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Handan (Handan Learning to Walk)
A brief discussion of Chinese place names
From apes to humans, The transition from barbarism to civilization has created the human tendency to name things with language and words. Take a look: In the sky and on the earth, macroscopically and microscopically, there seems to be nothing that has been recognized by humans but has no name. Even the moon, which was impossible to set foot on in ancient times, was created by the imaginative Chinese as a "Guanghan Palace".
Human beings label many geographical entities as a place name, which is used to identify symbols of different regions. It is a tool for people to communicate in social activities, and it is also a cultural treasure for social development and human progress. There are a large number of ancient place names and place names with rich cultural connotations in our country. They are found in mountains, streams, lakes, scenic spots, cultural relics, memorial sites, ancient sites, ancient buildings and streets. They are geographical indications and vivid portrayals of our country's long history, splendid culture and numerous celebrities. Although some ancient relics have been lost in the vicissitudes of history, leaving only their names, future generations can rely on these names to evoke the memory of history and find their traces. It is an ancient geographical coordinate. The existence of a large number of ancient place names reveals the cultural aspects of China in different time and space. It is a long scroll showing Chinese history and a living picture of people's livelihood in time and space. It should be protected as a precious cultural heritage of our country. "Place names are national cultural heritage", this is the positioning of the material, social and cultural significance of place names by the 5th United Nations Conference on Standardization of Place Names.
Our country has a vast territory, a long history, and many ethnic groups. It is not only the country with the largest number of place names in the world, but also has a profound cultural heritage that is unmatched by other countries. It is a "rich mine" of place name cultural resources. . The basic structure of culture can be divided into four levels of content: the first is material culture, including human-made production, living utensils and related technologies; the second is spiritual culture, including people's thoughts, beliefs, and values. and mentality, etc.; the third is behavioral culture, which refers to people's conventional writing patterns in social interactions; the fourth is institutional culture, which is reflected in the social norms established by people in social practice. The origin and classification of place names are generally discussed from these four aspects.
Classification and Origin of Place Names
There are many types of place names with different meanings. Only some of the more common types can be listed here. Moreover, the boundaries of the classification of some place names are relatively blurred. It can be said that they are divided by surnames or landforms, so I will not go into detail in this article.
1. Named after landform features or features.
Such as Heilongjiang, Dahenggou, Qingyatou, Shiyazhi, Yaozimen, Zhongchakou, Lingdi, Potou, Shaao, Hongtupo, Changchi, Hongyadi, Zhaimenzhi , carriage, magnetic basin water, Kuanping, Baishi, Heishiyao, Huanglongtou, Cenfeng, etc. The typical one is "Silong Village", which is named after the mountainous landscape running like a dragon from north to south and the terrain where the village is located. It is named Huanglongtou (Dragon King's Head), Huanglongao, Longchao Bay and Qinglongpo. There are also Elephant Trunk Mountain in Guilin and so on.
There is another format, which is a combination of surname and place name, which is a comprehensive part of the first and second formats. There are countless such names in places with dense populations and diverse landforms. For example, *家*, usually the first * is the surname, and the second * usually refers to the landform, such as ditch, beam, valley, mausoleum, hill, Fu, fan, pier, township, pavilion, Ju, dock, wall, fortress, garrison, fort, town, shop, market, market, field, service, flat, ping, gate, stone, alkali, temple, pagoda, tsui, shop, canal, ridge, bay, hui, nao, chuan, field, Kilns, cities, platforms, ponds, cols, tunkans, tombs, etc. Specific examples include: Kangjiagou, Lijialiang, Qijiazhuang, Majiabian, Xiaojiahui, Liangjiazhai, Caijiaping, Guocun, Hecun, Lujiacun, Niujiacun, Fujianao, Jiajiayu, Zhengjiagou, Liujiapo, Zhao Jiacha, Guojiaping, Sujialing, Yuanjialiang, Wangjiawan, Zhujiafen, etc.
Among them, names such as "Yuege Village" evolved due to changes in pronunciation. Yuegezhuang is actually just Yuejiazhuang. These are all due to the development and changes of Chinese pronunciation.
The format is generally *Village (township, county). For example, in Lushi County in Henan Province, there are also some village names such as Jiangjia, Hanjia, Mijia, Licun, etc. In addition, there are village names in formats such as Qincun Liujia and Qindian Zhangjia.
However, there are also places where the situation is reversed and the surnames are based on the place of residence. For example, the officials of the public clan of Qi State lived in Dongguo, Nanguo, Xiguo and Beiguo respectively, and these four Guos became the surnames.
