(English: Seoul, Han:? Old translation of Seoul English:, Korean:)
June 5438 +2005 10, Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak held a press conference in the city government, announcing that the Chinese translation of Hancheng was changed to "Seoul" and the word "Seoul" was no longer used. Seoul has a long history. In ancient times, it was named "Hanyang" because it was located in the north of Hanshui River. /kloc-At the end of 0/4, after the Korean dynasty made Hanyang its capital, it was renamed "Seoul". During the colonial rule of the Korean peninsula in modern times, Seoul was renamed as the "capital". 1945 after the recovery of the Korean peninsula, it was renamed as an inherent Korean word, and the Roman alphabet was marked as "Seoul", meaning "capital".
The whole city of Seoul is surrounded by mountains and hills about 500 meters above sea level, and 40% of the urban area is mountains and rivers. The whole city is relatively high in the north. North Hanshan Mountain, Fengdaoshan Mountain and Yingfeng Mountain form a natural barrier. There are Shuiluo Mountain and Malong Peak in the northeast, Yueshan Mountain, Sansheng Mountain and Niumian Mountain in the south, and hills about 100 meter in the southeast and west, which form the outline of Seoul. The southwest of the city is the Gimpo Plain. The central part of the city is surrounded by Beiyue, Wang Ren and Anshan, forming a basin in the middle.
Han River, the largest river in South Korea, runs through the whole city from east to west, dividing Seoul into north and south. The river flowing through the urban area is about 4 1.5km long, 400- 1.000m wide and 6- 10m deep. Ruyi Island (about 7 square kilometers) and Silkworm Island, two islands formed by alluvial deposition in the middle of the river, have the largest Ruyi Island Square in Korea, the tallest building in the city, a 63-story parliament hall and an embassy district.
As the capital, Seoul has a history of nearly 600 years. According to legend, in 18 BC, King Wenzuo, the ancestor of Baekje, went south and built the capital city Yuli City on this site, which was later renamed Seoul. From 392 to 475 AD, Goguryeo occupied this area, calling the northern and southern parts of the Han River the Northern Hanshan Kingdom, which is now near South Pyongyang in Seoul. In the middle of the 7th century, Silla unified Korea and was incorporated into Hanshan County. Emperor Chengzong of South Korea (AD 960-997) upgraded this place to Yangzhou Pastoral (one of Koryo 12 Pastoral) and 1068, upgraded it to Nanjing, one of the three small Beijing (Xijing, Tokyo and Nanjing), and became a city. Nanjing New Palace was built in 1 104, and 1308 was upgraded to Hanyang House. Li Chenggui of the Li Dynasty built a large building here in 1393, and moved its capital here in 1394, which was called Seoul House. 19 10 It was renamed Capital House when it was occupied by Japan. 1945 after the recovery of the Korean peninsula, it was renamed as an inherent Korean word, and the Roman alphabet was marked as "Seoul", meaning "capital". 1In August, 949, South Korea designated Seoul as the "Seoul Special City".
Since the 1960s, Seoul's economy has developed rapidly. In the early 1960s, South Korea implemented the export-oriented economic development strategy, supported large enterprises, and vigorously developed export processing industry, thus achieving economic take-off. In addition, Seoul is also vigorously developing tourism. Seoul has air links with Japan, Southeast Asia and European and American countries, and tourists from all countries can easily travel freely between Seoul and European and American countries. At home, Seoul is also connected with major cities such as Busan and Incheon through expressways, and the traffic is very convenient. Seoul-Incheon Line is the first modern expressway in Korea. Seoul-Busan Expressway passes through Shui Yuan, Tianan, Daejeon, Kamei, Daegu and Gyeongju, which marks an important step for South Korea to expand and modernize its transportation network. Seoul Metro has five lines with a total length of 125.7 km, ranking seventh in the world. The subway has the most advanced facilities, and the ticketing and charging systems are automated.
Seoul is also the cultural and educational center of Korea, with 34 universities including Seoul University and Korea University.
There are many places of interest in the city, including Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeok Palace, Changgyeonggung Palace, Deshou Palace and Secret Garden. Under the shadow of the urban area, ancient palaces and temples are equivalent to towering modern buildings, showing the ancient and modern history and times of Seoul.
Seoul is also an ideal place for tourists to shop. You can buy duty-free goods in large department stores such as New World, Lotte, Medobo and Dong Bang Plaza in the city center. Duty-free goods in Seoul are all at a uniform price.
