land of the barbarians
Archaic term referring to uncivilized or foreign lands from a historical Sino-Japanese perspective. Not used in modern everyday language.
In old documents, the word 蕃境 is used to refer to the lands of foreign peoples.
Historical kanji spelling using 蕃 (barbarian). Rare in modern usage.
Variant spelling using 蛮 (barbarian). Also rare.
Compound of 蕃 (ban, 'barbarian') and 境 (kyō, 'border' or 'region'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; it follows classical Chinese-style naming for peripheral territories.