China is one of the four ancient civilizations in the world and has five thousand years of cultural accumulation. In Chinese history, 83 dynasties, large and small, have emerged. But we know that in ancient times each dynasty's own title was not called Chinese. The word "China" in Chinese first refers to the Gyeonggi region of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and later mainly refers to the general title of the Central Plains.
In Chinese history, the most powerful feudal dynasty that ever appeared belonged to the Tang Dynasty. After Emperor Taizong of Tang and Li Shimin, he opened up his speech, humbly accepted advice, and adopted a policy of taking agriculture as the foundation, practicing economy, and recuperating, and the national strength achieved unprecedented development, so that a peaceful and stable scene appeared in society, which was once called the rule of Zhenguan.
The Tang Dynasty was the most powerful country in the world at that time, and even many historians believe that there is no one. Because at that time, there were more than 300 countries in the world that came to the Tang Dynasty to pay tribute, and the Tang Dynasty was also an open country, actively spreading China's advanced social system, culture and art to all parts of the world, and at the same time, many foreigners came to China to do business and play.
Among the many merchants and tourists was a man named Marco Polo, who followed his father and uncle to China at the age of 17, and in 1275, when China was under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. After Marco Polo and his party arrived in the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, they were also received by Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, and presumably the Marco Polo family was not an ordinary businessman.
But Marco Polo preferred to play than to do business, and he stayed in China for 17 years, during which he traveled all over the old capital of China, the famous mountain Dayue. After returning to Italy, he recorded all his travels in a book of Marco Polo's Travels, which caused a sensation throughout Europe.
Why use the word "sensational"? Because Marco Polo was a very braggart, although the Yuan Dynasty at that time was indeed prosperous, there was still a certain gap compared with the Sheng Tang. But in Marco Polo's depiction, China built houses with "golden tiles" and the walls were covered with glass like crystal.
Marco Polo's description undoubtedly satisfies the European imagination of the rich East. Everyone was convinced and felt that what Marco Polo said was true. Just like in the book "Currency Wars", the Rothschild family is portrayed as an invincible family that controls the entire Federal Reserve worth trillions of dollars, and this is the power of literature.
Not only that, Marco Polo also changed the name of China, directly misleading the world for more than 700 years. He renamed China the Khitans. Many Europeans mistakenly believe that there is an incomparably powerful country in the far east that is the Khitans. But we know that the Khitan are only a nomadic people on our borders.
In 947 AD, Emperor Taizong of Liao led an army south to the Central Plains, captured Fenjing and ascended the throne as emperor, changing the name of the country to "Great Liao" The Liao Dynasty lasted for a total of 209 years, and it was already destroyed in 1125 AD. I don't know why Marco Polo used the name "Khitan" to refer to China.
It was not until after the Qing Dynasty that there was more in-depth contact between countries. However, the name "Khitan" has never been corrected, and now "CINA" in English is actually a consonant for "Khitan".