Chinese Place Names and the Appreciation of Geographic Realities

Abstract

T HE fascination of maps derives not a little from the language spoken by their cover of place names. Many of these have grown out of the everyday life and experiences of the inhabitants. Mixed in among these lowly native names may be regional names supplied by explorers, geographic boards, or planning commissions, by historical events or changing political boundaries. There are the recurring names that evidence migration of a people or a culture; and there are the place names taken by a people of one culture from the people of another, such as the Indian and Spanish names throughout much of North America. World maps prepared for use within a given country misrepresent in some degree the place names of countries of other speech. When different alphabets are involved, the misrepresentation is magnified; and when a different system of language is used, as in China, the distortion puts the cultural and geographic realities completely beyond the grasp of the layman. Only when one refers to a map on which place names are given in Chinese can there be surety of comprehension of the significance of the names. Although a student well educated in the language and culture of a given country can usually interpret the meaning of place names in that language with fair accuracy, there must be in all countries cases in which a purely linguistic interpretation of a name leads to mistakes. Moreover, in many languages the process of setting down the written form of a name by someone unfamiliar with it when spoken often results in error. When once committed to official records or maps, a wrongly transcribed name is frequently retained, much to the annoyance of the local populace, who may be required to accept the error for common usage. In the writings on China in Occidental languages few efforts have been made to clarify the complicated situation regarding place names. This study will attempt to throw light on certain questions of Chinese place names and their interpretation. Because of limitations of space the discussion will be confined to names of cultural features-settlements and political divisions.