Each province and region in China has its own unique abbreviations, and most of these abbreviations have certain historical origins. For example, Shandong is referred to as "Lu" because the status of the State of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period was very high, it was the fiefdom of Ji Dan, the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou, and the influence of Confucius thought in Shandong was huge, and Confucius was a Lu person. Hebei is known as the land of Yanzhao, and in history there are two famous ancient states of Yan and Zhao, but why is Hebei neither referred to as "Yan" nor "Zhao", but simply "Ji"?
Hebei Province, located in North China, is the only province in China with plateaus, mountains, hills, plains, lakes and seashores, covering an area of about 190,000 square kilometers, bordering Liaoning Province, Beijing Municipality, Tianjin Municipality, Shandong Province, Henan Province, Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia. The northern part of Hebei is the Yanshan Mountains, the western part is the Taihang Mountains, and the southern and eastern parts are the North China Plain, and the terrain as a whole is high in the north and low in the south, high in the west and low in the east, with two sections of coastline in the east. In the Warring States period, the territory of Hebei mainly belonged to the State of Yan and the State of Zhao, and heroes emerged, such as Jing Ke of the Qin Dynasty, etc. "Yan Zhao had many generous and tragic people", which had a far-reaching impact on the history of Hebei, so it was called yan zhao land.
Figure - Jizhou
Hebei's abbreviation "Ji" has a lot to do with the glorious history of Jizhou, which cannot but mention the ancient Jiuzhou. Kyushu first appeared in the pre-Qin classic "Shang Shu Yu Gong", flooding in ancient times, Dayu successfully controlled the flood, and was deeply supported by people, becoming the monarch of the Xia Dynasty. When Dayu ruled the waters, he divided the world into nine prefectures according to the situation of mountains and rivers, namely Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou and Yongzhou. Jizhou was the first of the nine prefectures and covered a very large area, including present-day Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Beijing-Tianjin City, south-central Inner Mongolia, and western Liaoning. The ancients took Jizhou as the middle of the world, yun: "Within Kyushu, it is called Chi County; Chi County's Qi, which originated from Ji Prefecture." ”
What is the name of Jizhou? It is said that the first stop of Dayu Zhishui is the old capital of Jizhou, when the flood was quite serious, it was difficult to manage, Dayu hoped to succeed in water treatment as soon as possible, he named this place Jizhou, "Ji" word ancient and "wing" origin, expressing the meaning of hope, Dayu is based on the hope of success in water control, named for this place. There is also a saying that there was an ancient country called "Ji" here, so it was called Jizhou.
The western Han Dynasty capital Chang'an, divided into thirteen states, Jizhou's status is very high, in the "Book of Han Geography", Jizhou is still the first of the states, fertile land, large population, economic development. However, the scope of Jizhou at this time was smaller than that of The Yugong, because from it were demarcated Youzhou and Hezhou, and the scope of Jizhou was the area south of present-day Baoding in Hebei Province.
Jizhou was quite important to the Han Dynasty, and in a sense, Jizhou extended the lifespan of the Han Dynasty for nearly two hundred years. Although Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, raised an army from Nanyang, his real origins were in Hebei. Liu Xiu has a lot of vision, knows the rich land of Hebei, and can make great achievements. He spent a lot of money on activities, only to be sent to Hebei by the first emperor Liu Xuan, and he absorbed the Copper Horse Army in Hebei, and from then on he had the capital to compete for the world. Liu Xiu declared that emperor was in Jizhou (冀州鄗城, in modern Guchengdian Town, Baixiang County, Xingtai, Hebei Province), and changed the name of Yancheng to Gaoyi (高邑) as the seat of administration of Jizhou's Assassins.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and the crowds of heroes chased deer, and at the beginning Yuan Shao's strength was overwhelming, with many soldiers and a wide range of soldiers, and sufficient grain and grass, because he occupied Jizhou. However, Yuan Shaozhi was very talented, and eventually lost the Battle of Guandu, and was captured by Cao Cao. With Jizhou, Cao Cao's strength increased greatly, and he became the strongest of the crowd, forcing the Wu and Shu families to begin an alliance.
However, with the development of history, the scope of Jizhou has become smaller and smaller, and after the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it has become a prefecture-level administrative region, and now Jizhou still exists, and the Jizhou District of Hengshui City, Hebei Province, is only at the county level. But after all, Jizhou has a very glorious past, which has a huge impact on China's history.
The abbreviation of the provinces appeared in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, when the telegraph arose, and the provinces needed abbreviations. Although Hebei is known as the land of Yanzhao, the other half of the ancient Yan state is in Liaoning, and a large part of the ancient Zhao state is also in Shanxi, and it is not appropriate for Hebei to use "Yan" and "Zhao", and the same is not suitable for Shanxi and Liaoning.
The basic disk of Jizhou is mainly in Hebei, and Hebei has a deep historical relationship. In the end, Hebei used the word "Ji", which is more representative of the province, as a short name.