English

Proper noun

A map of China Proper, Manchuria, Mongolia, Sinkiang, and Tibet in 1944.

China proper

1. Parts of China excluding outer frontiers such as Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, etc.

Usage notes

• There is no universally accepted definition of which geographical locations are included within China proper.
• There is no exact equivalent for this term in the modern languages of China, since it was first used by Western writers describing the Qing dynasty and was not commonly adopted by Chinese scholars.

Translations

See also

• Greater China
• mainland China