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What was the ancient name of China?

There have been many different names in the historical process of "up and down five thousand years" in China, and the names of these different dynasties are also called "country names". With the change of dynasties, the title of the country is constantly changing. From the first Xia title in ancient times to the Qing title in the last feudal dynasty, there were dozens of titles used in ancient China, among which the titles used in the unified feudal dynasty mainly included Qin, Han, Jin and Sui. How did these feudal titles come from? What are the legends?

Qin

Because of the name of a ranch.

Historical Records of Qin Benji: the ancestor of the surname was awarded the title of "Shi Qin."

The Qin Dynasty was the first feudal dynasty in China, with the title "Qin". There were many sayings about the origin of Qin in the past. One of them is that the first emperor Ying Zheng wanted the Spring and Autumn Period, so the country was named Qin.

The basis of this statement is that the word "Qin" is the prefix of the word "Spring" and the word "Autumn", which means both "Spring" and "Autumn". In fact, this is Mr. Xia Zi's postscript in later generations. How did the title "Qin" come from? Historians in ancient and modern times have done research.

As far as the original meaning of the word "Qin" is concerned, it is the name of a pasture-grass valley. Xu Shen, a philologist in the Eastern Han Dynasty, classified the word "Qin" as the word "He" in Shuo Wen Jie Zi, which was interpreted as "the country was sealed after Bo Yi". The land should be grain, from grain, and save; One is Qin, the name of the five grains. " Boyi, who also wrote "Boming" and "Bai Ming", is the ancestor of the surname Won. According to Records of Historical Records and Qin Benji, Boyi was a courtier of Shun Di, who was in charge of animal husbandry. Because of his excellent work, Shun Di named him "Win". Shun Di also made a prediction that the descendants of Boyi will be prosperous, which is the so-called "future generations will be great". Sure enough, more than 2,000 years later, the first emperor in the history of China was born among the descendants of Won.

Boyi obtained the "Won" surname for his clan, which has nothing to do with the word "Qin". It was a man named Fei Feizi who made the word "Qin" the fief of the winning family. After Boyi, his descendants inherited his ancestral business. By the time he won the prize, the history of China had entered the Zhou Dynasty. Princess Won was responsible for raising horses for the Zhou royal family and was a famous "professional horse breeder" at that time. The Princess Won was rewarded by the King of Zhou for raising a good horse, and the Won family was assigned a piece of land of their own for the first time, which was called "enfeoffment vassal" in the history books. It is this small bag that has emerged the most primitive state of Qin.

Where is this fief? In the Goushan area of Tianshui, Gansu Province, it is the horse grass planting base of Feizi (another point is in the Qinting area of Shaanxi Province), which is the meeting of the death of Wei, rich in water resources and Qin grass. After Fei Feizi was sealed, he named the fief "Qin", and the "Chengqin" mentioned in Historical Records refers to this matter.

In ancient times, most country names were selected from the titles of fiefs and titles, and the word "Qin", which brought great glory to the Won family, was naturally chosen as the country name. At this time, Qin was very small, not even a vassal state, but a small vassal state below the vassal state, which was equivalent to a modern third-tier town at most. But Xiao Qin prepared a title for the future Daqin Empire. In 22 1 year BC, Ying Zheng naturally continued to use the word "Qin" as its country title after "destroying six countries" and building "Greater China".

"Han"

The country name that Liu Bang didn't like at first.

"Biography of Han Xiao" He: "It is beautiful to say' Tian Han'."

The second title of feudal China was "Han" defined by Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang.

Ying Zheng created a unified feudal China, but it perished in a short period of 15 years and was replaced by the Han Dynasty. On February 3, 202 BC (Wu Jiari), the founding emperor Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor in Sishuiyang, Dingtao, Shandong Province, and named his country "Han".

For the title of "Han", Liu Bang didn't like it at first, and even felt it was a shame. If Xiao He, the founding hero, hadn't done ideological work, there probably wouldn't be the title of "Han". The reason why Liu Bang hates the word "Han" is related to Xiang Yu, the overlord of the western Chu Dynasty.

At the end of the Qin dynasty, there was chaos in the world, and peasant uprisings surged. In the end, only two rebel leaders, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, could win the world. Speaking of it, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu are still "hometown in northern Jiangsu". Liu Bang's hometown is in Pei County, Xuzhou, and Xiang Yu's hometown is in Suqian, adjacent to each other.

