Jingchu land, Jianghan Plain.
For a long time, I felt that Hubei should be referred to as "Chu" in abbreviation, not "E". To this day, I still feel that "Chu" is more historical and culturally symbolic than "E".
As we all know, the 34 provincial-level administrative regions in China have their own abbreviations, and behind each abbreviation there is an important historical environment. For example, Shandong is referred to as "Lu", the birthplace of the State of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period; Henan is referred to as "Yu", where Yuzhou is located in the ancient Chinese nine states.
What about Hubei? Why does Hubei Province, which is the land of Longxing in the Chu state, use "E" instead of "Chu"?
I have heard hubei people say more than once that "Chu" has more historical significance and cultural symbolism than "E", and it sounds very comfortable and has the thickness of history.
In the eyes of some Hubei people and outsiders, "E" and "evil", the meaning is not good, there have been netizens ridiculed Hubei people are "evil people" (E people), although this is a joke, but it will inevitably bring psychological discomfort to people.
Therefore, many Hubei netizens have issued the view that Hubei should not be referred to as "E".
Although there is a "State of E" in history, it first appeared in today's Xiangning County, Shanxi (Jin Wenli wrote "Bad Country", which was the first time that the State of E appeared in history). The predecessor of this E-state was a crocodile-catching tribe, mainly in the Yellow River Valley.
Later, due to the establishment of the Jin state and the annexation of the ancient state of E, the remnants of the state of E began to move south, first in the area of Xinyang, Henan, and later near Liangzi Lake in present-day Ezhou, Hubei Province, to establish their homes.
The State of Hubei has a long history, but the emergence of "E" in Hubei is later than that of "Chu", and after migrating to Hubei, it is only a remote area in the area of today's Ezhou, Hubei, which is a small country with few people, and was later destroyed by Xiongqu, the sixth king of the Chu State.
The State of Chu, on the other hand, occupied all of Hubei since the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period and ruled most of China in the south. Chu culture is even more dominant, far surpassing The E-culture.
On the whole, "Chu" is more suitable for Hubei abbreviation than "E".
When I saw some Hubei netizens make a sound of changing the abbreviation of Hubei, I found that the voice of actually changing "E" to "Chu" was not unique today, and many local scholars had published many articles in the Chutian Metropolis Daily a long time ago. In 2011, under the impetus of the Hubei General Chamber of Commerce, Hubei businessmen officially changed the name of "Eshang" to "ChuShang".
Although many people support the abbreviation of "Chu" in Hubei, there are also many voices opposing the change of "Chu".
One of the points is that the historical Chu state is not only in present-day Hubei, but also Hunan, and even included Henan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other provinces in its heyday, and Hubei alone does not represent "Chu".
Another point is that the abbreviation of Hubei is changed to "Chu", which is both laborious and costly, and the cost is huge.
So, why did this "foreign" Hubei become the abbreviation of Hubei?
I'm personally confused about this. After living in Wuhan for two years, I also walked into several surrounding cities and found that Chu culture is one of the cores of Hubei Province. As for the origin of "E", I have checked some information and said a lot. Historical timelines and spatial evolution are also complex.
After settling on the shore of Liangzi Lake, the remnants of the Eguo state established the "Echeng City", which is known in history as Dong'e. However, it was soon destroyed by Chu Xiongqu and took "Echeng" as the capital, while also retaining the name of "E", and Xiongqu also made his second son Xiong Hong the King of E.
However, Xiong Hong, fearful of King Li of Zhou's conquest, removed the title of King, but built the large-scale Ewang City ((there are ruins of Ewangcheng InuYaku in present-day Daye).
With the unification of the world by Qin Shi Huang and the beginning of the establishment of the county system, Ewangcheng set up E County, E County belongs to Nan County, and the place name "E" is continued step by step, and goes deep into Hubei.
During the Han Dynasty, EXian was subordinate to Jiangxia County, Jingzhou, and the seat of administration of the county was Anlu.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan moved the capital to Exian County and changed its name to Wuchang (present-day Ezhou, Hubei Province);
In the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian established Ezhou (鄂州), which had jurisdiction over Jiangxia (present-day Wuchang District, Wuhan), Wuchang (present-day Ezhou City), Yongxin (present-day Yangxin County), and Puxi (present-day Chibi City), with its administrative office in Jiangxia, so Jiangxia was also called Ezhou.
The Tang and Song dynasties successively followed the establishment of Ezhou. The Yuan Dynasty was established, the provincial system was promoted throughout the country, and jinghu road was established in Hubei province, the provincial capital was Ezhou (now Wuchang, Wuhan), and Jinghu province was also known as "Ezhou Province", referred to as "Ezhou Province".
In the long river, since the emergence of Hubei, "E" has continuously accumulated and established relations, which has brought a sufficient historical basis for the origin of hubei's abbreviation "E" today.
Although some people believe that the influence of "Chu" is greater, the origin of "E" is also accumulated over a long period of time. In this regard, do you support Hubei's abbreviation "Chu" or "E"?