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{{short description|Alternative name for China in some languages}}
{{other uses}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
[[File:Empire_of_the_Great_Khan_(Catayo)_according_to_the_Catalan_Atlas_(1375).jpg|thumb|300px|[[Yuan dynasty|Empire of the Great Khan]] (''Catayo'' for Cathay) according to the [[Catalan Atlas]] (1375, rotated 180°). [[Xinjiang]] with its caravan of traders appears in the bottom right corner, while the Pacific coast runs along the top-left corner. [[Kublai Khan]] is seen enthroned. A flag with three red crescent moons ([[File:Catalan Atlas, Flag of Cathay.svg|15px]]) appears on all the territory.<ref>{{cite web |title=Catalan Atlas. The Cresques Project - Panel VI |url=https://www.cresquesproject.net/catalan-atlas-legends/panel-vi |website=www.cresquesproject.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cavallo |first1=Jo Ann |title=The World Beyond Europe in the Romance Epics of Boiardo and Ariosto |date=28 October 2013 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-6667-2 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dYyBAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |language=en}}</ref>]]
'''Cathay''' ({{IPAc-en|k|æ|ˈ|θ|eɪ}} {{respell|ka|THAY}}) is a [[names of China|historical name]] for [[China]] that was used in Europe. During the early modern period, the term ''Cathay'' initially evolved as a term referring to what is now Northern China, completely separate and distinct from ''China'', which was a reference to southern China. As knowledge of [[East Asia]] increased, Cathay came to be seen as the same polity as China as a whole. The term ''Cathay'' became a poetic name for China.

The name ''Cathay'' originates from the term ''[[Khitan people|Khitan]]''<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
| year = 2009
| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica Online
| publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica
| title = Cathay
| url =  http://www.britannica.com/place/Cathay-medieval-region-China
| access-date = 2009-06-23
}}</ref> ({{lang-zh|c=契丹|p=Qìdān}}), a nomadic people who ruled the [[Liao dynasty]] in [[northern China]] from 916 to 1125, and who later migrated west after they were overthrown by the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]] to form the [[Qara Khitai]] (Western Liao dynasty) for another century thereafter. Originally, this name was the name applied by Central and Western Asians and Europeans to northern China; the name was also used in [[Marco Polo]]'s book on his [[The Travels of Marco Polo|travels]] in [[Yuan dynasty]] China (he referred to [[southern China]] as ''[[Names of China#Mangi|Mangi]]''). [[Odoric of Pordenone]] (d. 1331) also writes about Cathay and the Khan in his travelbooks from his journey before 1331, perhaps 1321–1330.

== History ==
[[File:FraMauroMapChataio.jpg|thumb|"Chataio" on [[Fra Mauro map]], {{circa|1450}} (South is up.)]]
[[File:CEM-09-Asiae-Nova-Descriptio-China-2510.jpg|thumb|On this 1570 map by [[Abraham Ortelius]], ''Cataio'' is located inland of ''China'' (referring to today's [[Guangdong]]) and ''Chequan'' ([[Zhejiang]]), and borders on "[[Tibet|Thebet]]" in the southwest and "[[Kumul (city)|Camul]]" in the west. There is also ''[[Names of China#Mangi|Mangi]]'' (between "Cataio" and  ''Xanton'' ([[Shandong]])). The objects in "Cataio" are based on Marco Polo's description and include the capital ''[[Khanbaliq|Cambalu]]'', ''[[Xanadu, Inner Mongolia|Xandu]]'', and a [[Marco Polo Bridge|marble bridge]].]]

The term ''Cathay'' came from the name for the Khitans. A form of the name ''Cathai'' is attested in a [[Old Uyghur language|Uyghur]] [[Manichaean]] document describing the external people circa 1000.<ref name="wf">Wittfogel (1946), p.&nbsp;1.</ref> The Khitans refer to themselves as Qidan ([[Khitan small script]]: [[File:Khita-i small.png|50px]]; {{lang-zh|c=契丹}}), but in the language of the ancient [[Uyghur people|Uyghurs]] the final -n or -ń became -y, and this form may have been the source of the name ''Khitai'' for later Muslim writers.<ref>{{citation |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000112863 |last = Sinor |first = D. |page=241|chapter = Chapter 11 – The Kitan and the Kara Kitay |year = 1998 |title = History of Civilisations of Central Asia |editor1-last = Asimov |editor1-first = M.S. |editor2-last = Bosworth |editor2-first = C.E. |volume = 4 part I |publisher = UNESCO Publishing |isbn = 92-3-103467-7 }}</ref> This version of the name was then introduced to medieval and early modern Europe via Muslim and Russian sources.<ref name="millward">{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XuvqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |editor = S.F. Starr |author1 = James A. Millward |author2 = Peter C. Perdue |name-list-style=amp |title = Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland |year= 2004 |page = 43 |publisher = M.E. Sharpe |isbn = 978-1-317-45137-2 }}</ref>