According to Biography of Han Xiao, Xiang Yu, who had the upper hand at that time, reached a "gentleman's agreement" with Liu Bang: "Wang was the first to enter the customs and break the Qin Dynasty." It means that whoever enters Hangu Pass first and hits the old nest of the Qin Dynasty is the king. Xiang Yu didn't expect Liu Bang to take the lead. According to the agreement, Liu Bang should be the boss of Guanzhong, and he was named "King of Guanzhong" or something. However, at that time, due to the saying that "he who gets the Guanzhong wins the world", Xiang Yu, who has the upper hand, is naturally unwilling to give up, but he can't break his word. So he gave Hanzhong and Bashu to Liu Bang and made them "Hanwang".

Liu bang was very angry with Xiang Yu's practice and immediately wanted to go to war with Xiang Yu. Xiao He advised him: "Although Wang Hanzhong's evil is worse than death?" Xiao He means that although it is better to be king in Hanzhong than in Guanzhong, it is better than dead, right? In order to convince Liu Bang, Xiao He also quoted the classics and said, "The word' Han' is too good and great. God made you Hanwang.

The biography of Han Xiao He records Xiao He's original words: "Yue,' Heaven will seize it and blame it'. The language is' tianhan', which is beautiful. " "Han" in ancient astronomy refers to Tianhe. The emperor thinks he is the "son of heaven" and a fairy. Therefore, the combination of "Han" and "Tian" is definitely a good word for Liu Bang who wants to be emperor. In the Tang Dynasty, Yan Shigu once noted: "It is also a good name to match heaven with Han."

Before Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor, the title of "Hanwang" was world-famous. Therefore, when People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded, it was obviously natural to choose the beautiful word "Han" as the national title. Later, it proved that "Han" was really good, and even the Eastern Han Dynasty brought more than 400 years of national luck to the Liu Dynasty.

"years old"

It should be the name of Sui.

Miscellaneous Notes on Prison Reform: Emperor Wendi of Sui "hated it, so he went". " "

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, a short-lived country name-"Xin" appeared in China.

This is the country name activated after Wang Mang usurped the throne. Why do you like the word "new"? In the first year of Yongzheng in Han Dynasty (BC 16), Wang Mang was named "New Capital Hou" and should be the new king. Helpless, Wang Xing's new dynasty was also unlucky, including the head and tail. Like the Qin Dynasty, he died in 15.

Since then, China has entered a 370-year-long separatist period, and there have been frequent cycles of the rise and fall of the number one country. During this period, including the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were nearly 20 titles, which were used by Wei, Shu, Wu, Jin, Song, Qi, Liang, Chen and Zhou. It was not until Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty replaced the Northern Zhou Dynasty that China regained its unified title "Sui".

The origin of the title of "Sui" originated from the book Chasing the King written by Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty. Why is the country name "Sui" instead of "Sui"? It turned out that Emperor Wendi of Sui was afraid of the "leg" in the middle of the word "Sui", which is also "seal". He thought that the "turn" was unlucky, and the National Games would "let it go", so he cut off the "leg" of the word "Sui" and became "Sui".

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Wu Zeng recorded that the word "sui" was ancient: the word "sui" was ancient. When Wendi was in Zen, Wei, Zhou and Qi refused to accept Ning, and they went to "go" and wrote the word "Sui" for evil. "

It should be pointed out that the word "sui" was not mentioned, but existed in the pre-Qin period. There is a saying in "Zhou Li Chun Guan's parting" that "if you sacrifice, you will hide your Sui and your clothes."

Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty went to Zhuan Xu to take the Sui Dynasty, with the intention of bringing good luck to the new dynasty and continuing the national luck. But soon found that the word "sui" is not as good as the word "sui", unlucky. "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" said: "Sui, crack meat also". The so-called "cracked meat" is the meat that is torn out by hand to sacrifice to the gods. Imagine that a dynasty is a "meat sacrifice". Can the national luck last long? Thirty-eight years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Sui Dynasty really became a "meat sacrifice" of the Tang Dynasty named Li.

Tang dynasty

The most "cow" country name in history

Biography of the White Tiger: Tang "A liar has great morality."

In the history of China, the most famous national title is Tang, which existed for 289 years. This is also the only country title that is qualified to be compared with "Han" so far, which is commonly known as "Han and Tang" in the history circle.

"Tang" is the title of Li Jianli's dynasty, and the founding king is Li Yuan. The relationship between the word "Tang" and Li's surname can be traced back to Li Yuan's grandfather's generation. Li Hu was named "Tang Gong" in the early Northern Zhou Dynasty, and his territory is in today's Taiyuan. Since then, the word "Tang" has become a symbol of the Li family.

