Shina word

Shina (支那) is a Japanese term that is viewed by most Chinese people as a highly offensive racist term for China. This impression stems from the widespread usage of this term in the context of the invasion of China by Japan from 1931 to 1945.

Origins

The Sanskrit word Cin, for China, was brought back to China, and then to Japan, with Buddhist literature. It was transcribed in various forms including 支那 (zhi1 na4), 脂那 (zhi1 na4) and 至那 (zhi4 na4). When Arai Hakuseki, a Japanese politician, interrogated an Italian missionary Sidotti in 1708, he noticed that "Cina", which Sidotti referred to China as, was identical to Shina, the Japanese pronunciation of 支那. Then he began to use this word for China regardless of dynasty. Since the Meiji Era, Shina had been widely used as the translation of western "China". For instance, "Sinology" was translated into "Shinagaku" (支那学).

At first, it was widely accepted that the term "Shina" or "Zhina" had no political connotations. In fact, Chinese nationalists wondered what to call their own nation and Zhina was one of possible candidates. The First Sino-Japanese War caused the view that it had a negative nuance to grow gradually more popular among the Chinese. Nevertheless the term continued to be more-or-less neutral. A Buddhist school called Zhina Neixueyuan (支那内学院) was established as late as in 1922 in Nanjing. In the meantime, "Shina" was used as commonly in Japanese as "China" in English. Derogatory nuances were expressed by adding extra adjectives (e.g. 暴虐なる支那兵 (brutal Chinese soldier[s])) or using derogatory terms like "chankoro" (ちゃんころ).

Despite interchangeability of Chinese characters, Japan officially used the term Shina Kyowakoku (支那共和国) from 1913 to 1930 in Japanese documents, while Zhonghua Minguo was used in Chinese ones. "Shina Kyowakoku" was the literal translation of the English "Republic of China" while Chuka Minkoku (中華民国) was the Japanese pronunciation of the official Chinese characters of Zhonghua Minguo. The Republic of China unofficially pressed Japan to adopt the latter but was rejected. This policy by Japan was an attempt to place itself on equal footing with Western powers, who did not refer to China as "the Middle Realm". China urged the Mongols and Tibetans, which they considered to be domestic groups, to use the literal translation of "Middle Realm" but did not place the demand on Western nations. The name of "Chuka Minkoku" was officially adopted by Japan in 1930 but "Shina" was still commonly used by the Japanese throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

Today

The Second Sino-Japanese War, however, fixed the impression of the term "Shina" as offensive among Chinese people. In 1946, the Republic of China demanded that Japan cease using "Shina." Meanwhile, the great suffering experienced by China in World War II, such as the Nanking Massacre and Unit 731, began a running tradition of anti-Japanese sentiment in China which continues to this day. Shina became linked with Japanese invasion for most Chinese, and has since been a derogatory and deeply offensive ethnic slur as far as Chinese people are concerned. Some extremist Taiwanese independence advocates have also used "Zhina zhu" (Shina pig) as a derogatory term for mainland Chinese. Meanwhile, uses of the term "Shina" in political contexts in Japan are limited to those who ignore the Chinese demand, and are often directed with an anti-Chinese bent; thus, its modern appearance enhances its derogatory nature. On the other hand, Shina is still used in non-political fields. For example, the East China Sea is called Higashi Shina Kai in Japanese (though "Shina" is written in katakana, instead of kanji, which was the form in which the now-derogatory term initially took.)

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