The Khitans were known to Muslim Central Asia: in 1026, the [[Ghaznavids|Ghaznavid court]] (in [[Ghazna]], in today's Afghanistan) was visited by envoys from the Liao ruler, he was described as a "Qatā Khan", i.e. the ruler of ''Qatā''; ''Qatā'' or ''Qitā'' appears in writings of [[al-Biruni]] and [[Abu Said Gardezi]] in the following decades.<ref name="wf" /> The Persian scholar and administrator [[Nizam al-Mulk]] (1018–1092) mentions ''Khita'' and ''China'' in his ''Book on the Administration of the State'', apparently as two separate countries<ref name=wf/> (presumably,  referring to the [[Liao Empire|Liao]] and [[Song Empire]]s, respectively).

The name's currency in the Muslim world survived the replacement of the Khitan Liao dynasty with the Jurchen [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]] in the early 12th century. When describing the fall of the Jin Empire to the Mongols (1234), Persian history described the conquered country as ''Khitāy'' or ''Djerdaj Khitāy'' (i.e., "Jurchen Cathay").<ref name=wf/> The Mongols themselves, in their ''[[The Secret History of the Mongols|Secret History]]'' (13th century) talk of both Khitans and Kara-Khitans.<ref name=wf/>

In about 1340 [[Francesco Balducci Pegolotti]], a merchant from [[Florence]], compiled the ''[[Pratica della mercatura]]'', a guide about trade in China, a country he called ''Cathay'', noting the size of [[Khanbaliq]] (modern [[Beijing]]) and how merchants could exchange silver for [[Economy of the Song dynasty|Chinese]] [[Jiaozi (currency)|paper money]] that could be used to buy luxury items such as silk.<ref>Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2011). ''Western Civilization: a Brief History'', Boston: Wadsworth, Cencage Learning, p. 183, {{ISBN|0-495-57147-4}}.</ref><ref>See the following source for the title "Cathay and the Way Tither": Editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica. "[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francesco-Balducci-Pegolotti Francesco Balducci Pegolotti]." ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (online source). Accessed 6 September 2016.</ref>

Words related to Khitay are still used in many [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] and [[Slavic languages]] to refer to China. The ethnonym derived from Khitay in the [[Uyghur language]] for [[Han Chinese]] is considered pejorative by both its users and its referents, and the [[People's Republic of China|PRC]] authorities have attempted to ban its use.<ref name="millward" /> The term also strongly connotes [[Uyghur nationalism]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Far Northwest|url=https://archive.org/details/xinjiangchinasmu00dill|url-access=limited|first=Michael|last=Dillon|year=2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/xinjiangchinasmu00dill/page/n207 177]}}</ref>

