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Cultural characteristics of geographical names in Jilin Province
Text/Niu Ruchen
Jilin Province is abbreviated as Ji, in the middle of China's northeast region. Yuan belonged to Liaoyang Xingzhongshu Province, Ming was the residence of jurchens, and during the Kangxi Dynasty, Jilin Wula City (present-day Jilin City) was built along the Songhua River. The Manchu word "Jilin" means "along", and "Ula" means "Dachuan". Jilin Ula, meaning "along the Songhua River", referred to as Jilin for short, the general of Jilin was named after the city, and Jilin Province was built during the Guangxu Period. Jilin place names reflect the rich historical culture and colorful agricultural and fishing and hunting cultural life.
1. Named after the history and culture of bohai
The Bohai State was a regime divided by ethnic minorities in the northeast of the Tang Dynasty, with 5 capitals, 15 provinces, 62 prefectures, and more than 100 counties. In history, it is known as the shengguo of Haidong. The capital of the country was Ao Dong, which is now Dunhua City. Ao Dong is a Manchu language located in a city or village at the mouth of the Great Wind. The Bohai state has Ermu, Ermu, called Ermu Hersoluo, which translates to waterside in Chinese, and Suo luohan translates as the meaning of 10 people to guard. This is the station in Jilin to Ningguta Road. Antu is Manchu, chinese translation is Shanzhiyang, that is, located in the Yang slope of Changbai Mountain, under the jurisdiction of The Tang Bohai Kingdom. Helong, Manchu for Helongyu, means valley. Tang belonged to the Central Bohai Capital Xiande Province, and the Bohai State had moved its capital five times, once to the ancient city of Helongxi. Tumen, Tumen Manchu is also called Tumen, also known as Tongmen, Tumen, Chiman, Douman, the source of the Chinese translation of Wanshui, the place where the Wanshui River meets. Yanji Manchu is called Yanji, which translates to the place where rock sheep or hanging sheep live. Swinging spring, Manchu for towing, that is, sled, is a kind of transportation used by Manchu ancestors in the snow in winter - climbing plows. Today translated as Borderland, that is, the city of the frontier, wafted spring in the Tang Dynasty belonged to the Bohai state of Tokyo Longyuan Province.
2. Named after the Thousand Character Text
In the northwest of Jilin Province, there is a Qian'an County known as the "Tic-Tac-toe Shortage", which has a peculiar place name and is unique in the country. The county has a land area of 472,700 yuan (1 square is equal to 10,000 square meters), and the county's place name is like a thousand character text. In April of the fifteenth year of the Republic of China (1925), Zhang Zuoxiang, governor of Jilin Province, consulted with Zimmer, the former banner of Guoerros and the head of the Zhelimu League, to survey the western Mongolian famine in Golros, set up official governance, and divided the whole county into tic-tac-toe squares, a total of 274 wells, Zhang Zuoxiang decided to use the traditional Chinese enlightenment reading "Thousand Character Text" to name each well. Because the thousand-word text is 1 sentence per 4 words, four flat and eight stable, in pairs, young and old, set as the name of the village, easy to accept. The method is to arrange the village names according to the traditional Chinese writing habits from top to bottom, right to left. Starting from the beginning of the "Thousand Character Text", "Heaven and Earth Yuan huang, cosmic flood, sun and moon, Chen Su LieZhang", the method chosen is not all hired, the repetitive words are removed, the words with the same pronunciation are removed, and the unlucky words such as "fierce" words, words that hurt customs, such as the "bandit" word that is upside down and the bandit, the word with unknown meaning, the word that is inconvenient to write, the virtual word and the number word. Such as the word "zigzag" of pine cypress. Out of a total of 476 characters, 268 characters were selected as the name of the village, so there were 7 townships of Caizi, Daozixiang, and Sozi. The name of the village is set, and the county name needs to be set to establish the county seat. According to the well side arrangement, the county seat was built in the "cutting" (crusading) character well square, initially designated as Changfa County, and later felt that "logging" has the meaning of fighting and fighting. He also felt that this county in the northwest of Jilin Province coincided with the Qiangua orientation in Bagua, so he used its "dry" character, and because bandits were rampant at that time, bandits were as many as cattle hair, and the proverb "big shares 36, small shares 63, 36,000 a year, every day is not peaceful." So he used a character for An and gave him the name Qian'an.
