神州 (Shénzhōu): poetic / literary name for Chin…

Meanings

1 poetic / literary name for China; lit. 'the Divine Land'
2 (also) name of China's crewed spacecraft series

Characters

神

Examples

六亿神州尽舜尧。

Liù yì Shénzhōu jìn Shùn Yáo.

Six hundred million sons of the Divine Land are all sage-kings (Mao Zedong).

神州五号载着杨利伟首次进入太空。

Shénzhōu wǔ hào zàizhe Yáng Lìwěi shǒucì jìnrù tàikōng.

Shenzhou 5 carried Yang Liwei into space for the first time.

Tips

history

First attested in the writings of Zou Yan (邹衍 Zōu Yǎn, c. 305–240 BCE) as 赤县神州 — 'the Crimson County, the Divine Land'. Used through two millennia of poetry as a high-register name for China itself.

culture

China's crewed spacecraft series is named 神舟 (Shénzhōu, 'Divine Vessel') — note the homophone but different second character. The name was deliberately chosen to echo this 神州 ('Divine Land').