震旦

First attested in the 3^rd–4^th centuries CE.

Borrowed from Sanskrit चीनस्थान (cīnasthāna), or a name etymologically related; compare Sogdian [script needed] (cynstn), Persian چینستان‎, Armenian Չինաստան (Čʿinastan), Ancient Greek Τζίνιστα (Tzínista).

Folk etymology interprets the this word orthographically, as a compound of 震 (zhèn, “one of the Eight Trigrams; the East”) + 旦 (dàn, “dawn; the direction of sunrise”), in reference to China's eastward position relative to India. For example, the Buddhist reference work Collection of Meanings and Terms in Translation (翻譯名義集) [12^th century CE] has the following passage on the origin of this term:

東方屬震，是日出之方，故云震旦。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
东方属震，是日出之方，故云震旦。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

Dōngfāng shǔ zhèn, shì rìchū zhī fāng, gù yún Zhèndàn. [Pinyin]

The direction of east belongs to the trigram of Zhèn, and is the direction of sunrise, thus (China) is called Zhèndàn.

More discussion on the etymology of Zhèndàn can be found in Notes on Marco Polo (Vol. 1).

震旦

1. (obsolete, religion) The name for China in ancient Indian records and some Chinese Buddhist texts.