In the 12th year of the Great Cause of Sui Dynasty (AD 6 16), Li Yuan was appointed as the appeasement ambassador of Taiyuan Road. After receiving this arrangement from the imperial court, Li Yuan "enjoyed this trip privately". In the 13th year of Great Cause (AD 6 17), Emperor Yang Di simply let Li Yuan stay in Taiyuan, and he stayed in Taiyuan. Tang Gaozu is happier, "secretly happy"

Why is Ethan so excited? What he told his second son, Li Shimin, later Emperor Taizong, revealed the secret: "When Tang consolidated our country, Taiyuan was this place. I came to Sri Lanka today for heaven. " It turns out that Taiyuan is an auspicious place for the Li family to make a fortune, and it is also a "land of feng shui". It used to be the capital of emperors in past dynasties, and it was also the fief of Emperor Yao of Tang Dynasty. It is for this reason that the history books call Emperor Yao "Tang Yao", because he once lived in Taoxiang, also known as "Tao".

Besides, when Li Yuan stayed in Taiyuan, a miracle happened. In Jinyang (now Jinyuan Town, southwest of Taiyuan), where Li Yuan fought against Sui, he dug a big bluestone. This piece of bluestone is dragon-shaped, with four scarlet letters "Records of the Pear Garden" on it. According to Tang Zhangli's Miscellaneous Tales of Taiyuan Deeds, Li Yuanji, the fourth son of Li Yuanji, the king of Qi, who stayed behind at that time, soon showed the deeds of Taiyuan to Tang Gaozu, who strengthened his determination to proclaim himself emperor.

Obviously, all the so-called miracles are accidental, even "planned" by Li Yuan himself. But there is no doubt that the word "Tang" is an auspicious word for the Li family. If you succeed in the future, it is certainly the only choice to use the word "Tang" as the country name.

Tang Yuan chose the word "Tang" as the country name, which is said to be because of its good character. Han's "The Legend of the White Tiger" Tang wobbled and said. Those who waver are morally great. "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" also said, "Tang, big talk." It can be seen that as early as the Qin and Han dynasties, "Tang" was recognized as a beautiful word and extended to the meaning of "big".

What is big? "Only the sky is the biggest" is the national system of a dynasty. Facts have proved that "Tang" is indeed a "big" country with a long history of nearly 300 years, and it is the most powerful country in ancient China.

"Song"

"yin and yang of heaven and earth

The name of the personnel meeting.

Explaining the name and standing: "Song, send it." ...

Send the messenger to the east sea. "

Naturally, the words used in country names are words that can bring good luck and have wonderful metaphorical meaning. When Wu Zetian changed to the Tang Dynasty, she proclaimed herself emperor. When she became queen, she used the word "Zhou" as her new title. Because she thinks that the word "Zhou" is as beautiful as "Tang".

After the Tang Dynasty, China entered the second wave of frequent name changes. Over the past 70 years, "Five Dynasties and Ten Countries" have appeared one after another. It was Zhao Kuangyin, the general of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, who ended the division of China, unified the north and south of China and founded the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty was founded on the fifth day of the first month of the Stegosaurus (AD 960). "Biography of the History of the Song Dynasty, Taizu" said: "There must be the name of the world, which is called' Song'." Taking the word "Song" as the country name, it is generally believed that Zhao's surname originated from being an envoy in Songzhou (now Shangqiu, Henan). In the words of Song Zhenzong's "Landing in Songzhou Yingtianfu", Songzhou is "the land where the imperial industry is based".

The choice of the country name is often not a single factor, so is the choice of "Song" as the country name. It turns out that in ancient times, Songzhou was a "land of prosperity", and Songguo was born in the pre-Qin period. More importantly, the eldest son of Gao Xin (Di Ku), the ancestor of the ancient Shang Dynasty, once moved here and served as the "fire leader" of Tang Yao, responsible for starting the fire. According to the theory of "Five Elements", Zhao Kuangyin's life belongs to "Fire Virtue", so the Song Dynasty is also called "Fire Song". Imagine that it is naturally a good thing for a dynasty that regards "fire" as its mascot to meet the lucky "Vulcan". In addition, Shang Dynasty was also called Yin, or Yin Shang, and its father was called Zhao. The two words "Yin" that crossed the historical time and space met magically, and that was the "personnel meeting of Yin and Yang in heaven and earth". All kinds of coincidences decided to choose the word "Song" as the country name, because it was "God's will".

