Many people may have the same confusion as me. Why is Hubei called "Hubei" instead of "Chu" or "Jing"? After all, Hubei is the birthplace of Chu, and Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period created Chu culture in its 800-year history. This is not exactly the same as other provinces. For example, Sichuan is called Shu for short, because it was the territory of Shu in the Three Kingdoms. Shaanxi is called Qin for short, which is closely related to the territory of ancient Qin State. Then Hubei is the birthplace of Chu, why not call it Chu for short? Moreover, the word "Chu" is much more famous than the word "E", and more importantly, it is easy to remember and write. Why use the word "e"? I looked through the information later and finally found the reason.
Let's see what "e" really means.
When I first see the word "e", many people will think of the crocodile "crocodile", and I am no exception. These two words look really similar. Yes, "e" means crocodile. In fact, in ancient times, these two words were interchangeable words, expressing the same meaning, but with different styles.
In ancient times, about 4000 years ago, a large number of crocodiles were distributed in the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins. The name of this crocodile in ancient books is Tuo, which is today's Chinese alligator. It is an endangered protected animal, but it was abundant 4000 years ago. As a result, a tribe emerged, catching catfish for a living, and later this tribe established its own small country called Hubei. Hubei country first appeared.
Although later, with the development of the times, Hubei was almost destroyed by Jin and Zhou Dongzheng, who came from behind, but after all, the fire still exists. Hubei moved to liangzi lake, Ezhou City, Hubei Province, and established Wang E City as the capital of Hubei Province in Ezhou. Now there is the site of Ewangcheng in Daye, Ezhou, Hubei Province. Chu, which has developed for more than 800 years, naturally can't bear others to run wild in its own territory, so Hubei withdrew from the stage of history.
However, although Hubei has disappeared, history has not forgotten Hubei. After the State of Chu annexed Hubei, he appreciated the architecture, geographical location and geomantic omen of the King of Hubei, so he named the capital of Chu as the King of Hubei. Since then, Ewangcheng has been the capital of Chu, and it was not until 200 years later that King Wen of Chu moved to Ying, now Jingzhou, Hubei.
In this way, the title of "E" began to be handed down.
Later, Qin unified the six countries, implemented the county system, and set up E County in the former site of E Wangcheng. During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan of Wu changed Hubei County to Wuchang County, which meant the prosperity of Wuyun. The name of Wuchang, Hubei Province originated from this and has now developed into one of the three towns in Wuhan.
Although Hubei is gone, the word "Hubei" has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Sui Dynasty, Hubei County was upgraded, and Ezhou was established. The states in Sui Dynasty were similar to the provincial administrative units now, so "Hubei" officially became the abbreviation of Hubei administrative region.
By the Yuan Dynasty, the provincial system had been implemented. Hubei was first called Jinghu Province, later called Huguang Province, with Ezhou as its capital, which is now Wuchang, Wuhan. Because the provincial capital has always been called Hubei, it has always been called Hubei in history, so Hubei Province is often called "Hubei Province", and gradually "Hubei" has become the abbreviation of Hubei Province.
Therefore, the abbreviation of "Hubei" has a considerable historical background and can be traced back to thousands of years ago. It is no exaggeration to say that it is one of the oldest place names in China.