Friends who like geography may find that there is Xiangfen County in Linfen City, Shanxi Province, and Xiangyang City in Hubei Province, both places have "Xiang" in their names, but the straight-line distance between the two is nearly 500 kilometers, obviously the "Xiang" in the names of the two will not have a common source, so where does the "Xiang" in these two places originate?
The county seat of Xiangfen County, Xiangling Town and Fencheng Town
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > "Xiang" in Xiangfen County, Linfen City, Shanxi Province, is from Jin Xianggong and Zhao Xiangzi</h1>
According to the Qing Dynasty's Xiangling County Chronicle, "Xiangling is said to have been named after the Jin Xianggong and Zhao Xiangzi who were buried here, but it was first seen in the Book of Han and The Geographical Chronicle,...... Or that Xiangling did not originate from the Book of Han but was first seen in the "History of the Wei Dynasty", and Wenhou Qi took my Xiangling in the nineteenth year..."
The records of the origin of the name of Xiangling County in the "Xiangling County Chronicle"
From the above account, it can be seen that whether the record comes from the geographical records of the HanShu or the history of the Wei family, it is said that the Jin Xianggong and Zhao Xiangzi were buried here, so the legend of the name Xiangling can be used as the basis for the name.
Some friends may find that this "Xiang" character is in "Xiangling County", not "Xiangfen County" mentioned in this article, what is the origin of these two counties?
In fact, today's Xiangfen County was formed by the merger of two counties in the Ming and Qing dynasties, namely Xiangling County and Fencheng County, in 1954, the two counties were merged, and each took the first word of the original county name as the new county name, which is the origin of Xiangfen County.
Map of Xiangling County in the Xiangling County Chronicle
Map of Xiangling County in the Xiangling County Chronicle
After the establishment of Xiangfen County, the county government station did not choose one of the original two county seats, but chose Shicun Town, which originally belonged to Fencheng County. Shicun Town was an important post station in the Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republic of China, and yicheng was stationed here for many years, and during the Republic of China, it was the station of the county zuo (equivalent to the deputy of the county chief), which became more prosperous after the construction of the Tongpu Railway, and was also in the middle of the merger of the two counties, so it was the ideal location for the newly established Xiangfen County.
Taiping (later Fencheng) county map in the Taiping County Chronicle, the red circle is Shicun Town
Map of Taiping County in the Taiping County Chronicle
In fact, there is another interesting story in the name of Xiangfen County. The name of Fencheng County, one of its constituents, has a history of only 40 years, and the longest name used in history is Taiping County, until 1914, when the Republic of China cleaned up the duplicate counties in the country, because there were already 3 Taiping counties in other parts of the country, it was changed to "Fencheng County", which was used until the merger of the two counties in 1954.
At the time of the founding of New China, the two counties had not yet merged
If there had been no campaign to clean up the renamed counties during the Republic of China, if the two counties were merged after the founding of New China, the name of the county might have been "Xiangtai County". For those of us who are accustomed to Xiangfen County today, do we feel more awkward?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the "襄" of Xiangyang in Hubei Province comes from Xiangshui</h1>
Xiangshui originated from a spring puddle in the western foothills of the southern Bian Mountain in Xiangyang City (now Taishan Temple, Fenghuang Village, Yinji), a tributary of the Han River, about 14 kilometers long and covering an area of 30 square kilometers. Flowing south of Xiangyang City, the ancients used "mountains and rivers north as yang", which is why Xiangyang got its name. Both the Book of Han and the Geographical Chronicle of The Book of Han and the Commentary on the Water Classics and the Commentary on The Waters of The Waters record that Xiangyang is "located in the sun of Xiangshui", hence the name.
Map of Xiangyang County, Xiangxi can be seen in the south of the city
Map of Xiangyang County
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > and there is also the "Xiang" of Xiangyi in Sui County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province, whose source is similar to the "Xiang" of Xiangling</h1>
Today's Sui County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province, since Qin Shi Huang implemented the county system until the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, has been called Xiangyi, this "Xiang" from the Song Xiang Gong Mausoleum here. Or is it recorded in the Xiangling County Chronicle: "... The Xiangyi of Chenliu County is named after the Song Xiang Gong Mausoleum, and the name is the same as the place. ”
Suizhou and Xiangyi coexisted on the map of the Yuan Dynasty
Suizhou Territory Map
Seeing this, you know that the "xiang" in the names of these places has different origins.
Do you think so, welcome to discuss at the bottom of the article.