3. Name according to the direction.
Such as Beipo, Beishe, Beilou, Beigou, Beiyawan; Dongzhai, Dongnao, Dongping, Dongyuan, Dongpo, Dongshan, Donglan; Nancun, Nangou, Nanhe , Nanling, Nanshe, Nanliu, Nanyu, Nanzui, Nanbeizi; Xicun, Xidu, Xishe, Xiwan, Xiyu, Xizhang, Xipo, Xinao, Xishantou; Zhonglan, Zhongzhuang, Zhongshe, Zhongxing Road, Zhongxinliang, etc. The position is often combined with the surname, which has been mentioned before.
Like "state", "Yin" and "Yang" also often appear in place names. In middle school Chinese textbooks, we all know that "Mountains to the south and water to the north are yang, and mountains to the north and water to the south are yin." The Feng Shui theory originated from the Book of Changes in ancient China is very particular (it is not completely superstitious, please refer to the first issue of "China National Geography" in 2006). Therefore, the ups and downs of the terrain are described using the Yin Yang and Five Elements methods.
Therefore, the south of the mountain is called yang because it can shine on the sun, and the north of the mountain is called yin; and the water (river) is just the opposite, the north of the water is yang, and the south of the water is yin. But there are exceptions. Hanyang, Hubei Province is located to the south of the Han River. The reason is that the Han River changed its course in history from the south to the north of Hanyang City, but the name of the city remained unchanged, so it became a special case.
4. Named after plants.
Such as Pingguoyuan, Zaolingou, Yulinnao, Madigou, Yanglin Kiln, Xiangcaoping, Cypress, Luyagou, Chunshudi, Tanshangou, Yaoshupo, etc.
5. Named after animals.
There are Luyu, Masiang, Xiongping, Heshan, Maopu, Baochuan, Yangquan, Aotou, Luotuodao, Zhangerping, Sheeppo, Xianao, Shiziping, etc.
6. Named after myths.
There are immortals, divine springs, stone Buddhas, Samantabhadra, temple grounds, Zen rooms, Buddhist halls, mud rivers, stone cows, divine heads, Guanyin hall, Luohan hall, Jiangxiangping, lion god, old stone god, Jade Girl Peak, Wangfu Terrace, etc. The origins of these place names are all related to an ancient legend, such as:
Shanxi Shenchi County - because in the Ming Dynasty, a divine bunker was built in the territory, and there was a pool of water outside the west gate of the fort. It is said that the water "comes out of nowhere". The source leaves no trace, the drought never dries up, and the rain never fills up. It’s called the Divine Pool.”
Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province - According to legend, Nong Yu, the daughter of Duke Mu of Qin, was good at playing the flute, which attracted a hermit from Huashan who was good at playing the flute. They met and got married, and then flew away on a phoenix. In the Tang Dynasty, With this meaning, the name was changed to Fengxiang.
Lion God Village - Legend has it that a young girl encountered a tiger while passing here and called for help. Suddenly a male lion jumped out and killed the tiger. The girl was saved and the lion disappeared. The villagers set up a lion temple to worship, and Yi Village was named the Lion God Village.
Sidi Village - In the past, there was no water here. One day, I suddenly saw a white deer digging at the rocks, and the spring water gushes out endlessly. The old village is called Shenquan Village. Because the village is located under the "Dangli Temple" on Beizhai Slope, it is commonly known as "Sidi Village".
Luohantang Village - Legend has it that one of the 100 Iron Arhat Sutras transported by Wenshu Monastery in Wutai Mountain was lost, and it transformed into a human being who stayed overnight but sat in its original form. The villagers built a cliff hall to worship in it, and then changed the name of the village. For Luohantang Village.
7. Place names derived from historical figures or historical events.
That is, place names based on historical figures or historical activities related to them, and place names based on certain historical events and certain historical facts. Such as: Changxian Gate, Tongyuan Gate, Yingen Gate, etc.
Qixian County was named after Qi Xi, an official of the Jin Dynasty, lived here during the Spring and Autumn Period.
Jiexiu (city) was named because it is said that during the Spring and Autumn Period, Jie Zitui, a nobleman of Jin State, lived in seclusion in his field and died in Mianshan within the territory.
Jishan (County), it is said that Houji once taught people how to draft manuscripts in the mountains in the southern border of the county. This mountain was later called Jiwang Mountain, and the place was named "Jishan" because of its mountain. ".
Zuoquan (county) was called Luoyang in ancient times and was renamed several times later.
In September 1942, in order to commemorate the death of General Zuo Quan here, it was renamed Zuoquan County.
