What is the origin of "Sichuan"?

众所周知，中国的地名都有着独特的含义

比如“北京”听起来就是首都

“海南”看上去就离海很近

“山东”“山西”一定是邻居

“四川”一看就有四条河？？

It is a truth universally acknowledged,

thatthe place names in China have distinctive meanings.

For example,"Beijing" literally means "north(Bei) capital(Jing)",

"Hainan" refers to "sea(Hai) south(Nan)",

"Shandong" "mountain(Shan) east(Dong)",

"Shanxi" "mountain(Shan) west(Xi)",

and "Sichuan" "four(Si) river(Chuan)"...

Really?

你有没有想过这个问题

为什么“四川”是“四川”

而不是“一川”“二川”“三川”或“五川”？

Have you ever thought about that?

Why is "Sichuan" "four" rivers?

回答问题前，我们先来了解一下四川

First question, where and what is Sichuan?

四川，简称“川”或“蜀”

位于北纬26°03′～34°19′，东经97°21′～108°12′

地处中国的大西南腹地、长江上游

神奇的北纬30°穿过这里

这条厉害的纬度带上还有

百慕大三角、死海、玛雅遗址

珠穆朗玛峰、狮身人面像……

Sichuan, "Chuan" or "Shu" for short,

is located in 26°03′N~34°19′N, 97°21′E~108°12′E,

the southwest China and upper reaches of Yangtze River.

Exactly, it’s on the magical 30th parallel north

which threads the Burmuda Triangle,

the Dead Sea, Mayan Ruins, Mount Everest,

and the Great Sphinx of Giza, etc.

这里是

古蜀文明的发祥地

国宝大熊猫的家乡

还是中国本土道教的发源地

It's the cradle of ancient Shu civilization,

the home of giant pandas,

as well as the birthplace of China's Taoism.

这里有世界著名的

It is famous for

川菜

Sichuan food

熊猫

Giant pandas

川剧变脸

Sichuan Opera

川普

and Sichuan-style mandarin

 

 

……

所以四川究竟为什么是“四”川呢？

Let’s answer the question. Why is it “four rivers”?

有人认为

“四川”得名于省内四条主要河流：

岷江、沱江、嘉陵江、大渡河

Some people believe that it was named after the four major rivers here:

Minjiang River, Tuojiang River, Jialing River, and Dadu River.

但更广为认可的说法是

“四川”之名来自古时行政区划

However, it’s more widely acknowledged that it’s because of the administrative division in ancient China.

北宋时期，朝廷在四川盆地一带

设立西川路和陕路

后又将西川、陕二路分为

益州、梓州、利州、夔州四路，

合称“川峡四路”，简称“四川路”

“四川”一名由此产生。

元时合并四路，设为四川行省

自此，四川省沿用至今。

In Northern Song Dynasty (960~1127), the government set Xichuan Province and Shan Province in Sichuan basin area, and later divided them into four provinces (Yizhou Province, Zizhou Province, Lizhou Province, Kuizhou Province), which were collectively called "Chuanshansilu(four provinces in Chuan and Shan; 'si' means 'four' and 'lu’refers to 'province')", "Sichuanlu" for short, from which the term "Sichuan" derived. In Yuan Dynasty(1271~1368), the government combined the four provinces into one, called "Sichuan Province".

话都到这儿了

我们顺便就来唠唠

四川各地市名称的由来

One more question, how much do you know about

the origin of cities' name in Sichuan?

成都

成都一名的由来众说纷纭

说法之一认为

其来源于：

“一年成聚，二年成邑，三年成都”

指的是当年周太王(周朝先祖)迁到岐山

一年后形成村落，两年后形成城邑，三年后便形成了都市

成都由此得名

There's no authoritative conclusion

on the origin of "Chengdu" presently.

According to the historical document,

the ancestor of Zhou Dynasty(1046BC~256BC)

migrated to Qishan,

and formed("Cheng") a city("Du") in three years("Chengdu" literally means "forming a city").

It has been regarded as a possible origin.

绵阳

绵阳过去叫绵州

城外有一座绵山

在古时，“山南水北”称为阳，“山北水南”则为阴

而绵州便位于山脉南面

因此得名“绵阳”

Mianyang lies in the south of Mian mountain.

In ancient China, "yang" referred to the south of a mountain or the north of a river, while "yin" was the opposite.

Therefore, the city in the south of Mian Moutain

was named "Mianyang".

资阳

同上

因其位于资水北面

同理便取名为“资阳”

Similarly, the city lies in the north of Zi River

was named "Ziyang".

广元

广元在古代本叫利州

公元1277年，元世祖在四川用兵

一腔豪情下将利州改为广元

意在“广我元路”

也就是希望元朝“德威广播，疆域广大”

广元之名便传承至今了

Guangyuan was called Lizhou in the ancient time.

In 1277, the emperor of Yuan Dynasty fought in Sichuan,and changed "Lizhou" into "Guangyuan"

("Guang" means "to expand", and "Yuan" refers to the Yuan Dynasty)

to express his ambition of expanding Yuan’s territory.

乐山

清雍正十二年(1734)设立乐山

取城西南五里有座至乐山为名

“至乐山”位于今乐山高新区车子镇金灯村

Leshan City was set in 1734

It'snamed after Zhileshan (Zhile Mountain),

which is located in today’s Jindeng Village, Gaoxin District, Leshan City.

……

以上呢只是一小部分

四川21个市州

每个地名都大有文章

你家乡的名字从何而来呢？

Sichuan owns 21 cities and prefectures and we have only mentioned a small proportion of them.

Do you know the origin of your hometown's name?