== Cathay and Mangi ==
{{See also|Names of China#Mangi}}

As European and Arab travelers started reaching the [[Mongol Empire]], they described the Mongol-controlled Northern China as ''Cathay'' in a number of spelling variants. The name occurs in the writings of [[Giovanni da Pian del Carpine]] (c. 1180–1252) (as ''Kitaia''), and [[William of Rubruck]] (c. 1220–c. 1293) (as ''Cataya'' or ''Cathaia'').<ref name=wf2>Wittfogel (1946), p. 2</ref> ''Travels in the Land of Kublai Khan'' by [[Marco Polo]] has a story called "The Road to Cathay". [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani]], [[ibn Battuta]], and Marco Polo all referred to Northern China as Cathay, while Southern China, ruled by the [[Song dynasty]], was ''Mangi'', ''Manzi'', ''Chin'', or ''Sin''.<ref name=wf2/> The word ''Manzi'' (蠻子) or ''Mangi'' is a derogatory term in Chinese meaning "barbarians of the south"  (''Man'' was used to describe [[Sinicised|unsinicised]] Southern China in its earlier periods), and would therefore not have been used by the Chinese to describe themselves or their own country, but it was adopted by the Mongols to describe the people and country of Southern China.<ref>{{citation |title= Cathay and the Way Thither: Preliminary essay on the intercourse between China and the western nations previous to the discovery of the Cape route |page =177 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dS4XAQAAMAAJ |author= Henry Yule |author2= Henri Cordier |year= 1967 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bnCMBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA247 |title=Dynastic China: An Elementary History|author= Tan Koon San |page=247 |publisher=The Other Press|isbn=978-983-9541-88-5 |date=15 August 2014}}</ref> The name for South China commonly used on Western medieval maps was ''Mangi'', a term still used in maps in the 16th century.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xD52ge5a8vYC&pg=PA817 |title=Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume I: The Century of Discovery |author= Donald F. Lach |page=817 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-46708-5|date=15 July 2008 }}</ref>

== Identifying China as Cathay ==
{{further|Europeans in Medieval China|Sino-Roman relations|Serica|Daqin}}
The division of China into northern and southern parts ruled by, in succession, the [[Liao dynasty|Liao]], [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin]] and [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]] dynasties in the north, and the [[Song dynasty]] in the south, ended in the late 13th century with the conquest of southern China by the Yuan dynasty.

While Central Asia had long known China under names similar to ''Cathay'', that country was known to the peoples of [[Southeast Asia]] and India under names similar to ''China'' (cf. e.g. ''Cina'' in modern Malay). Meanwhile, in China itself, people usually referred to the realm in which they lived on the name of the ruling dynasty, e.g. ''[[Ming dynasty|Da Ming Guo]]'' ("Great Ming state") and ''[[Qing dynasty|Da Qing Guo]]'' ("Great Qing state"), or as ''Zhongguo'' (中國, lit. ''Middle Kingdom'' or ''Central State''); see also [[Names of China]] for details.

When the Portuguese reached Southeast Asia ([[Afonso de Albuquerque]] conquering [[Melaka|Malacca]] in 1511) and the southern coast of China ([[Jorge Álvares]] reaching the [[Pearl River (China)|Pearl River]] estuary in 1513), they started calling the country by the name used in South and Southeast Asia.<ref>[[Matteo Ricci]], writing less than a century after the events, states: "Today the people of [[Kochi, India|Cochin]] and the Siamese as well, from whom the Portuguese learned to call the empire China, call this country Cin".  (Gallagher (1953), pp. 6–7)</ref> It was not immediately clear to the Europeans whether this ''China'' is the same country as ''Cathay'' known from [[Marco Polo]]. Therefore, it would not be uncommon for 16th-century maps to apply the label ''China'' just to the coastal region already well known to the Europeans (e.g., just [[Guangdong]] on [[Abraham Ortelius]]' 1570 map), and to place the mysterious Cathay somewhere inland.

[[File:CEM-15-Asia-Mercator-1595-Tartaria-2532.jpg|thumb|[[Gerardus Mercator]]'s placing of the "Kingdom of Cathay" (''Cathay Reg.'') on the Pacific Coast north-east of China remained typical for a number of maps published in the decades to follow (originally published 1595)]]

It was a small group of [[Jesuit China missions|Jesuits]], led by [[Matteo Ricci]] who, being able both to travel throughout China and to read, learned about the country from Chinese books and from conversation with people of all walks of life. During his first fifteen years in China (1583–1598) Matteo Ricci formed a strong suspicion that Marco Polo's ''Cathay'' is simply the Tatar (i.e., [[Mongol]]) name for the
country he was in, i.e. China. Ricci supported his arguments by numerous correspondences between Marco Polo's accounts and his own observations:

* The River "[[Yangtze]]" divides the empire into two halves, with nine provinces ("kingdoms") south of the river and six to the north;
* Marco Polo's "Cathay" was just south of "[[Tartary]]", and Ricci learned that there was no other country between the [[Ming dynasty|Ming Empire]] and "Tartary" (i.e., the lands of Mongols and Manchus).
* People in China had not heard of any place called "Cathay".

