The Research Of Place Names In Taizhou Chorography In Daoguang Era

Place names are important cultural heritage of human. It has the continuity and stability. The change of the historical place names is an important content of historical geography studies. Area study is a hot issue in it. The study of the place names provides a trajectory of historical development. The research object of this paper is the towns which recorded in the Taizhou chorography in Daoguang era. It explores the continuation, die and evolution of the historical place names, in order to reveal the social change and cultural background with a new perspective.The chapter one discusses the reason of this topic and research significance. It analyses the research of the place names in Taizhou and searches related historical materials. The existing chorographies of Taizhou are very rich. There are eight old local chorographies until now. The two chorographies of Taizhou in Daoguang era and the Republic of China have the most detailed records about the names of towns. Combining with1980place names census results, we find the changing laws of place names in Taizhou history. The efforts which elder scholars have made provide a good reference for the writing. On this basis, it clarifies the research idea and forms the framework of this article.The chapter two analyses the save, waste, rename, position of the name in the settlements which record in the Taizhou chorography in Daoguang era. And with refering to the chorographies and gazetters published afterwords. Through the change of the place names, it summarizes the names refinement, misrepresentation, correction, rewrite and so on.And explores the reasons behind the change in-depth. But for some old place names, it is difficult to find out the accurate time when it abolished or renamed. Due to the lack of historical materials, it could only to check in the future.The chapter three analyses the towns’names from the perspective of general name. According to the different statistic classification of general name, it includes national general name and regional general name. In addition to the common settlement general name, there are quite a few general name which names by natural geographical entities and artificial buildings. In the place name of general name,Zhuang villages account for a large proportion. Cun villages account a little. This phenomenon reflects the features of northern region. The name of general name which borrow the concept of "river, ditch, stream, bay, pond, lake, bridge", is common in southern region. This situation fully reflects the water landscape of Lixiahe area. This seemingly contradictory pattern reflects the geographic characteristics of Taizhou which is located between the Yangtse River and Huai River. And this area is a transition zone from south to north. In addition, there are another naming patterns about place names. Such as the dialect of "Li, Huo, Dai" is as a general name and so on. Through the analyses of the density of the place names in regional area, it reflects the process of regional development in Taizhou.The chapter four researches the origin of the name. This is the basic content of historical places study. The place names need investigations from the perspeative of geography, language and history. The origin of the place names has various explanations. But limited to historical materials, it is hard to avoid assumption and mistake. So it needs more analyses, documentation research, data statistics, comparative analysis and other methods in discussing the naming of towns in Taizhou. Sum up, the pattern of naming is diversiform, containing last name, real name, religious name, historical name, memorial name etc, also involving the patriarchal family, migration, religious beliefs, dialect, and many other aspects. The article main researches important place names and the place names related major historical events and famous historical figures, as well as those containing rich cultural connotation and heavy historical information.