The Goodland republic., 1900-07-06

Fuu Of Interesting 1EeaninE to Those
Familiar With the LaDEuaEs-Am
words are 1LonosyIlabIo.
Nsr YorE snn1


appear repelIent and un-
pronounceable to all except few per-
sons who are familiar with them But
il we had a better acquaintance with
these names and knew their meaning
they would be found to be full Of
interest. They are often condensed
descriptions Of the place or feature
to which they are applied. They are
far more instinct with life than many
geographical names in other countries.
Suppose We had never heard Of Shang-
hal, for example, but knew the mean
ing Of the two words composing the
name. We would know at once that
the "City Near the Sea" must apply to
a seaport. Yum no means @RiYer Of
Trsnsportion," and We naturally infer
that the waterway thus designated
must be commercially important. Yum
ho, in fact, is the Chinese name Of the
Grand canal, which plays so large a
part in the freight service Of East
China.
However many syllables there may
be in q Chinese place name it is COM
posed of as many words as there are
syllabIes, for all Chinese words are
monOsyllabic. If We know the meaning
of even one Of the words in a geogrs-
phicaI name it helps to convey a def
mite idea. The words Ho and Kiang,
for example, both mean "riEer," and
when we see them on a map We know
they refer to a river or stream. Many
Of the names Of rivers are descriptive
of them: Hoang ho, for example, means
yellow riEer;r Tsin kiang means "Clear
river" Observe how definite is the
idea expressed in the name Of each Of
the three rivers which converge upon
Canton. One Of them is the ST kiang,
or f'West river" another the Pc kiang,
or North river;" the third is the Tung
kiang, or EAST river" The names Of
these rivers tell the direction from
which they come. They help to sim
plify the study Of the geography Of
that part Of China. When they unite
they form the Chu kiang or "Pearl
river" The Chinese named their larg-
est river in the north the HOang ho
because it cuts its bed through yellow
soil from which it derives its color.
The yellow food it ponrs into the sea
coIors that part OF the ocean yellow,
and hence the Chinese call the sea
Hoang hal, OF yellow sea-"
The Chinese unite the words in a
name so that they form one word, just
as We write Newton, Hartford or Deer
field. Sometimes We unite the words
in a Chinese ma me and sometimes we
separate them, but there is no reason,
for example, why we should write Tien-
Tsin when We do not write Pc Kin.
Each of these names is composed of
two words. Pc means 'nOrth" and Kin
means ''the capital" or "the kings
household" and thus Pekin means the
northern capital. Tien means "heaven-
"" and Tsin means "place," and thus
the name Of the largest city in North
east China means "heavenly place.
name it has borne for many centuries.
When Marco Polo visited the city in
the 18th century he translated its name
into sCitta Celeste"
Many Chinese names we see in the
newspapers and do not even attempt
to pronounce would give Us as much
information, if we could translate them,
as q long sentence might do. Hankow,
for example, is the name of a very i'm
portant city on the Yang tse kisng
There are only six letters in the name
and yet any Chinese boy would know
from the two short words composing If
that it is the name Of the town stand
ing at the "kOw" or mouth Of a river
named Han. The Han is the greatest
tributary to the Yang tse kiaDg and
plays a most important part in the
commercial life Of that teeming valley;
ana the city built on the spot where
the Han mingles its waters with the
Yang tse is HankoE, / e., the town at
the mouth of the Han
The word Yang means "ocean," tse
means Sson," and the name Yang tse
kisng, which the Chinese applied ages
ago to their greatest river, shows that
they did not mean to deprecate its i'm
Importance. Some writer's say the
early Chinese believed their largest
river contributed more water to the
making If the ocean than any other
stream in the world, and so. in the
name Of the river, they conveyed the
idea that the ocean was its son. The
name is often enormously translated
the Blue river.
Pekin has not always been the eaPi-
tai Of the empire, but Nankin, a city far
10 the south, was long the seat Of gov
ernment, and, as the name Pekin means
northern capital" so the name Nan