Seres (Σηρες) was the ancient Greek and Roman name for China and its inhabitants. It meant "of silk", or "land where silk comes from".
The name is thought to derive from the Chinese word for silk, "si" (Traditional Chinese: 絲; Simplified Chinese: 丝; pinyin: sī). It is itself at the origin of the Latin for silk, "serica".
Strabo mentioned Seres in his Geographia, written in the 1st century, as did Pliny the Elder a few decades later in his Naturalis Historia refering to silk:
- "The Seres are famous for the woolen substance obtained from their forests; after a soaking in water they comb off the white down of the leaves... So manifold is the labour employed, and so distant is the region of the globe drawn upon, to enable the Roman maiden to flaunt transparent clothing in public" (Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE, The Natural History).
The country of "Serica" is positioned in the 150CE Ptolemy world map in the area beyond the "Imaus" (Pamir Mountains).
See also