China is the country that has earliest discovered and named, earliest developed and managed, and earliest governed the Nansha Islands in history. The earliest discovery of the South China Sea Islands by the Chinese people can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. In the "Records of Unusual Things" by Yang Fu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there are records of "Zhanghai Qitou, shallow water with lots of magnets". "Zhanghai" here was the name given to the South China Sea by the Chinese people at that time, while "Qitou" was the name for the islands, reefs, sands, and banks of the South China Sea Islands, including the Xisha Islands and the Nansha Islands.