From June 5438 to February 2003, the South Korean National Assembly passed the Special Law on the New Administrative Capital, and decided to move the administrative capital from Seoul to the central region. In August 2004, the South Korean government finalized and officially announced the address of the new administrative capital, and Yanqi-Zhougong, located in central South Korea, will become the new administrative capital. The South Korean government is scheduled to start building a new administrative capital in Yanqi-Zhougong in July 2007, and it will become a city with a population of 300,000 in 2020 and a city with a population of 500,000 in 2030. From 20 12 to 20 14, the main state administrative organs in Korea will be moved to the new administrative capital. In June 5438 +2004 10, the Korean Constitutional Court ruled that the Special Law on the New Administrative Capital passed by the South Korean National Assembly in February 2003 was unconstitutional. The South Korean government's plan to move the administrative capital from Seoul to the central region will be forced to stop.
On June 65438+ 10/9, 2005, Lee Myung-bak, Mayor of hancheng city, Korea, held a press conference and announced that the Chinese name of Hancheng was changed to "Seoul" and the word "Seoul" was no longer used. Lee Myung-bak explained that most countries call "Seoul" because it sounds similar to English. With the increasing communication between South Korea and China, the name "Seoul" has caused more and more confusion.
After more than a year of negotiation, Hancheng decided to replace Seoul with a new Chinese name "Seoul".
Why did South Korea change its capital to the Chinese name "Seoul"? The explanations of South Korean officials such as Lee Myung-bak, mayor of Seoul, South Korea, are far-fetched. Because even if the Chinese name of "Seoul" is changed to "Seoul", there is still confusion in translation and usage habits. And not all foreign place names in Chinese are translated on the basis of pronunciation. For example, Oxford and Cambridge in Britain are not transliterated, while SsltLakeCity in the United States and LittleRock in Arkansas are both free translations.
The title of "Seoul" follows the usage of ancient Korean historical dynasties. 1394, Li Chenggui moved from Jingkai to Hanyang, officially named Hansong. This name has been used in Chinese for more than 600 years. After World War II, South Korea called Seoul the "capital" of Korean, which was transliterated as Seoul in English, but the written Chinese characters in South Korea were still written as Seoul. Therefore, it can be said that the change of the Chinese name of the Korean capital is by no means as simple as it seems, but contains profound reasons and other complicated considerations.
With the rise of nationalism at the end of 19, there is a trend of thought in South Korea, which holds that we can't correctly understand our national culture and objectively evaluate the influence of China culture on Korean national culture, but we should get rid of the influence of China culture. After World War II, Korean nationalism developed further, and Korean phonetic characters were used as special characters by law. Since 1970, Chinese characters in Korean primary and secondary school textbooks have been cancelled, and phonography has been used completely.
With the rise of South Korea's economy, this ultra-nationalist sentiment has further developed. 1988 Before the Seoul Olympic Games, the South Korean government ordered the cancellation of all Chinese characters on the plaque to emphasize the national culture of South Korea.
It was not until1February 1999 that President Kim Dae-jung ordered the partial lifting of the restrictions on the use of Chinese characters. However, there are fierce opposition forces in South Korea, fearing that this measure will lead to the proliferation of Chinese characters and the demise of Korean.
Therefore, in a sense, South Korea's Chinese name "Seoul" is a manifestation of the continuation and development of its nationalism in the new situation.
In addition, "Seoul" is a name used by China people hundreds of years ago. Although it was written by ancient Korean ancestors, modern Koreans always feel that it is not their own name, and it is easily associated with the Han Dynasty in China. For the Han Dynasty, some Koreans lacked a correct view of history and thought that the four counties (special topics and galleries) established by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in Korea were an invasion of the Korean Peninsula.
Therefore, some Koreans have a bad psychological complex about this name and intend to change the translation.
So in this sense, the Korean official's explanation of the name change is only superficial. It is an attempt to cover up a deeper psychological complex with international practices, facilitate international exchanges, and try to get rid of the profound influence of Chinese character culture on South Korea.
We should take a more peaceful and understanding attitude towards this. The Korean nation has been enslaved by Japanese invaders in history. It is understandable to vigorously carry forward the culture of the Korean nation, strengthen the dominant position of the national culture, and strive to get rid of the influence of foreign culture. Should not be casually labeled as narrow.
On the other hand, while maintaining and developing its own national culture, South Korea should also adopt a sublation attitude towards foreign cultures, especially the profound China culture, and should not reject them regardless of good or bad. In fact, the profound China culture has made great contributions to the emergence and development of Korean national culture.
South Korea has the right to change the Chinese translation of its capital, but China and other countries with Chinese rights also have the right to accept or not accept this new translation. Whether to accept or not is also the right of China and other Chinese-speaking countries, and South Korea should respect it. Because for China and other countries, it is not only a translation problem, but also involves historical habits, economic costs and other issues.