<P> Zhōngguó is the most common sinitic name for China in modern times . The first appearance of 中國 on an artifact was in the Western Zhou on a ritual vessel known as He zun . It is formed by combining the characters zhōng ( 中 ) meaning `` central '' or `` middle '' , and guó ( 國 / 国 ) , representing `` state '' or `` states '' ; in contemporary usage , `` nation '' . Prior to the Qin unification of China `` Zhongguo '' referred to the `` Central States '' ; the connotation was the primacy of a culturally distinct core area , centered on the Yellow River valley , as distinguished from the tribal periphery . In later periods , however , `` Zhongguo '' was not used in this sense . Dynastic names were used for the state in Imperial China and concepts of the state aside from the ruling dynasty were little understood . Rather , the country was called by the name of the dynasty , such as `` Han dynasty '' ( Hanchao 漢 朝 ) , `` Tang dynasty '' ( Tangchao 唐 朝 ) , `` The Great Ming '' ( Daming 大明 ) , `` The Great Qing '' ( Daqing 大 清 ) , as the case might be . Until the 19th century when the international system came to require a common legal language , there was no need for a fixed or unique name . </P>
china in chinese is called zhongguo which means
zhōng ( 中 ) meaning `` central '' or `` middle '' guó ( 國 / 国 ) , representing `` state '' or `` states '' ; in contemporary usage , `` nation ''