However, in fact, the word "Song" did not bring Zhao Jiangshan much good luck. Instead, he was bullied by Liao, Jin and Yuan in the north and was forced to cede territory to send money for peace. The most shameful thing is that in February of the second year of Jingkang (A.D. 1 127), Huizong and Qinzong were taken away by the Jin Bing. Later, after a long period of instability, the Southern Song Dynasty, which lived in Lin 'an, was destroyed by the Mongols, and the Song Dynasty finally disappeared from history.

Therefore, there has long been a folk saying that it is unlucky to choose "Song" as the country name. For example, Liu Xi, an exegetist in the Eastern Han Dynasty, did not attach importance to the word "Song". He said in "Interpreting the Name and Interpreting the State": "Song, send it. When the ground meets Huai Si, it leans to the southeast, thinking that if the clouds are dirty behind the shadows, they will be sent to the sea with the east. " If Zhao Kuangyin and his courtiers had considered Liu Xi's opinion, maybe the Song Dynasty would have another title? Maybe you won't "send" Jiangshan to others early?

"Dayuan"

For the first time, "make a name for yourself"

Country name

Biography of the Book of Changes: "Great efforts were made in the Yuan Dynasty, and everything began with the unification of heaven."

After the Mongolian army destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, the first China ruled by ethnic minorities appeared in history. This China adopted Yuan as the country name in 127 1 year 1 1 month, which was called Yuan Dynasty in history.

In fact, the title of the Yuan Dynasty was not a single word "Yuan", but a double word "Dayuan", which was the first time that China used the double word title. In the past, the so-called "big man", "Tang Dynasty" and "Da Song" were only honorifics with "big" before the title, and they were not definite titles. After the Yuan Dynasty, the use of two-character or multi-character country names, such as "Daming" and "Daqing", became a historical trend.

In the early Yuan Dynasty, Mongolian was the national title, and Chinese transliteration was "Mongolian Wulu" or "Great Mongolia" for short. Maybe the name was too long and useless, and later it was renamed "Great Dynasty". Later, Kublai Khan of Yuan Shizu promulgated the Imperial Decree on the Founding of People's Republic of China (PRC) on 127 1, giving up the name of Mongolia and adopting the name of China. "The founding name is Dayuan."

The name of this country is taken from the Book of Changes and Biography. The first divination in "Gan" is, "Great Gan Yuan, starting with all kinds of materials, is the unification of heaven." Dayuan is extracted from the word Dayuan Gan Yuan. Obviously, Kublai Khan could not have thought of such a spectacular and extraordinary title. According to historical records, "Dayuan" was not originally created by Kublai Khan. People's Republic of China (PRC)'s imperial edict was written by a jurchen who was proficient in Sinology, and was invited by Liu, a Han minister, to use the word "Dayuan".

It is worth noting that titles of Qin, Han, Tang and Song were all selected from titles, titles and official positions. The naming method of titles in Yuan Dynasty broke through the tradition and was purely literal. This is a brand-new naming concept, that is, the so-called "naming by righteousness".

However, the name "Dayuan" has overlapping meaning, and "Yuan" also has big meaning. The Yuan Dynasty only wanted to be "big" and didn't think much about how to make the national luck last long, so it only took 98 years to die.

Daming—

Use thick

Name of religious country

A Brief History of Daming: "Daming,

Cheng Liner Xiaoming also. "

After the subjugation of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang won the world, with its capital in Yingtian (now Nanjing) and the title of "Daming".

Daming is a country name with strong religious color, which is also the only country name related to religion in China after reunification. What does "Daming" mean? This refers to the anti-Yuan Rebels in the "Red Scarf Army" led by Han.

Han was born in a white lotus family, and his grandfather used white lotus to "confuse people", thus mobilizing a large number of people to rebel with him and pulling up the "Red Scarf Army". After Han became the new coach of Bailian Sect, he threw out a Yuan prophecy: "The world will be chaotic, Maitreya will be born, and the Ming king will be born." Han regards himself as a natural "Ming king", but he has no "king's destiny". After being killed, his son Han Liner succeeded to the throne and was honored as "Wang Xiaoming". 13661February, when Zhu Yuanzhang welcomed Wang Xiaoming to Yingtian, Wang Xiaoming was drowned in the river by his emissary, and Zhu Yuanzhang successfully removed the obstacles to the throne in the future and became the "Ming King". In the first month of A.D. 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Yingtian, and determined the title of the country as "Daming".

