The name "China" was first used as an equivalent to a sovereign country. Yongzheng's discussion of "territory" and the distinction between Huayi in the early "Dayi Mijuelu" can be regarded as the origin (original sentence "Since ancient times, when China was unified, its territory could not be vast, and those who did not adapt to the changes were denounced as barbarians. For example, for more than three generations, there were Miao, Jingchu, and Qi, which are now Hunan, Hubei, and Shanxi. Today, Is it okay to be a barbarian? As for when the Han, Tang, and Song Dynasties were in their prime, Beidi and Xirong were always troubled by the border, and they could never surrender and have their own territory. The whole world, as well as the tribes in the far reaches of Mongolia, have all returned to the territory. It is a great blessing for the Chinese people to expand the territory of China. How can there be a distinction between Chinese and foreign countries?" This shows that Yongzheng believed that the ancient emperors regarded the people of the foreign countries as their own. It is not correct to call it "China" (that is, "Zhuxia", please refer to the concept of "China" in ancient historical works such as "Gongyang Zhuan" and "Historical Records")), and the latest was during the Daoxian period. According to the complete set of treaties of the Qing Dynasty that were copied during the Daoguang period and stored in the Forbidden City (both copies are now collected in Taiwan) and photocopied, the Treaty of Nerchinsk contains the following content about China: "1. From the Gelbiqi River, a tributary of Heilongjiang, to the Outer Xing'an Mountains and up to the sea, the south of the mountain belongs to China, and the north of the mountain belongs to Russia. It is bounded by the Ergun River in the west, China in the south, Russia in the north, and the south bank of the Ergun River. The houses at the mouth of the Herilek River should be moved to the north bank. 2. The Yaksa area belongs to China. If the Yaksa city is demolished, the Russians will not cross the border without permission, otherwise they will be arrested and prosecuted. If more than a few people cross the border collectively, they must report it to the emperors of the two countries and be punished with death." The Qing government believed that it was the country of the emperor, so it called the area under its management "China", which became a national concept instead of internalizing it. Or "Zhuxia" as "China". After the Opium War, "China" appeared on international treaties many times as a proxy for a sovereign state (because the country's name was "Qing"), as a signatory of treaties, and on the international stage many times as a defeated country. Even so, the Qing government's diplomacy The word "China" used in documents also often contains a traditional mentality, that is, focusing on the literal meaning of the word "China" - the center, the center, the country in the world, and understanding it as the Central Empire, as a country. Kind of honorific and happy to use it. However, Westerners’ understanding of the word “China” originally only refers to a specific country’s main region or dynasty (note that the dynasties that our country people call ancient Chinese dynasties are actually sovereign states, but the dynasties in Westerners’ understanding are just It is a government, different from a country), that is, China (the former Chinese imperial regime of the Ming Dynasty). Even if the Qing Dynasty annexed the Ming Dynasty and inherited the sovereignty of the latter, its attitude of no special respect did not change. In addition, because China (Qinna, Zhina) has different meanings from "China" in the Qing Dynasty, the scope and ethnic composition of the latter have expanded. Misuse in the Qing Dynasty and even in contemporary times has given some Western anti-China forces or those who support China's separatist forces The excuse is that the scope of "China" is within the Great Wall and east of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which has caused the Chinese government to explain its historical sovereignty over Tibet, Xinjiang and other places, causing trouble in interpreting semantic ambiguities.