[German version]
(Σῖναι; Sînai). People in eastern Asia (Ptol. 1,17,5 and several times in Ptol. 7,3) with capital Thínai, Latin Thinae (Ptol. 7,3,6, Peripl. m. r. 64); also a term for southern China, which people visited by sea, whereas northern and eastern China were approached by way of the central-Asian caravan routes and was known as Serica, the land of the Seres , or the 'Silk Land'. S. and Serica were never associated with one another. The name S. is from the name of the Chinese Qín dynasty (3rd cent. BC), probably by way of the Old Indian Cīna.