▁according ▁to ▁the ▁Oxford ▁English ▁Dictionary , ▁and ▁many ▁other ▁suggestions ▁have ▁been ▁mo oted . ▁ ▁The ▁existence ▁of ▁the ▁word ▁C ī na ▁ ▁in ▁ancient ▁H indu ▁texts ▁was ▁noted ▁by ▁the ▁S ansk rit ▁scholar ▁Hermann ▁Jacob i ▁who ▁pointed ▁out ▁its ▁use ▁in ▁the ▁Book ▁ 2 ▁of ▁Ar th ash ast ra ▁with ▁reference ▁to ▁sil k ▁and ▁w oven ▁cloth ▁produced ▁by ▁the ▁country ▁of ▁C ī na , ▁although ▁text ual ▁analysis ▁suggests ▁that ▁Book ▁ 2 ▁may ▁not ▁have ▁been ▁written ▁long ▁before ▁ 1 5 0 ▁AD . ▁The ▁word ▁is ▁also ▁found ▁in ▁other ▁S ansk rit ▁texts ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁Mah ā b h ā r ata ▁and ▁the ▁La ws ▁of ▁Man u . ▁ ▁The ▁Ind ologist ▁Patrick ▁Oliv elle ▁argued ▁that ▁the ▁word ▁C ī n ā ▁may ▁not ▁have ▁been ▁known ▁in ▁India ▁before ▁the ▁first ▁century ▁BC , ▁never theless ▁he ▁agreed ▁that ▁it ▁probably ▁referred ▁to ▁Q in ▁but ▁thought ▁that ▁the ▁word ▁itself ▁was ▁derived ▁from ▁a ▁Central ▁Asian ▁language . ▁Some ▁Chinese ▁and ▁Indian ▁sch ol ars ▁argued ▁for ▁the ▁state ▁of ▁J ing ▁( , ▁another ▁name ▁for ▁Ch u ) ▁as ▁the ▁likely ▁origin ▁of ▁the ▁name . ▁ ▁Another ▁suggestion , ▁made ▁by ▁Geoff ▁W ade , ▁is ▁that ▁the ▁ ▁C ī n ā h ▁in ▁S ansk rit ▁texts ▁refers ▁to ▁an ▁ancient ▁kingdom ▁centered ▁in ▁present - day ▁Gu iz hou , ▁called ▁Y el ang ,