Wenxi (county) is located in the southwest of Shanxi Province. It was originally named Zuoyi County. In the sixth year of Yuanding in the Western Han Dynasty (111 BC), when Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, passed through this place, he heard that the army was attacking southern Guangdong. (now Guangdong), the county was renamed Wenxi.
Lingshi (county) was named after the ancient meteorite discovered when Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was digging river channels in the tenth year of his reign.
8. Place names with meanings.
These place names are either recorded in historical records or sometimes quoted from poems. Generally speaking, they are the names of cities. There is a Fanzhi (county) in Shanxi, which is named because "the city is located at the foot of the mountain and is surrounded by mountains." Therefore, "Fanzhi" is actually a general description of the terrain features surrounded by mountains in the county.
For example:
Chengdu: The earliest explanation of the word Chengdu is "Taiping Huanyu Ji" (Volume 72) of Song Dynasty Music History. Le Shi believes that Chengdu got its name because "the King of Zhou Dynasty came down from Liangshan to Qiqi, and established a city in one year, and Chengdu in two years, so it was named "Chengdu". The name of Chengdu Prefecture and County in "Fangyu Shenglan" written by Zhu Mu of the Song Dynasty It is believed that "it is based on the so-called "Three Years of Chengdu" in "Historical Records". This statement is widely circulated and has a great influence. There is also a saying that Emperor Wang Du Yu’s new camp passed through this capital, so it was named ‘Chengdu’, which means success, achievement, and completion.” Furthermore, according to the “Book of Mountains and Seas”, there are mountains that “Chengdu contains the sky” and “Chengdu”. According to the written records of "Hou Zhishan", it is believed that "Cheng" in Chengdu is the name of an ancient tribe or country. Its character shape is the combination of Wu and Ding. Wu is the image of an axe, and Ding is like an arrow or an arrow hitting a target. Chenghou is named after this character. As a symbol of the power of the tribal chief, the word "Du" refers to the intersection of two rivers in Tibetan. According to this interpretation, the meaning of the word Chengdu should be the place where the two rivers meet. Some people think that the word Chengdu is "just a translation of the two sounds of Shu language 'Chengdu' in Central Plains Chinese characters." There are many place names with controversial origins in China.
Changchun: Regarding the origin of the place name of Changchun, according to some geographical records, there is the following statement: One theory is that Changchun was named after the periwinkle flower. This statement is briefly mentioned in "Research on Manchurian Place Names". : That is, "Changchun means Changchun, which is a synonym for rose"; the second theory is: According to the "Changchun County Chronicle", the Changchun Hall "was established in a place originally a few miles east of Changchun Fort, and the name came from this. And on the day when the place where it was built was renamed by the natives, a new city was built. "From this we can conclude that the name of Changchun is because the hall is located near Changchun Fort. However, where does the name of Changchun Fort come from? According to the 1982 "Changchun Place Names" data: Changchun Fort was moved here from It was named by the Han people with auspicious meaning; on the other hand, Changchun Fort followed the old name of Changchun Prefecture in the Liao and Jin Dynasties, so the place was originally under the jurisdiction of Changchun Prefecture. Thirdly, Qianlong passed by Changbai Mountain several times in the summer to worship his ancestors. When I came here, I found that the climate here was much cooler than that of Shengjing, and the scenery was pleasant, so I casually recited the poem "Spring is always there under the Changbai Mountain, and everyone loves it by the Yitong River", so the establishment of this place began in the 5th year of Jiaqing (1800). The local administrative agency is named "Changchun Hall" from the first sentence.
Wuxi: There are two theories about the origin of the place name "Wuxi". One is the current popular one. It is believed that Xishan produced tin during the Zhou and Qin Dynasties, and the tin was exhausted in the Han Dynasty, so it was named "Wuxi". Another theory is that "Wuxi" is one of the ancient Yue place names, and "Wu" has no real meaning. The original meaning of "Wuxi" has been lost for a long time due to the ancient Vietnamese language and cannot be verified. Some people believe that "Wuxi", like many other place names in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, such as Fujiao, Yuhang, Jurong, Gusu, etc., are all homogeneous place names. , although the first word is written in different ways, the ancient pronunciation is consistent or similar, and they are all words produced in the ancient Yue language, and have no real meaning. With the migration, dispersion and integration of the clans in the ancient Wuyue area, the original meanings were gradually lost. , but some of them were preserved because they used Chinese characters to record the same sounds. Later generations did not know the origin, and often misinterpreted the meaning of the word. Some scholars believe that "Wuxi" was because an ancient Yue tribe living in Wuxi used a kind of name. "Zhi Niao" is named after the totem, and its original meaning should be "god".
