The meaning and history of the word ‘我國’

   What is the history of the word “我國”? I checked the Handian dictionary and saw that this word has a meaning similar to “中國”. In ancient times, 中國 referred to the central lands during the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, right? So I guess “我國” might mean “our ancient civilization” or “our Zhou kingdom,” is that correct?

   This is how I understand it—please share your ideas!

Thank you for your idea!

I would like to ask further: if the word “我國” is used by Vietnamese people, could it mean “our Vietnam,” or “our Central Plains civilization,” or perhaps “our Confucian civilization”?

I suspect you're reading too much into it. 我國 simply refers to the speaker's country, no less and no more. The dictionary says it means 中國 because the overwhelming majority of the time, the person using it is from China and referring to China. From a Chinese person, it refers to China; from a Vietnamese person, it refers to Vietnam. The stuff about "our civilization" is extraneous.

I see your point about 我國 being used simply as ‘my country’ in most contexts. But in classical usage, terms like 中國, 中洲, and 中土 carried a civilizational meaning, tied to the Zhou kingdom as the cultural center. Confucian scholars often emphasized that the Son of Heaven should model himself on Zhou culture, or even trace it back to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. So I think 我國 can sometimes be read in that broader civilizational sense, depending on context.