Most importantly, when the Jesuits first arrived to Beijing 1598, they also met a number of "Mohammedans" or "Arabian Turks" – visitors or immigrants from the Muslim countries to the west of China, who told Ricci that now they ''were'' living in the Great Cathay. This all made them quite convinced that Cathay was indeed China.<ref>Gallagher (trans.) (1953), pp. 311–312. Also, in p.7, Ricci and [[Nicolas Trigault|Trigault]] unambiguously state, "the [[Saracens]], who live to the west, speak of it [China] as Cathay".</ref>

[[Jesuit China missions|China-based Jesuits]] promptly informed their colleagues in [[Goa]] (Portuguese India) and Europe about their discovery of the Cathay–China identity. This was stated e.g. in a 1602 letter of Ricci's comrade [[Diego de Pantoja]], which was published in Europe along with other Jesuits' letters in 1605.<ref>Lach & Van Kley (1993), p. 1565. Pantoja's letter appeared in ''Relación de la entrade de algunos padres de la Compania de Iesus en la China'' (1605)</ref> The Jesuits in India, however, were not convinced, because, according to their informants (merchants who visited the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] capitals [[Agra]] and [[Lahore]]), Cathay – a country that could be reached via [[Kashgar]] – had a large Christian population, while the Jesuits in China had not found any Christians there.<ref name=yule534>Yule, pp. 534–535</ref><ref name=lach1575>Lach & Kley (1993), pp. 1575–1577</ref>

[[File:CEM-19-Asiae-nova-description-1610-Jodocus-Hondius-2538.jpg|thumb|A typical early 17th-century depiction of "Cataia" as China's northeastern neighbour, [[Jodocus Hondius]], 1610]]
In retrospect, the Central Asian Muslim informants' idea of the Ming China being a heavily Christian country may be explained by numerous similarities between [[Buddhism and Christianity|Christian and Buddhist]] ecclesiastical rituals – from having sumptuous statuary and ecclesiastical robes to [[Gregorian chant]] – which would make the two religions appear externally similar to a Muslim merchant.<ref>Gallagher, p. 500; Yule, pp. 551–552</ref> This may also have been the genesis of the [[Prester John]] myth.

To resolve the ''China''–''Cathay'' controversy, the India Jesuits sent a Portuguese lay brother, [[Bento de Góis]], on an overland expedition north and east, with the goal of reaching Cathay and finding out once and for all whether it is China or some other country. Góis spent almost three years (1603–1605) crossing [[Afghanistan]], [[Badakhshan]], [[Kashgaria]], and Kingdom of [[Karasahr|Cialis]] with Muslim trade [[camel train|caravans]]. In 1605, in [[Karasahr|Cialis]], he, too, became convinced that his destination ''is'' China, as he met the members of a caravan returning from Beijing to Kashgar, who told them about staying in the same Beijing inn with Portuguese Jesuits. (In fact, those were the same very "Saracens" who had, a few months earlier, confirmed it to Ricci that they were in "Cathay"). De Góis died in [[Suzhou District|Suzhou, Gansu]] – the first [[Ming dynasty|Ming China]] city he reached – while waiting for an entry permit to proceed toward Beijing; but, in the words of [[Henry Yule]],  it was his expedition that made "''Cathay''... finally disappear from view, leaving ''China'' only in the mouths and minds of men".<ref>[[Henry Yule]] (1866), p. 530.</ref>