3. Take the number, number or shack as the name of the tun
In the northwest of Yushu City, Qianjin, Wulong, Hongxing No. 8, Livestock, Bow Shed and Buyeo SanchaHe, Dasanjiazi and townships northwest of Changling County are mostly named after numbers, numbers or surname shacks. Yushu City has 200 natural tuns named after the serial number, which originated from the Bodu Netun Field in the sixth year of Qianlong (1736), that is, allocated by the state to reclaim the wasteland, and the "Jilin Waiji" records that its land is Xincheng Tun, divided into eight banners and two yellows, with the 8 characters of Zhi, Ben, Yu, Nong, Wu, Zi, Jia, and Special as the number, and each word is numbered 15 or 15 tuns, a total of 120 tuns. After the Qing Tongzhi Dynasty, the 120 tun number was successively released and waited until the 25th. Before the serial number, east, west, top, bottom, front, back, large, small and other directions are added. For example, the upper No. 2, the lower No. 2, the large No. 15, the small No. 15, the first No. 10, the East No. 10, and the original Ruzhizi No. 5, the Benzi No. 5, and the Yuzi No. 5 are removed and directly called No. 5. In the western part of Changling County, there are no. 14, no. 19, no. 13, no. 70, no. 15, the first 27, the last 88 and other tun names, all of which come from this way.
4. The name of the village is derived from farming, fishing and hunting
The most representative place name in Jilin Province is also the most distinctive cultural phenomenon. There is a call ridge in Erdao Township, Shulan City, the name sounds very tempting, there is a loud sound, that is the call of the owner of the car. It turned out that the slope of this ridge was too steep, and if the owner of the car did not let the cattle eat and drink on the road, it would be impossible to climb the ridge. In Fumin Township, Huinan County, there is a place called Humishan, which is the shape of a hoe used by farmers to hoe the land. Humi, Manchu, meaning hoe. Many of the place names in the farming culture are agricultural tools and crops. For example, Ji'an Wolf East Ditch, the word order breaks the convention, it should be East Wolf Ditch, Manchu Chinese translation is sticky rice. Tonghua has a gate, which is a stone gate, and the Manchu word "Laying" is a collective name for wheat plants. Liuhe has a "bald wife topper", I can't find out which generation has such a bald wife, manchu "drag", is the Manchu name for beans. Tonghua has a shungou, but curved, Manchu for Chaoyang, that is, Chaoyanggou. There is also a gang mountain, which originates from the Manchu "Ge Chen" meaning frost, that is, frost ridge. Meihekou Wukui Dingzi, Manchu five grams, for pounding rice stone mortar. Tonghua has a river crossing, manchu also known as crossing the river channel, Chinese translation is mill pole. There is an Anji village at the mouth of the Meihe River, manchu Anji, which translates to ploughing stick in Chinese. Tonghua dog head groove, Manchu means poisonous scorpion grass. Baishan Gegra Hill, Manchu, Poisonous Weed, Chinese translation of Tiannanxing.
Place names related to fishing and hunting culture, most of which are named after fish. For example, Tonghua Hatanggou, Manchu boat dingzi fish; Liuhe Shengshuigou, Manchu Shengsaimin Maha, is a kind of cold water fish; Ji'an Xuetanggou, Manchu Shu it, Chinese translation knotty fish; Fusong Puchun River, Manchu makou fish; Meihekou Yalutun, Manchu perch; Shulan Ao Huatun, Manchu Ao Ha, Chinese translation flower carp; in addition, there are catfish in rocks; Dunhua has catfish gang; Shulan and Helong each have a fine scale river, rich in fine scale fish, fine scales are the largest number of cold water fish in the Changbai Mountain area, and the fine scales are the largest number of cold-water fish with the largest economic value in the Changbai Mountain area In Ji'an, there are villages specially named after fishing gear called Yuliangzi, Net Pocket, Fish Farming Tun and so on. Place names about animals and hunting equipment include Liuhe Tiger Cave, Changbai Tiger Cave Ditch, Huinan Tiger Circle, Yongji Shuanghe Town Weasel Cave, Tonghua Badger Cave, Tonghua Wang Eight Necks, Tonghua Scratching Head Ditch (Manchu, Chinese translation as male goat), Shulan Xianggongtun (Manchu, Chinese translation as mouse), Ji'an Lively Township has mosquito ditch, in the past was a place where tiger mosquitoes were concentrated. Tiger mosquitoes are more than 1 inch long (1 inch equals 3.33 cm), fly like a handful of rice bran, sound like a tiger roar, have "wolf head", "iron beak", "steel wings", "small dragonfly"; Huadian Dangshi River, Manchu, Chinese translation as ostrich; birch has bear pits; rabbit pen; fierce tiger bright; White Mountain has a wolf cave ditch gate; black blind ditch; ant river; long worm ditch; east and west horse deer bubbles; cat's eye ditch; rabbit tail ditch; Meihe has a clam ditch; a big pig pen; the upper and lower tiger tops; the Liuhe river has an eagle ditch; a big wild boar ditch; a wolf cave; Huinan has a zhangzi ditch Tonghua has large cockroach horns and so on. The place names associated with hunting apparatus are Tonghua Moyazi, Ji'an Hemp Thread, and Manchu are all long arrows for hunters to hunt; Ji'anlinggou, Qinggou, and Jinggou (baishan sanchazi also have this place name), which are Manchu, Chinese translation of arrows, arrows with bird feathers as whistles, and birdsong when shooting; Jingyu has Bari, Boli Village (Heilongjiang has Boli County), Manchu, multi-colored wood, as the material for making bows; Baishan coffin beams, Manchu, for hunters to get off the clip; Ji'an Laodaoling, Manchu, Chinese translation as a gun; in Jiaohe, there is a special Tun tun called gunner Tun.