Sun Yi, a Ming Dynasty man, said in A Brief History of Daming: "The country name is Daming, and Cheng Liner's name is Xiaoming." This shows that the name of "Daming" in the Ming Dynasty was influenced by the White Lotus Sect. Anbalism originated from Pure Land Sect of Buddhism and believed in Amitabha Sutra. Amitabha Buddha is called "the light king of all Buddhas", which means "the king of Ming". He is an immortal Buddha. "The light shines on it. There is no hidden center in the world. It is always bright."

Zhu Yuanzhang escaped into Buddhism as a child and worked as a monk. After he proclaimed himself emperor, he naturally believed that "Wang Ming was born", especially "Daming". Zhu Yuanzhang is very clever. His choice of "Daming" as the country name is not only in line with the doctrine, but also easy to gain the legitimacy of the regime and win the support of believers.

Wu Han, an expert in modern Ming history, also thinks that the name of the Ming Dynasty is related to religion, but he says that "Daming" comes from the classic "The Birth Sutra of King Ming and King Ming" of Zoroastrianism.

The core word in the title of Daming is Ming. For this word, the "theoretical circle" at that time interpreted it as "the sun and the moon depend on each other" and "complement each other" Further research shows that Zhu Rong, the son of Zhuan Xu, was the ancestor of Zhu Yuanzhang, who was also known as "Zhu Ming" and was Vulcan, while Zhu Yuanzhang, like Zhao Kuangyin, was regarded as "the king of fire virtue" and advocated the red color like fire. This coincidence was greatly exaggerated and attached by scholars at that time, thinking that Zhu's name was "doomed" in ancient times when the Ming Dynasty was founded.

"Qing dynasty"—

Specializing in the "fire" of the Ming Dynasty

Country name

A textual research on the origin of Manchu Empire;

"Heaven is clear, Dadong was born."

"Ming" stands for "fire", and what can put out the fire is "water", that is, "water can put out the fire". This statement has actually come true. The Ming dynasty finally came out of the northeast water.

Although this is a coincidence, after the Manchu entered the Central Plains and lived in the Forbidden City in Beijing, the new name chose the word "Qing" with water, which can't help but remind people of "fire and water".

Manchu is one of the descendants of Jurchen who established the Jin State and opposed the Song Dynasty. Therefore, on the first day of the first month of A.D. 16 16, when the Qing Taizu Nurhachi was founded in Hetuala, Liaoning Province, he named the country "Jin" (Chinese translation). However, the Ming Dynasty did not take this Jin State seriously, thinking that the "fire" of the Ming Dynasty could destroy the "gold".

On1April 636 1 1 day, Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne and decided to change his country name. The name of Yijin was changed to Daqing, and not only the name of the country was changed to Jinhua, but also the name of the nation was changed to Manchuria, which began to be on an equal footing with the Ming Dynasty.

There is "water" in the country name and "water" in the surname, obviously to douse the "fire" of Zhu in the Ming Dynasty. However, such speculation is the thinking of the Han people. What is the reason why Manchu people named the country "Qing"? It is not recorded in historical materials. But later, Emperor Qianlong revealed a little information in the imperial words of "Study on the Origin of Manchuria Empire": "Heaven and Ming emperors are the birthplace of Dadong."

Shuo Wen Jie Zi says: "Emperor Da", the so-called "Qing" means "Qing". The following sentence "the birthplace of Dadong" explains why the word "green" is used. Manchu people live and work in the East, which is the head of the Quartet and the "boss". According to the traditional principle of five elements and five colors, the color of the East is cyan, which is "Daqing". "Qing" and "Qing" are interlinked, and "Daqing" means "Daqing" This interpretation is also well-founded. "Explanation of Famous Words" says: "Clear, green, turbid and far, and the color is blue." Moreover, the color of the sky is also "blue", and "green" also means "ordered by the sky" As far as the original meaning of the word "Qing" is concerned, it also means "Taiping" and "Yongqing Sihai", which is what Manchu people who won national reunification hope.

In fact, "Daqing" is not a new word, it appeared as early as the pre-Qin period and existed with "Daming". "Guanzi Interior Industry" said, "Look at Daqing, look at Daming." In this regard, some scholars believe that the title of Huang Taiji is "Qing" and has the consideration of "Daming". Generally speaking, the name "Qing" has many meanings, including the consideration of "Dadong's hometown", the consideration of remembering the hometown, and the naming practice of the country name "according to righteousness" in Yuan Dynasty.