| Place names are the products of history and reflect the social,economic,military,cultural and other aspects of an era.Since the fortieth anniversary of reform and opening up,China’s economy has made tremendous achievements and its productivity has been greatly improved.During the process of urbanization,China ’s social appearance has undergone tremendous changes,including the reduction and renewal of place names,which is a cultural phenomenon that cannot be ignored in these changes.The study of place names has its contemporary significance and practical significance.Taking 39,757 place names in towns nationwide as research objects,the paper studys the country’s township place names by using research methods such as literature method,data statistics method,and analysis method.Firstly,the township place names are divided into two categories: natural type and human type.Secondly,the two categories are subdivided and then talk about the origin of each type of place names.Basing on the statistical results,the paper will use the kernel density estimation method in Arc Map to utput thematic maps of various types of place names.To facilitate the study of spatial distribution,China was divided into 8 regions according to other scholars such as Zhao Ji,and then it researchs spatial distribution of various types of place names.Finally,it analysis and discusses spatial differences based on the distribution of China’s topography,rivers,population,and economic factors,which leads to the following conclusions.(1)The place names in towns nationwide are divided into two categories: natural type and human type.The natural place names are further divided into 13 categories,including terrain,hydrology,orientation,color,weather,distance,etc.The human place names are divided into 40 categories,including architecture.Surname,engineering,economy,transportation,willingness,etc.The most abundant types are etymological types,the topographic,hydrological,surname,and will types from the view of source type.(2)The place names in towns generally show the distribution characteristics that east are more than west in space,which are related to the natural demarcation lines such as the400 mm precipitation line and the “Hu Huanyong line”.Topographic place names are mainly distributed on the second and third steps;hydrological place names are related to the distribution of rivers and lakes in China,which mainly distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,southeast area and southwest area.The distribution of Directional place names in the country shows that the east are more than the west,and they are densely distributed in the plains and areas with high levels of economic development.The distribution of place names of animals and plants is generally bounded by and the400 mm precipitation lines,showing the characteristics that southeast are more than northwest.Architectural place names are concentrated in the eastern part of China,mainly in North China,the Sichuan Basin,the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,and the hilly areas of eastern Liaoning.They are the result of a combination of historical factors and natural environment.Surnames and places are mainly distributed in North China and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.The distribution of economic and transportation place names is consistent with the population distribution.The place names in the southeast area bounded by the "Hu Huanyong Line" are densely distributed,and the place names in the northwestern area are sparse and scattered.The geographical names of ethnic groups show distribution characteristics that the east are more than the west,the southwest and the northeast are more concentrate,which are generally consistent with the distribution of ethnic minorities in China.The distribution of willing place names shows the characteristics that the east are more than the west,which coincides with the distribution of population density in China.Military place names are generally distributed in the political center of China and at the intersection of farming civilization and nomadic civilization.(3)The distribution of place names is related to topography,rivers and lakes,population,economy,and political factors.Topographic and hydrological factors play the most important roles in natural factors for the development of place names.different human factors have different effects on the development of place names,population gathering is a prerequisite for place names,economic development promotes the change and development of place names,as well as political factors have a direct impact on the distribution of place names. |
