From "the Flowery Flag" to"the Beautiful Nation": On the Evolution of Chinese Appellations for the United States from the Perspective of Cultural Psychology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70088/aj23cc14Keywords:
Chinese appellation for the United States, cultural psychology, national cognition, cross-cultural communication, translation evolutionAbstract
The Chinese appellation for the United States is a highly frequent term in Sino-American cross-cultural communication, and its evolution reflects profound shifts in China's socio-cultural psychology. Based on a review of historical documents concerning the Chinese translations of the United States since the Ming and Qing dynasties, this paper divides the evolution of the Chinese appellation for the United States into four stages: the stage of neutral transliteration, the stage of derogatory portrayal, the stage of mixed evaluation of praise and blame, and the stage of friendly standardization. Analyzing from the perspective of cultural psychology, this evolutionary process is not merely a matter of linguistic conversion but a concentrated manifestation of Chinese cultural concepts, national cognition, identity, and cross-cultural communication awareness during specific historical periods. The study reveals that the transformation of the Chinese appellation for the United States mirrors the complex psychological journey of the Chinese people-from a sense of cultural superiority as the "Celestial Empire," through the humiliation of being forced into the global system, to an active pursuit of international recognition-thereby providing historical insights for contemporary Sino-Western cultural exchange and mutual learning.References
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