Chungkuo

Chungkuo is an English transliteration of the Chinese word Zhongguo (中國/中国), which means "central country" or "middle kingdom." The spelling Chung-kuo reflects the Wade-Giles romanization system that was commonly used in Western writings before the widespread adoption of pinyin. In modern usage, the standard Mandarin rendering is Zhongguo.

Historically, Chungkuo appeared in English-language texts from the 19th through the mid-20th century, particularly in scholarly, missionary, and diplomatic writings. It served as a way to refer to China in a phonetic form aligned with older European transliteration schemes. As linguistic conventions shifted to the pinyin system, Zhongguo became the predominant rendering in contemporary English and international discourse.

In present-day contexts, Chungkuo is largely encountered in historical documents, translations of older sources, or discussions of transliteration. It may also appear in some regional or diaspora publications that preserve older spellings. The term is distinct from modern official names such as the People's Republic of China or the Republic of China (Taiwan), and it is not typically used in current government nomenclature.

See also: Zhongguo, Zhonghua, China, Chinese language, Wade-Giles, Pinyin.