Characteristics of Jilin Manchu place names
Many of the Manchu place names in Jilin are named after natural entities such as rivers, mountains, hills, and vegetation. These place names can help people understand the living environment of the Manchu ancestors, reflect the natural geographical elements of the living area through the place names, and also understand the cognitive characteristics of the ancestors on the environment.
1. Place names record the natural environment of the Manchus
Dawo Jiatun in Huanxi Township, a suburb of jilin city (now Chuanying District), in which Wojia Manchu is pronounced "Wo Ji" and means "jungle". Wojia is a Sinicized transliteration of the Manchu "Woji", and there are many place names for "Woji", indicating that the forest vegetation in Jilin is lush. For example, Tiangang Town, Jiaohe City, has a nest jikou tun. Yongji County's tank kiln town has a nest set of kouzitun, through the city of Songhua River place name originally Manchu pronunciation songgal ulla, meaning Tianhe (shenshui) refers to the songhua river is descending from the sky of the sacred water (because its source has tianchi, waterfall). Yongji County Wulihe Town Yaquegou Tun, of which the Crow Is the Manchu "Crow Qing" sound turn, Manchu meaning "green onion", referring to this valley is a tree green ditch river, the tun is in the valley, hence the name. There are many place names with Hada in Jilin City, such as Hada Bay and Ash hada are Manchu place names, Hada means "peak", and Ash hada refers to the "zigzag" mountain range. Yongji County, Jiangmifeng Town, Shuangtong Mountain Tun, "Shuangtong" is a Manchu pronunciation of "Shengjia" transliteration, meaning "slope" or mountain, is a steep mountain with a large slope. The tun is located in the valley of the western foothills of Shuangtong Mountain, along the valley of the mountain. The "Ala" in the name of Alatitun in the Manchu Township of Ula Street, Yongji County, is Manchu, meaning "Shangang", the bottom is Chinese, and Aladitun means that this tun is located at the bottom of the hill. This naming method can highlight the characteristics of the geographical environment of a certain place and reflect people's visual understanding of nature.
2. Place names record the Manchu way of life
The Manchu ancestors worked and lived in the Changbai Mountains and songhua River basins from ancient times, hunting birds and beasts in the mountains, fishing for shrimp in the lower rivers, collecting wild vegetables and wild fruits everywhere, and mainly collecting fishing and hunting economy to solve the problem of basic survival materials such as clothing and food. In this process, many Manchu place names reflecting the economic activities of the Manchu ancestors were produced.
(1) Place names that reflect hunting tools and prey
There is a Downdashun in the town of Kouqian in Yongji County, this name is transferred from the Manchu pronunciation, the original pronunciation is "Down to bald", and its Manchu meaning is "weaving net place", which refers to the place where the fishing net was originally woven. In The Western Sulongtun of Xiaolihe Township, Panshi City, "Sulong" is a transliteration of the Manchu word for "virtual cage", which means "a tool for fishing". Seven-way ticking tun in Qingsong Township, Shulan City, Manchu pronunciation "Jeddah" means "gun", it is a hunting tool. There is a mountain called coffin in the plump second lane of Jilin City, whose "coffin" is pronounced "砬介" in Manchu, meaning "clip", which is a tool for catching prey. The large glass tun in Erdao Township, Shulan City, pronounced "Boli" in Manchu, means "bow", referring to the tools of hunting. Wu Chengzi in Yongji County and Wu Dynasty in Jiaohe City, the Manchu pronunciation is "Ou Name" meaning "Makou fish". There are many such place names in the Jilin region, which reflect the abundance of wild animals and plants in the forest and water of the area, according to which the Manchu ancestors can carry out fishing and hunting activities, and are also the objective material basis for the generation of such Manchu place names.
