Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-23
CHINESE GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES.
Significant to Those Who Understand
the Language.

the Language.
From the New York Sun.
We are reading just now of many Chinese
districts, towns and rivers Many of these
geographical names doubtless appear repel-
liant and unpronounceable to all except Il
few persons who are familiar with them.
But if 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 APP
piled They are far more instinct with
life than many geographical names in other
countries. Suppose we had never heard of
Shanghai, 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 The River of Transportation" and
We naturally infer that the waterway thus
designated must be commercially important.
Yum no, in fact, is the Chinese name of
the Grand canal. which plays large Il
part in the freight service of east China.
However many syllables there may be IN
a Chinese place name it is composed of as
many words as there ere SyllableS, for all
Chinese words are monoSyllabic. If We
know the meaning of even one of the words
In geographical name it helps to convey
a definite idea The words Ho and Kiang.
for example, both mean river, and when
We see them on map we know they refer
to a river or stream. Many of the names
of rivers are descriptive of them: Hoang
no. for example means yellow river:
Tsn kiang means Clear river" Observe
how definite is the idea expressed in the
name of each of the three rivers which con-
verge upon Canton. One of them Is the
81 kiang or West river" another the Pc
Tupg kiang, or East river The names
of these rivers tell the direction from
| which they come. They help to simplify
| 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 largest river in the north the
Hoang no because it cuts its bed through
yellow soil from which 1t derives its color
The yellow flood it pourS into the sea col
ors that part of the ocean yellow, and
hence the Chinese call the sea Hoang hal.
or Yellow sea.
The Chinese unite the words in a name
so that they form one word just as we
write NewtoWn, Hartford or Deerfed
Sometimes We unite the words in Chinese
name and sometimes we separate them. but
there is no reason, for example, why We
should write Tien-Tsin when we do not
write Pe-kin. Each of these names is
composed OF two words Pc means north
and Kin means 1.-The capital or the king S
household and thus Pekin means the
northern capital Tien means heavenly"
and Tsin means place" and thus the name
of the largest city in northeast China means
heavenly place"-a name 1t has borne for
many centuries. w men Marco fOlO visited
the city in the thirteenth century he trans
lated its name into "Citta Celeste"
Many Chinese names we see In the news
papers and do not even attempt to pro-
nounce would give us as much information,
If We could translate them. as a long SEN
tence might do. Hankow, for example, Is
the name of very important city on the
Yang tse kang. There are only six let
tiers in the name and yet any Chinese boy
would know from the two short words COM
posing 1t that 1t Is the name of the town
standing at the ''kow'' or rnouth of river
named Han. The Han is the greatest trlb-
utary of the Yank tse kiang and plays a
most important part in the commercial life
of that teeming valley: and the city built
on the spot where the Han mingles its wa
tiers with the Yang tse is Hankow, 1. e.,
the town at the mouth of the Han.
The word Yang means ocean" tse means
son. and the name Yang tse kiang. which
the Chinese applied ages ago to their great
est river shows that they did not mean to
depreciate its Importance. Some writer's
say the early Chinese believed their largest
river contributed more water to the making
of 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 capital Of
the empire, but Nankin. city far to the
south, was long the seat of government,
and. as the name Peksn means northern
capital" so the name Nankin means
southern capital. w mite river Is the
meaning Of Pei no, near whose mouth are
the forts just seized by the powers.
In some books and maps we see the words
''fu'' or "hen' added to the names OF
many towns. These words are not a part
OF the names, and some of the best aliases
omit them, for they lengthen the name and
make 1t more formidable to the foreigner.
Flu means the capital of one of the depart
ments into which n province is divided: in
other words 1t is the residence of the off,
cial at the head of the department. Hen
signifies one of the districts into which
department is divided, and when attached
to a place name means that the official in
charge of the district resides there. 1t Is
better to omit these merely political desig-
nations. When we have more intimate deal
irgs with China and better knowledge OF
the people and their country, we shall have