Shina (支那, シナ; pronounced "shee-na") is a Japanese term that is viewed by most Chinese people as a highly offensive racist term for China. Originally a word used neutrally in both Chinese and Japanese, the word gained a derogatory tone due to its widespread usage in the context of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Origins
The Sanskrit word Cin, for China, was brought back to China with Buddhist literature. It was transcribed into Chinese in various forms including 支那 (Zhīnà), 芝那 (Zhīnà), 脂那 (Zhīnà) and 至那 (Zhìnà). Thus, the term Shina was initially created in Chinese as a translation of "Cin." This term was in turn brought to Japan with the spread of Chinese Buddhism.
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" (Kyūjitai: 支那學; Shinjitai: 支那学).
At first, it was widely accepted that the term "Shina" or "Zhina" had no political connotations. In fact, even before the Republican era, the term "Shina" was one of the proposed names that was to be equivalent to the western usage "China." Chinese revolutionaries, such as Sun Yat-sen, Sung Chiao-jen, and Liang Qichao, used the term extensively, and it was also used in literature as well as by ordinary Chinese. The First Sino-Japanese War caused the view that it had a negative nuance to gradually spread among the Chinese. Nevertheless the term continued to be more-or-less neutral. A Buddhist school called Zhīnà Nèixuéyuàn (Traditional Chinese: 支那內學院; Simplified Chinese: 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" (チャンコロ, originating from a corruption of the Taiwanese Hokkien pronunciation of 清國奴·清国奴 Chheng-kok-loh).
Despite interchangeability of Chinese characters, Japan officially used the term Shina Kyōwakoku (支那共和國・支那共和国) from 1913 to 1930 in Japanese documents, while Zhōnghuá Mínguó (中華民國) was used in Chinese ones. "Shina Kyōwakoku" was the literal translation of the English "Republic of China" while Chūka Minkoku (中華民國) was the Japanese pronunciation of the official Chinese characters of Zhōnghuá Mínguó. The Republic of China unofficially pressed Japan to adopt the latter but was rejected.
This rejection of the term "Chūka Minkoku" by Japan was thought to be 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 same demand on Western nations. The name "Chūka 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 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. In China, the term Shina has become linked with Japanese invasion, and has been considered a derogatory and deeply offensive ethnic slur ever since. In fact, it is a common assumption that the term was created (or chosen) by the Japanese for exclusive use as a racist term, since the character 支 (J: shi/C: zhī) means "branch" and is assumed to suggest that the Chinese are subservient to the Japanese, even though the characters were originally chosen simply for their sound values, not their meanings (debatable point though as there were several Chinese characters with that sound: 至, 芝, 支, 脂, and only 支 was chosen by the Japanese). Some extremist Taiwanese independence advocates have also used "Zhina" (Shina) to refer to mainland China in a derogatory manner in order to distance the Taiwanese identity from the Chinese one.
Meanwhile, use of the term "Shina" in political contexts in Japan is limited to those who pointedly ignore Chinese demands, and often has an anti-Chinese bent. It is considered socially unacceptable and subject to kotobagari, especially the kanji form (if Shina is used, it is now generally written in katakana). However, even then it is still sometimes seen in written forms such as shina soba (支那そば, 'shina soba'?), an alternative name for ramen. Many Japanese are not fully aware of Chinese feelings towards the term, and generally find Shina merely old-fashioned and associated with the early and mid-20th century, rather than derogatory and racist. This difference in conception can lead to misunderstandings.
On the other hand, the term "Shina/Zhina" has survived in a few non-political compound words in both Chinese and Japanese. For example, the East China Sea is called Higashi Shina Kai (東シナ海) in Japanese, and Indochina is called Yindu Zhina (印度支那) in Chinese.
See also
