。他得知shendu国在中亚东南方向几千英里之外。

气候炎热潮湿。人们骑着大象参加战争。而且靠近海洋。张骞还估计，shendu境内能发现四川的商品，意味着它离四川省不远。

This is the first time that Chinese people knew and record India.

In Western in Dynasty(265AD—317AD), the name of India in history record was changed to "贤督/ian Du."

In North and South Dynasties（420AD～589AD）, the name of India in history record was changed to "天竺/Tian Zhu", and this name was widely spreaded and accepted.

Until the begng of Tang Dynasty, the famous Xuanzang Monk （602-664AD） visited Tian Zhun. After 16 years, Xuanzang came back China and wrote the book "Great Tang Records on the Western Regions". In this book, he translated the name of India to "印度/Yin Du".

From then on, the name of India has been “印度/Yin Du", until today.

这是中国人第一次了解和记录了印度。

西晋（公元265年—公元317年），史书中把印度改名为“贤督/ian Du。“

南北朝时期（公元420～589年），史书中把印度改名为“天竺/Tian Zhu”，这个名字被广为传播。

到了唐初，著名的玄奘和尚（公元602年至公元664年）拜访了Tian Zhu。16年后，玄奘回到中国，写下了《大唐西域记》。在这本书中，他把印度的名字翻译成“印度/Yin Du”。

从那时起，印度的名字就一直是“印度/Yin Du”，直到今天。

Sean Landy

No.

天竺/TianZhu is a modern pronounciation.

But in Tang dynasty, that word 天竺 pronounced as Thindo.

Which is directly sound of “Hindu”.

or in South China, Hindu also be pronounced as 身毒/Hindu

不。

天竺/TianZhu是现代汉语中的发音。

但在唐朝，“天竺”这个词的发音为Thindo。

这正是“Hindu”的直接音译。

在中国南方，Hindu也被读成身毒/Hindu。

Boon Kuan Chung

There was no country called “India" in ancient times. The name “India” came into exstence after British colonization. In other words, the name “India" was created or given by the colonial master with no good intentions.

Tianzhu was referred to by the Chinese during the Tang Dynasty as the area or land (as opposed to a country name) around the Indus river which is today's Pakistan. During Han Dynasty, it was called 身毒 Shen Du, which was the direct translation for Sindhu. Sindhu was a Sanskrit term for river. Persians conquered the land around 700 bc and mispronounced “Sindhu” as “Indus". They further referred to the land and people there as “Indus". When Alexander conquered the land, he continued to refer to it as Indus.

古时候并没有叫“India”的国家。“India”这个名字是英国殖民后才出现的。换句话说，“India”的名字是殖民地主子随便起的。

唐朝人用天竺指代印度河（即今天的巴基斯坦）周围的地区或土地（并非国名）。在汉代，印度被称为身毒 Shen Du，是Sindhu的直译。

Sindhu是梵语中河流的意思。波斯人在公元前700年左右征服了这片土地，并将“Sindhu”错读成“Indus”。

他们又把那里的土地和人民称为“Indus”。当亚历山大征服这片土地时，沿用了Indus这个名字。

During Tang Dynasty, many Chinese including the royal families were Buddhists. They disliked the name “身毒 Shen Du” and changed it to 天竺 Tianzhu. Nevertheless, they were not referring to today's “India" but the Buddhist land at that time around the Indus river.

There was no India or Hindu in ancient times. There was Brahmanism based on the Vedas. It's sad that it has been downgraded by the colonial master as “Hinduism” to mean “religion of the people of India area which is one of the colonies of the British". Indus river became part of Pakistan upon the country's independence from the British. It is more accurate to say that Tianzhu means Pakistan instead of India.

唐朝时，包括皇室在内的许多中国人都是佛教徒。他们不喜欢“身毒”这个名字，于是将其更改为天竺。但他们指代的并不是今天的“印度”，而是当时印度河周围的佛教土地。

古时候没有India，也没有Hindu，只有以吠陀为基础的婆罗门教。令人遗憾的是，它被殖民地主子降级为“印度教”，意思是“英国殖民地之一的印度地区人民的宗教”。印度河在巴基斯坦脱离英国独立后成为巴基斯坦的一部分。更准确地说，天竺的意思是巴基斯坦而不是印度。

Dhruv Rastogi

Yes, the ancient Chinese did call India as Tianzhu, which means "Heavenly Pillar." The name is believed to have originated from the historical and cultural contacts between the two civilizations and reflects the early Chinese perception of India as a distant and exotic land with a rich cultural heritage. The name was also used by early Chinese Buddhist missionaries who traveled to India to learn about Buddhist teachings and bring them back to China. The term Tianzhu was also used in early Chinese texts to refer to the Buddhist teachings themselves and the Buddhist community in India. The name reflects the Chinese admiration for the advanced spiritual and cultural achievements of India, and it continues to be used in China to this day to refer to the country and its rich cultural heritage.

是的，古代中国人确实把印度称为天竺，意思是“天国的柱子”。这个名字源于两个文明之间的历史和文化接触，反映了早期中国人对印度的看法：印度是一个遥远的异国他乡，有着丰富的文化传承。早期的中国佛教传教士也使用这个名字，他们前往印度学习佛教教义并将其带回中国。

天竺一词在早期的汉语文本中也被用来指代佛教教义本身和印度的佛教团体。这个名字反映了中国人对印度发达的精神和文化成就的钦佩，中国至今仍会用这个名字指代印度及其丰富的文化传承。

Krishna Kant Yadav

Yes.

The ancient Chinese did refer to India as Tianzhu, and interestingly, the term was also used by Koreans and Japanese, albeit with different pronunciations.

In Japan, it was pronounced as Tenjiku and appeared in the famous work, Journey to the West.

Meanwhile, in Korea, it was pronounced as Cheonchuk, and a Korean monk named Hyecho wrote about the "Land of the Buddha" in his work, Wang ocheonchukguk jeon, after visiting India in the 8th century AD.

The origin of the term Tianzhu can be traced back to the word Sindhu.

If you say Tianzhu and Sindhu out loud, you'll notice some similarities.

对。

古代中国人的确把印度称为天竺，有趣的是，韩国人和日本人也曾使用这个词，只是发音不同。

在日本，它的发音是“Tenjiku”，并出现在著名的作品《西游记》中。

在韩国，它的发音是“Cheonchuk”，一位名叫慧超的韩国僧侣在公元8世纪访问印度，后来在他的作品中描写了这个“佛国”。

天竺一词的起源可以追溯到Sindhu这个词。

如果你大声说出Tianzhu和Sindhu，你会发现两者有一些相似之处。

Some people say Chinese were referring to India as some kind of heavenly place, because that's what the word translates to.

But that's only partially true.

They did refer to India as a 'Heavenly centre’.

Yes. But because of Buddha and their interest in Buddhist texts and not for any other reasons.

有人说，中国人把印度称为天堂，因为这个词的翻译就是这个意思。

但并不完全是事实。

他们确实将印度称为“天国中心”。

对，但这只是因为佛陀和他们对佛教经文的兴趣，并没有其他原因。

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