[[File:John-Speed-The-Kingdome-of-China-1626-2544.jpg|thumb|left|Not convinced by the Jesuits, [[John Speed]] in 1626 follows [[Jodocus Hondius]]' layout: He shows the chain of [[Silk Road]] cities visited by de Góis ([[Kuqa City|Cuchia]], [[Karasahr|Chialis]], [[Turfan]], [[Kumul, Xinjiang|Camul]]) – but has it directed not toward China's [[Shaanxi]] ''Sancii'', as shown by de Góis, but toward the mysterious "Cathaya, the Chief Kingdome of Great [[Khan (title)|Cam]]", northeast of China. Naturally, [[Khanbaliq|Cambalu]] and [[Shangdu|Xandu]] are shown in Cathay, while Shuntien (Beijing) is in China.]]
Ricci's and de Gois' conclusion was not, however, completely convincing for everybody in Europe yet.
[[Samuel Purchas]], who in 1625 published an English translation of Pantoja's letter and Ricci's account, thought that perhaps Cathay still can be found somewhere north of China.<ref name=lach1575/> In this period, many cartographers were placing Cathay on the Pacific coast, north of Beijing (Pekin) which was already well known to Europeans. The borders drawn on some of these maps would first make Cathay the northeastern section of China (e.g. [[:commons:File:CEM-15-Asia-Mercator-1595-2531.jpg|1595 map]] by [[Gerardus Mercator]]), or, later, a region separated by China by the [[Great Wall]] and possibly some mountains and/or wilderness (as in a [[:commons:File:CEM-19-Asiae-nova-description-1610-Jodocus-Hondius-2538.jpg|1610 map]] by [[Jodocus Hondius]], or a [[:commons:File:John-Speed-The-Kingdome-of-China-1626-2544.jpg|1626 map]] by [[John Speed]]).
[[J. J. L. Duyvendak]] hypothesized that it was the ignorance of the fact that "China" is the mighty "Cathay" of Marco Polo that allowed the Dutch [[Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies|governor of East Indies]] [[Jan Pieterszoon Coen]] to embark on an "unfortunate" (for the Dutch) policy of treating the Ming Empire as "merely another 'oriental' kingdom".<ref>{{citation|first=J. J. L.|last= Duyvendak|title=Review of "Fidalgos in the Far East, 1550–1770. Fact and Fancy in the History of Macao" by C. R. Boxer
| journal=T'oung Pao |series=Second Series|volume=39|issue= 1/3|year=1950|pages= 183–197
| publisher= BRILL|jstor= 4527279}} (specifically pp. 185–186)</ref>

[[File:CEM-36-Regno-della-China-2355.jpg|thumb|Cathay is finally gone: This 1689 map by [[Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola]] from [[Modena]] identifies it (and Mangi) with China.]]
The last nail into the coffin of the idea of there being a Cathay as a country separate from China was, perhaps, driven in 1654, when the Dutch [[oriental studies|Orientalist]] [[Jacobus Golius]] met with the China-based Jesuit [[Martino Martini]], who was passing through [[Leyden]]. Golius knew no Chinese, but he was familiar with ''[[Zij-i Ilkhani]]'', a work by the Persian astronomer [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]], completed in 1272, in which he described the [[Chinese calendar|Chinese ("Cathayan") calendar]].<ref>van Dalen, Benno; Kennedy, E.S.; Saiyid, Mustafa K., "The Chinese-Uighur Calendar in Tusi's Zij-i Ilkhani", ''Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften'' 11 (1997) 111–151</ref> Upon meeting Martini, Golius started reciting the names of the [[Earthly Branches|12 divisions]] into which, according to Nasir al-Din, the "Cathayans" were dividing the day – and Martini, who of course knew no Persian, was able to continue the list. The names of the 24 [[solar term]]s matched as well. The story, soon published by Martini in the "Additamentum" to his Atlas of China, seemed to have finally convinced most European scholars that China and Cathay were the same.<ref name=lach1575/>

Even then, some people still viewed Cathay as distinct from China, as did [[John Milton]] in the 11th Book of his ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' (1667).<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/pss/3723329 "Why Did Milton Err on Two Chinas?"] Y. Z. Chang, ''The Modern Language Review'', Vol. 65, No. 3 (Jul., 1970), pp. 493–498.</ref>

In 1939, Hisao Migo ({{Langx|ja|御江久夫}}, a Japanese botanist<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Plants of China|author1=De-Yuan Hong|author2=Stephen Blackmore|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=91e3BwAAQBAJ&q=Hisao+Migo+japanese&pg=PA223|pages=222–223|isbn=978-1-107-07017-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kun.ac.cn/article/show/id/244|access-date=2015-10-09|title=中国植物采集简史I — 1949年之前外国人在华采集（三）|publisher=中国科学院昆明植物研究所标本馆|date=2014-12-01|language=zh}}</ref>) published a paper describing ''[[Iris cathayensis]]'' (meaning "Chinese iris") in the ''Journal of the Shanghai Science Institute''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Iridaceae Iris cathayensis Migo |url=http://www.ipni.org/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=438464-1 |publisher=ipni.org (International Plant Names Index) |access-date=21 January 2014}}</ref>

