Cathay

Cathay (kăthā`), name for North China used by medieval Europeans, derived from the Khitan (or Khitai), a Manchurian people who conquered S Manchuria and N China and founded the Liao dynasty (937–1125). S China was referred to as Mangi. Long after the end of the Liao, the Russians and some central Asian people continued to and still use Kitai as the name of China. The description of Cathay by Marco Polo (c.1254–c.1324) in his journal helped popularize the name in medieval Europe.

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Cathay

Former name for China, especially northern China. The word is derived from Khitay, the name of a seminomadic people who dominated northern China in the 10th–12th century. By the time of Genghis Khan, the Mongols had begun referring to northern China as Kitai (still the Russian word for China). The name may have been introduced to Europe by returning Franciscan friars c. 1254, but it was Marco Polo's Travels 50 years later that put Cathay's image before the European public.