Gansu: named after Ganzhou and Suzhou.
In the Tang Dynasty, it belonged to Guannai Road and Longyou Road; in the Song Dynasty, the eastern part belonged to Qinfeng Road of Song Dynasty, and the west belonged to Xixia; Qinfeng Road was divided into Qinfeng Road, Lintao Road and Qingyuan Road in Jin Dynasty; in the early Yuan Dynasty, Ganzhou Road was established as Gansu Road (it was soon changed to Ganzhou Road) , was the beginning of Gansu's name. Later, Ningxia Province was changed to Gansu Province; Ming Dynasty was the capital of Shaanxi Province; Shaanxi Province was reorganized and Gansu Province was restored, and the name of the province has not changed to this day.
Shanxi: Named after it is located to the west of the Taihang Mountains. In the Tang Dynasty, most of the roads belonged to Hedong Road; in the Song Dynasty, Hedong Road was established; in the Jin Dynasty, the northeast and south roads of the river were divided; in the Yuan Dynasty, the Hedong Road in Shanxi was established, which was the beginning of Shanxi's name; in the Ming Dynasty, Shanxi Province was established, and later it was changed to Shanxi Chief Envoy; in the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi Province was changed to The name of the province has not changed to this day.
Hunan: named after being located in the south of Dongting Lake. In the Tang Dynasty, it belonged to Jiangnan West Road and Middle Guizhou Road, and later the Hunan Observatory was established, which was the beginning of Hunan's name; in the Song Dynasty, it was called Hunan Road; in the Yuan Dynasty, it was established as Lingbei Hunan Road; in the Ming Dynasty, it belonged to Huguang Province, and later the province was changed to the Huguang Chief Envoy Department; Huguang Province was reorganized into Hunan Province, and the name of the province has not changed to this day.
9. Merged or changed place names.
Mainly refers to the new place name formed by the merger of two place names during the organizational change. For example:
Shanxi Linyi (County): Linyi (County) was named after the merger of the original Linjin and Yishi counties in 1954.
Liquan (County) in Shaanxi: It is named after the sweet spring water of Liquan, indicating that the county is rich in high-quality mineral water resources. In 1964, in order to simplify the word "鴴", it was changed to "Liquan".
Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia: Wuda City and Haibowan City merged.
Zibo City, Shandong Province: Zichuan County and Boshan County are collectively known as Zichuan County and Boshan County. Later, a special zone was established with two counties under its jurisdiction. Later, the organizational name changed many times, and finally it was the prefecture-level Zibo City.
Panjin City, Liaoning Province: Panshan County of Jinzhou City was upgraded, taking the names of Panshan and Jinzhou.
By studying the origin of place names, we can understand the history, culture, folk customs, characteristics, etc. of this place. There is a "Reclining Buddha Valley" in Anle County, Sichuan. Following this intriguing place name, people discovered a huge stone Buddha and a rock-carving image of Sakyamuni's Nirvana during the Tang Dynasty. They also discovered more than 400,000 Chinese characters buried by the ancients. The Buddhist scriptures provide new information for the study of Buddhism and the exploration of Tang Dynasty culture. Xia, Shang and Zhou were three consecutive dynasties in ancient my country. However, no physical evidence of the Xia Dynasty has been found for a long time. In 1977, archaeologists used an ancient place called "Wangchenggang" in Dengfeng County, Henan as a clue, and excavated the city wall foundation trench there, which was determined to be a Xia Dynasty site by C-14.
Abbreviation of place names
With the increasing enrichment of Chinese vocabulary, a large number of phrases that combine several words to express complex meanings have emerged, which has affected the convenience of people's writing and speaking, so many The "abbreviations" of place names emerge spontaneously...
Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liao, Ji, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Gan, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei , Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Qiong, Chongqing, Sichuan or Shu, Guizhou or Guizhou, Yunnan or Dian, Tibet, Shaanxi or Qin, Gansu or Long, Qinghai, Ning, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan - this has been followed for many years It is the "abbreviation" for the current 34 provincial-level administrative regions in the country, but there are also things that can be discussed and discussed. Among them, 14 such as Hebei, Shanxi, Shanghai, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Qiong, and Chongqing can only be regarded as "aliases" because they are not used in the full names of their administrative regions. within the character range. Some large and medium-sized cities also have their own abbreviations or nicknames. Nanjing City ~ Ning, Guangzhou City ~ Sui, Ningbo City ~ Yong, Fuzhou City ~ Rong, Chengdu City ~ Rong, Taiyuan City ~ Bing, Kaifeng City ~ Bian, Jiujiang City ~ Xun.