== Etymological progression ==
{{Further|Names of China}}
Below is the etymological progression from "Khitan" to Cathay as the word travelled westward:
{{Names of China}}
* [[Classical Mongolian]]: {{MongolUnicode|lang=mong|ᠬᠢᠲᠠᠳ}} {{Transliteration|cmg|Qitad}} (cf. modern [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] {{lang|mn|Хятад}} {{Transliteration|mn|Khyatad}})
* [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]]: {{lang|ug|خىتاي}} ({{Transliteration|ug|Xitay}})
* [[Persian language|Persian]]: {{lang|fa|ختای}} ({{Transliteration|fa|khatāy}})
* [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]]: {{lang|ky|Кытай}} ({{Transliteration|ky|Kytai}})
* [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]]: {{lang|kk|قىتاي}}, {{lang|kk|Қытай}}, {{lang|kk|Qıtay}}
* [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]]: {{lang|uz|Хитой}} ({{Transliteration|uz|Xitoy}})
* [[Tatar language#Dialects|Kazan Tatar]]: {{lang|tt|Кытай}} ({{Transliteration|tt|Qıtay}})
* [[Russian language|Russian]]: {{lang|ru|Китай}} ({{Transliteration|ru|Kitay}})
* [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]: {{lang|uk|Китай}} ({{Transliteration|uk|Kytaj}})
* [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]]: {{lang|be|Кітай}} ({{Transliteration|be|Kitaj}})
* [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]]: {{lang|bg|Китай}} ({{Transliteration|bg|Kitay}})
* [[Georgian language|Georgian]]: {{lang|ka|ხატაეთი}} ({{Transliteration|ka|Khataeti}}) (archaic or obsolete)
* [[Polish language|Polish]]: {{lang|pl|Kitaj}}
* [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]]: {{lang|sl|Kitaj}} ({{lang|sl-Cyrl|Китаj}})
* [[Croatian language|Croatian]]: {{lang|hr|Kitaj}}
* [[Medieval Latin]]: {{lang|la|Cataya}}, {{lang|la|Kitai}}
* [[Italian language|Italian]]: {{lang|it|Catai}}
* [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: {{lang|es|Catay}}
* [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: {{lang|pt|Cataio}} or {{lang|pt|Catai}}
* [[French language|French]], [[English language|English]], [[German language|German]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[North Germanic languages|Scandinavian]]:{{Citation needed|reason=Neither ODS (Ordbog over det danske Sprog) nor SAOB (Svenska akademiens ordbok) mention this word|date=May 2014}} Cathay

In many [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] and [[Slavic languages]] a form of "Cathay" (e.g., {{langx|ru|Китай}}, {{Transliteration|ru|Kitay}}) remains the usual modern name for China. In [[Javanese language|Javanese]], the word {{lang|jv|ꦏꦠꦻ}} ({{Transliteration|jv|Katai}}, {{Transliteration|jv|Katé}}) exists,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.detik.com/berita/3107581/ini-delapan-ramalan-joyoboyo-tentang-nusantara-yang-dipercaya-sakti/5 |title=Ini Delapan Ramalan Joyoboyo tentang Nusantara yang Dipercaya Sakti |work=Detik News}} (in Indonesian, transcription of King Jayabaya's prophecy)</ref> and it refers to "East Asian", literally meaning "dwarf" or "short-legged" in today's language.{{Citation needed|date=April 2018}}

In Uyghur, the word "Xitay (Hitay)" is used as a derogatory term for Ethnic Han Chinese.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20140703/cc03mystory/|title=我的维吾尔"民族主义"是怎样形成的|trans-title=How My Uyghur "Nationalism" Was Formed|work=The New York Times Chinese}}</ref>

== Use in English ==

In the [[English language]], the word ''Cathay'' was sometimes used for China, although increasingly only in a poetic sense, until the 19th century, when it was completely replaced by ''China''. Demonyms for the people of Cathay (i.e., [[Chinese people]]) were ''Cathayan'' and ''Cataian''. The terms ''China'' and ''Cathay'' have histories of approximately equal length in English. ''Cathay'' is still used poetically. The [[Hong Kong]] flag-bearing airline is named ''[[Cathay Pacific]]''. One of the largest commercial banks of Taiwan is named ''[[Cathay United Bank]]''.

