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The name China, as used in the West, can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty, when the idea of a unified China became real, and was called Tschin, Tschina or Tzinistan in the Indo-Germanic languages. The Chinese of the Qin Dynasty called the country Da Qin, granting the new empire a sense of magnitude by preceding qin with da, meaning big or great. Today's unofficial is Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo (The People's Republic of China) but throughout Chinese history this land has always been, simply, Zhongguo - the Middle Kingdom.
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| Although often considered a branch of Chinese painting, Chinese Calligraphy is a highly venerated art form in itself. Writing has always been central to the Chinese, not only as a means of preservation and dissemination of culture, but also as a marker of a person's intelligence and social status. |
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