A Study On The Culture Of Minority Nationalities In Southeast

Toponomy,which is a comprehensive subject, has close connection with history, geography, linguistics and so on. Nowadays the main focus is on the theories, methods, and the study of names of places, and it has great influence on historical geography. Nevertheless, little work has done about the the combined study of toponomy, ethnology, and historical geography. In this study, the author tries to trace the influence of minority culture on the names of places in southeastern Chongqing, to shed more light on the minority culture through the names of places, and to find the principles in naming those places. The purposes will be achieved by looking into the names of places in southeastern Chongqing where many minorities live, using the method of statistics combined with that of historical geography.As a regional culture, the culture of minorities in southeastern Chongqing has its own cultural elements. Under the influence of the specific natural environment, the culture of Han nationality and many other cultures, a culture which has many beliefs is formed in southeastern Chongqing. Those beliefs are close connected to the daily life of local people and as a result, many can be traced from the names of places there. Through the study of the names of places which are influenced by beliefs there, we can on the one hand, find out the influence that the beliefs of Han had on that of the minorities and the process how the minorities are localized by the Han, and on the other hand, look into the difference of the beliefs of Han and that of the minorities.In the past, the system of tribal chief only existed in southeastern Chongqing in the whole of Chongqing. The system was in southeastern Chongqing for hundreds of years and had huge influence on the politics, economy, culture, life and so on there, forming the unique culture of tribal chief. This culture is only a small part compared to that of whole China. Much related information can not be found in official historical books, however, it is well preserved in the names of places by the local people, which is of great importance for this study.Southeastern Chongqing is the only place in Chongqing where there are many minorities live together. The culture there is different from that of places where there are only minorities or the Han nationality for the reason that the culture of Han was brought in there at an early time and it has a high level of localization by the Han nationality. The local culture which is considered as important Intangible Culture can be classified into three different parts, the culture of minorities’ life, the culture of agriculture in mountainous regions and the original culture of the Han nationality. Now, the languages of minorities have died away, but some names of places that come from the language of Tujia nationality have been preserved. Those names can be of great importance the study of the culture of the names of places in southeastern Chongqing.As a place where there are many different minorities, southeastern Chongqing has gone through many conflicts and struggles, and consequentially, many historical incidents which are not recorded in history books can be found in the names of places there. Through those names, the efforts of minorities in southeastern Chongqing for the unity and peace between different nationalities can be found.In a word, the culture of names of places in southeastern Chongqing comes from the culture of minorities there and each name in this culture is the combination of the culture and the name. So, all the names of places there are rich in Intangible Culture and have special rules in giving the names.