The Savannah morning news., 1900-06-26
CHINESE GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES.
Significant to Those Who Under
stand the Language.

From the New York Sun.
We are reading just now of many Chi
nese distric 5, towns and r.ve.s. Many of
these geographical pames doubtless APP
pear repellant and unpronounceable to all
except a few parsons who are familiar
with them. But If we had better ac-
quaintance with these names and knew
their meaning they would be found 10 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 geo
graphical names in other countries. Sup
| pose We had never heard of Shanghai, for
example, but know the meaning of the
two words composing he 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 nat urally infer that the waterway thus
designated must be commercially import
ant. Yum no, in fact, is the Chinese name
Of the Grand canal which pays so large
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 are syllables,
for all Chinese words are monosylabic.
If we know the meaning of even one of
he words in a geogl aphical name it helps
to convey a definite idea. The words Ho
and Kiang, for example both mean
'1iver," and when We see them on a map
We know they refer 10 a river or stream.
Many Of the names of rivers are descrip-
tive of them: Hoang no, FIR example,
mean yellow RIVER Tsin kiang m ans
Clear river" Observe how defin te is
the idea expressed in the name OF each
of the three rivers which converge upon
Canton. One of them is the Sikiang, or
West river" another the Pc kiang, or
North river" the third is the Tung
kiang, or East river" The names OF
these rivers tells the direction from which
they come. They help 10 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 larg st riI er in the north tn
HI ang no because it cuts its bed through
yellow soil from which it derives its
cclor. The yellow food it pours into the
SEA coors that part OF the ocean yellow.
ard hence the CHI nese 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 Deerfeld
Sometimes we unite the words in Chi
nese name and sometimes we separate
them. but there is no reason for example,
why we should write Tien-Tsin when Ne
do not write Pe-Kln. 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
ly' and Tsin means place and thus the
name of the largest city in Northeast
China means heavenly place-a name it
has borne for many centuries. When
Marco Polo visited the city in the thir
tenth century he translated its name
into Cite Celeste"
Kyec In no
papers and do not even attempt to pro-
nounce would give us as much informal
ton. if we could translate them, a long
sentence might do. Hankow, for exam
Pile, is the name Of a very important city
on the Yang tse Klang There are only
six letters in the name, and yet any Chi
nese boy would know from the two short
words composing il, that Il is the name
of the town standing a the "kow" or
mouth of a river named Han. The Han is
the greatest tributary Of the Yang 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 waters with
the Yang tse is Hankow, /. e., the town
a. 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 40 their greatest river, shows that
portance. Some writer's say the early
Chinese believed their largest river con.
trbuted more water to the making of the
ocean than any other stream in the world,
and so in the name Of the river they con-
veyed the idea that the ocean was It's son.
The name is often enormously translated
the Blue river.
Pekin has not always been the capital
If the empire, but Nafkin, a city far to
the south, was long the seat OF govern
ment: and. as the name Pekin means
"northern capital" so the name Nankin
means southern capital" white river"
is the meaning OF Pei Ho, near whose
mouth are the forts just seized by the
Powers
In some books aud maps we see the
words "fu' or "hcn" added TO the names
~ many towns. These words are not
part of the names, and some OF che best
abuses omit them, for they lengthen the
rame and make it more formidable to the
foreigner. Flu means the capital OF one
Of the departments into which prov