Etymology of Tibet

Tibet is a region of southerwestern China on a high plateau north of the Himalayas. The first known written use of the English word Tibet dates back to 1827 CE and may have been derived from older terms in other languages similar to Mongol term Tibyet, or Töbed. The first known Chinese words Xizang and the simplified form Zang date back to time between 1591 CE (萬曆十八年) and 1592 CE (萬曆十九年) during the Ming Dynasty. The first known official use of Xizhang in Qing records dates back to 1663 CE (康熙二年) Their definitions and usage have been controversial in terms of the extent of territory being claimed.

The endonymic term is Bod (Tibetan: བོད་; Bö) or Ü-Tsang (དབུས་གཙང་; Wü-Tsang) for Central Tibet. The Chinese term Tǔbō or Tǔfān (吐蕃) was used during the Tang and Song dynasties to refer to the historical Tibetan Empire. In 1720 the Kangxi Emperor of Qing dynasty wrote an edict for the Imperial Stele Inscriptions of the Pacification of Tibet in Han, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan languages. At that point, Xizang officially appeared, replacing other terms like Kokham (朵甘) and Ali Sankor (阿里三廓, "Nari Sugulusun" in the Yuan and Ming dynasties). The Manchu term is Wargi Dzang, and the Mongol term is Töbed. Xizang was subsequently used in all documents such as 13-Article Ordinance for the More Effective Governing of Tibet in 1751, or 29-Article Ordinance for the More Effective Governing of Tibet of 1793. Xizang has become synonymous in China with the Tibet Autonomous Region.