Cathay 248639 221323311 2008-06-24T00:50:19Z Mattousai 6635093 /* References in popular culture */ {{Unreferenced|date=November 2007}} {{otheruses}} '''Cathay''' is the Anglicized version of "Catai" and an alternative name for '''[[China]]''' in English. "Catai" was originally the name used for northern China during [[Marco Polo]]'s time (he referred to southern China as ''[[Names_of_China#Mangi|Manji]]''). "Catai" itself derives from the word [[Khitan people|Khitan]] (契丹 Qìdān), the Chinese name of a tribe ruling predominantly in northern China during Polo's visits. ''Travels in the Land of Kublai Khan'' by Marco Polo has a story called "The Road to Cathay". In the [[English language]], the word Cathay was sometimes used for China, although increasingly only in a poetic sense, until the 19th century when it was completely replaced by "China". However the terms "China" and "Cathay" are about as old as each other in English. The term may still be used poetically or in certain proper nouns, such as [[Cathay Pacific|Cathay Pacific Airways]] or [[Cathay Hotel]]. A person from Cathay (i.e., a [[Chinese people|Chinese]]) was also written in English as a Cathayan or a Cataian. ==Etymological progression== Below is the etymological progression from Khitan to Cathay as the word travelled westward: * [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]/[[Classical Mongolian]]: Khyatad (Хятад) / Kitad * [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] (Western China): خىتاي, Xitay * [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]]: قىتاي, Қытай, Qıtay * [[Kazan]] [[Tatar]] (Central Russia): Qıtay * [[Russian language|Russian]]: Kitay (Китай) * [[Medieval Latin]]: Cataya, Kitai * [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: Catay * [[Italian language|Italian]]: Catai * [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: Cataio * [[English language|English]]: Cathay == References in popular culture == * Cathay is mentioned several times by John Blackthorne, the protagonist in [[James Clavell]]'s novel [[Shōgun (novel)|''Shōgun'']]. * The flag carrier of [[Hong Kong]] was named [[Cathay Pacific]] because the founders envisioned that one day, the airline would cross the [[Pacific Ocean]] from [[China]]. * [[Ezra Pound]] published a collection of poems entitled ''Cathay: For the Most Part from the Chinese of [[Rihaku]], from the notes of the late [[Ernest Fenollosa]], and the Decipherings of the Professors [[Mori]] and [[Ariga]]'', London: Elkin Mathews, 1915. * [[Edna St. Vincent Millay]] mentions Cathay in her poem "To The Not Impossible Him". * Cathay is the name of a short story by [[Steven Millhauser]] in his collection of short stories "in the penny arcade" * The [[Suede (band)|Suede]] song "The Power" from the album ''[[Dog Man Star]]'' includes the line, "through endless Asia / through the fields of Cathay". * In [[Gore Vidal]]'s novel ''[[Creation (novel)|Creation]]'', which takes place between [[510s BC|510]]–[[445 BC]], Cathay is a pivotal setting. * [[Robert E. Howard]] named a China-like civilization ''Khitai'' in his [[Hyborian Age]] backdrop for [[Conan the Barbarian]]. * In the 2007 Animated Film [[Sword of the Stranger]], the antagonists are a group of Chinese warriors referred to as the Cathay. In [[role playing game]]s: * There are regions named Cathay in the settings of the ''[[7th Sea]]'' and ''[[Earthdawn]]'' role playing games. * [[Cathay (Warhammer)|Cathay]] is a region with Chinese inspirations in the [[Warhammer Fantasy (setting)|Warhammer Fantasy]] setting. * In [[White Wolf, Inc| White Wolf Game Studio's]] ''[[Kindred of the East]]'' a popular epithet for an Eastern vampire is "Cathayan". ==See also== * [[Kitai-gorod]] [[Category:History of China]] [[de:Cathay]] [[es:Catay]] [[eo:Katajo]] [[it:Catai]] [[no:Cathay (Kina)]] [[pl:Kataj]] [[ru:Китай (этимология)]] [[uk:Китай (етимологія)]]