The novel ''[[Creation (novel)|Creation]]'' by [[Gore Vidal]] uses the name in reference to "those states between the Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers" as the novel is set in the fifth and sixth centuries B.C. [[Ezra Pound]]'s ''[[Cathay (poetry collection)|Cathay]]'' (1915) is a collection of classical Chinese poems translated freely into English verse.

In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Hyborian Age]] stories (including the tales of [[Conan the Barbarian]]), the analog of China is called ''Khitai''.

In ''[[Warhammer Fantasy (setting)|Warhammer Fantasy]]'', a fantastical reimagination of the world used as a setting for various novels and games produced by [[Games Workshop]], Grand Cathay is the largest human empire, situated in the far east of the setting and based on medieval China.<ref name="pcgamer">{{cite web |last1=Zak |first1=Robert |title=Our first look at Total War: Warhammer 3's Cathay army in action is spectacular |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/our-first-look-at-total-war-warhammer-3s-cathay-army-in-action-is-spectacular/ |website=PC Gamer |access-date=11 January 2022 |language=en |date=19 October 2021}}</ref>

== In the names of organized entities ==

''Cathay'' is more prevalent in proper terms, such as in ''[[Cathay Pacific|Cathay Pacific Airways]]'' or ''[[Cathay Hotel]]''.

[[Cathay Bank]] is a bank with multiple branches throughout the United States and other countries.

[[Cathay Cineplex]]es was a cinema operator in Singapore operated by mm2 Asia, acquired from the [[Cathay Organisation]]. It ceased operations as of 1 September 2025, undergoing voluntary liquidation after months of financial troubles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ong |first=Chelsea |date=2025-09-01 |title=Cathay Cineplexes to go into voluntary liquidation amid financial woes|url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/cathay-cineplexes-voluntary-liquidation-financial-woes-mm2-asia-5325861|access-date=2025-09-01|work=CNA |language=en-SG }}</ref>

[[Cathay United Bank]] and [[Cathay Life Insurance]] are, respectively, a financial services company and an insurance company, both located in Taiwan.

== References ==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}

* Karl A. Wittfogel and Feng Chia-Sheng, "History of Chinese Society: Liao (907–1125)". in ''Transactions of American Philosophical Society'' (vol. 36, Part 1, 1946). Available [https://books.google.com/books?id=g08LAAAAIAAJ on Google Books].
* [[Nicolas Trigault|Trigault, Nicolas]] S. J. "China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Mathew Ricci: 1583–1610". English translation by [[Louis J. Gallagher]], S.J. (New York: Random House, Inc. 1953) of the Latin work,  ''[[De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas]]'' based on [[Matteo Ricci]]'s journals completed by [[Nicolas Trigault]]. Of particular relevance are Book Five, Chapter 11, "Cathay and China: The Extraordinary Odyssey of a Jesuit Lay Brother" and Chapter 12, "Cathay and China Proved to Be Identical." (pp.&nbsp;499–521 in 1953 edition).  There is also [https://books.google.com/books?id=iLsWAAAAQAAJ full Latin text] available on [[Google Books]].
* "The Journey of Benedict Goës from Agra to Cathay" – [[Henry Yule]]'s translation of the relevant chapters of ''[[De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas]]'', with detailed notes and an introduction. In: {{cite book |editor-first = Sir Henry |editor-last = Yule |translator-first = Sir Henry |translator-last = Yule

| publisher = Printed for the Hakluyt society |year = 1866
| title = Cathay and the way thither: being a collection of medieval notices of China. Issue 37 of Works issued by the Hakluyt Society
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KzEMAAAAIAAJ |pages = 529–596}}

* {{citation |first1 = Donald F. |last1 = Lach |first2 = Edwin J. |last2 = Van Kley |title = Asia in the Making of Europe |location = Chicago |publisher = University of Chicago Press |year = 1994 |isbn = 978-0-226-46734-4}}. Volume III, ''A Century of Advance'', Book Four, ''East Asia''.

{{refend}}

{{Clear}}
{{Liao dynasty topics}}

[[Category:Names of China]]
[[Category:Khitans]]