(2) Place names that reflect plant fruits and vegetables
Taoyuan Village in Shulan City, Taoyuantun in Jiaohe City, etc., "Taoyuan" was originally Manchu "Taoying", which means shanding fruit. Fanche Mountain in Panshi City was originally a manchu "Shenche" sound, which means mushrooms. Hualoushan Manchu is pronounced "Slippery", meaning walnut. Shulan is derived from the Manchu pronunciation of "Shulehe", meaning pear, and the pear produced here is a tribute to the Qing court. The Manchu pronunciation of "Shali" in Shulan City means lettuce. Wujian Lou in Yongji County, manchu pronunciation "Wujile" means hazelnut. Hu Lietun, pronounced "Hu Li" in Manchu, means pine tree seed, and such place names are common in the Jilin region. It can be seen that at that time, there were a large number of edible wild fruits and vegetables, which had been recognized and used by people, and sometimes may be an important food for hunger and life.
(3) Place names record Manchu ritual activities and religious beliefs
The Manchus believe in shamanism and worship animism. People not only have to sacrifice their ancestors frequently, but also to the birds and animals, flowers, and trees of the mountains and rivers. See natural objects as gods, and ask God for mercy. Judging from their activities, the Manchu ancestors mainly sacrificed mountains, water, trees, eagles, and so on. As a result, such place names have also been left behind. Bench Hetun in Dawang Township, Panshi City, "bench" Manchu pronunciation "Banda", meaning hunting god, specifically refers to this place for the Manchu people to hunt and sacrifice gods. Erjiayingtun in The town of Chaluhe in Yongji County, pronounced "Arazhan Camp" in Manchu, means the path of worship to the gods, that is, the only way to hunt and worship mountain gods in the mountains. In the western part of Jilin City, there is an altitude of 310 meters above sea level and an area of less than 1 square kilometer, but it is once famous as XiaobaiShan. It was first named in the eleventh year of Qing Yongzheng (1733), also known as "Windhern Mountain", which is derived from the Manchu pronunciation of "Windheng", meaning "sacrifice board" and "blessing board", that is, the wooden board used to write blessings during sacrifice. This place name was born from the ancestor worship of the Qing court in Jilin Province, which is very local. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, changbai mountain was sacrificed every year, according to the "Jilin Waiji", in the sixteenth year of Kangxi (1677), after sending princes and ministers to Changbai Mountain to worship the gods, the Kangxi Emperor was "the place of origin, there are many miracles, and the mountain spirit should be crowned", so he was "named the god of Changbai Mountain, and sacrificed when he was old, such as Wuyue Yan". However, going to Changbai Mountain to worship the gods, the road is far away, there are many inconveniences, so in the Yongzheng period, Xiaobai Mountain was selected as the place to look at the gods of Changbai Mountain, and a grand sacrifice ceremony was held here every year. Because Changbai Mountain is a long way (more than 600 miles away from Jilin City) and inconvenient to travel, in the eleventh year of Yongzheng (1733), five "Wang Sacrifice Halls" were established in XiaobaiShan, Jilin Province, with two altar buildings and two archways, and every spring and autumn, the officials led by General Jilin came here to worship the god of Changbai Mountain. Since the Yongzheng Emperor, Xiaobaishan has been a sacred place for ancestor worship in the Qing Dynasty, and has important historical and cultural value. The historical facts of the ancestor worship of The Xiaobai Mountain are an example of the ancient ethnic relations in China, and also the example of the Changbai Mountain as a chinese territory, the Manchus are one of the ethnic minorities in China, and the territory of our country is vast, by no means limited to the south of the Great Wall. Due to historical reasons, the actual shrine is now gone, but the place name "Windhern Mountain" is still reminiscent of the scene of the temple, and it remembers this important history in the form of a place name.
Past highlights
Compilation of Geographical Names Information for June 2019 (Part 1)
Compilation of Geographical Names Information for June 2019 (Part 2)
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Article source: China Toponymy, No. 05, 2019
Article author: Niu Ruchen
Conversion: Cheng Liang
EDIT: Cheng Liang
FinalIst: Hong Shan
Review: Zhou Qian
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