Tianzhu (India)

Tianzhu
Chinese name
Chinese天竺
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyintiānzhú
Wu
RomanizationThi-tsoq
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingTin1-zuk1
Southern Min
Hokkien POJThian-tiok
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinesetʰen ʈɨuk̚
Old Chinese
Zhengzhang*qʰl'iːn tuɡ
Korean name
Hangul천축
Hanja天竺
Transcriptions
Revised Romanizationcheonchuk
Japanese name
Kanji天竺
Hiraganaてんじく
Transcriptions
Romanizationtenjiku

Tianzhu (Chinese: 天竺; pinyin: Tiānzhú) is a historical Chinese name for the Indian subcontinent. Tian (; tiān) means "heaven", and zhu (; zhú) means "bamboo" in Chinese.

Tianzhu was also referred to as Wu Tianzhu (五天竺; Wǔ Tiānzhú; 'Five Indias'), because there were five geographical regions on the Indian subcontinent known to the Chinese: Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western India.