WEBThe Yizhoushu, which was a chronicle of the Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BCE), gives the first Chinese name for South China Sea as Nanfang Hai (Chinese: 南方海; pinyin: Nánfāng Hǎi; lit. 'Southern Sea'), claiming that barbarians from that sea gave tributes of hawksbill sea turtles to the Zhou rulers. [4] .