<P> Shang dynasty (1600--1046 BC) oracles and bronze inscriptions first recorded specific Chinese exonyms for foreigners, often in contexts of warfare or tribute . King Wu Ding (r . 1250--1192 BC), for instance, fought with the Guifang 鬼 方, Di 氐, and Qiang 羌 "barbarians ." </P> <P> During the Spring and Autumn period (771--476 BC), the meanings of four exonyms were expanded . "These included Rong, Yi, Man, and Di--all general designations referring to the barbarian tribes ." These Siyi 四 夷 "Four Barbarians", most "probably the names of ethnic groups originally," were the Yi or Dongyi 東夷 "eastern barbarians," Man or Nanman 南 蠻 "southern barbarians," Rong or Xirong 西戎 "western barbarians," and Di or Beidi 北狄 "northern barbarians ." The Russian anthropologist Mikhail Kryukov concluded . </P> <P> Evidently, the barbarian tribes at first had individual names, but during about the middle of the first millennium B.C., they were classified schematically according to the four cardinal points of the compass . This would, in the final analysis, mean that once again territory had become the primary criterion of the we - group, whereas the consciousness of common origin remained secondary . What continued to be important were the factors of language, the acceptance of certain forms of material culture, the adherence to certain rituals, and, above all, the economy and the way of life . Agriculture was the only appropriate way of life for the Hua - Hsia . </P> <P> The Chinese classics use compounds of these four generic names in localized "barbarian tribes" exonyms such as "west and north" Rongdi, "south and east" Manyi, Nanyibeidi "barbarian tribes in the south and the north," and Manyirongdi "all kinds of barbarians ." Creel says the Chinese evidently came to use Rongdi and Manyi "as generalized terms denoting' non-Chinese,' ' foreigners,' ' barbarians'," and a statement such as "the Rong and Di are wolves" (Zuozhuan, Min 1) is "very much like the assertion that many people in many lands will make today, that' no foreigner can be trusted' ." </P>

Who use the term state in modern sense for the first time