Four Barbarians

Four Barbarians
Zhou dynasty cosmography of Huaxia and the Four Barbarians: Dongyi in the east, Nanman in the south, Xirong in the west, and Beidi in the north.
Chinese name
Chinese
Literal meaningfour barbarians
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinsìyí
Wade–Gilesssu-i
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabettứ di
Hán-Nôm
Korean name
Hangul사이
Hanja
Transcriptions
Revised Romanizationsa-i
McCune–Reischauersa-i
Japanese name
Kanji
Hiraganaしい
Transcriptions
Revised Hepburnshii

"Four Barbarians" (Chinese: 四夷; pinyin: sìyí) was a term used by subjects of the Zhou and Han dynasties to refer to the four major people groups living outside the borders of Huaxia. Each was named for a cardinal direction: the Dongyi ("Eastern Barbarians"), Nanman ("Southern Barbarians"), Xirong ("Western Barbarians"), and Beidi ("Northern Barbarians"). Ultimately, the four barbarian groups either emigrated away from the Chinese heartland or were partly assimilated through sinicization into Chinese culture during later dynasties. After this early period, "barbarians" to the north and the west would often be designated as "Hu" (胡).