A Study Of Land Type Words In Shan Xi Contract Documents In Qing Dynasty

At present,the documents related to Shanxi contract documents in the Qing Dynasty mainly include "Collection of Shanxi Contract in the Qing Dynasty"," Collection of Tianzang Contract Documents",totally nearly 5,300 documents.These contract documents show the true living conditions of Shanxi in the Qing Dynasty and are important documents for study of the language and culture of Shanxi in the Qing Dynasty.The use of land terms is a significant feature of contract documents.This article sorts out and explains 58 land terms in Shanxi contract documents in Qing Dynasty in topography,natural attributes,functions,and land reclamation.Among them,13 land words are named according to topography,13 words named according to natural attributes,28 words named according to functions,and 4 words named according to land reclamation status.These land terms have specific naming rules,and some reflect the topography and landforms of Shanxi.For example,the "getaidi" in the terms of gentle terrain is a small piece of height formed by long-term cutting of high terraces in the plateau of Shanxi;some have distinct regional and colloquial nature: for example,the "changdi" in the site-like terms named by function is commonly used in the spoken language of Shanxi,which means "an empty piece of land".These provide reliable materials for understanding Shanxi dialect in the Qing Dynasty,and also provide basis and possibility for tracing modern Shanxi dialect words.Using materials such as the local chronicles and contract documents of various regions in Shanxi from the Ming and Qing Dynasties,and modern Chinese dialects,combining the development track of land terms in contract documents in Shanxi from the Ming and Qing Dynasties with the use of modern Shanxi dialects,we can understand the land in Shanxi in the Qing Dynasty.The general appearance of such words and the clarification of the origin,evolution of the strong colloquial land words can also provide references for the compilation of modern Chinese dialect dictionaries.