Chapter 48 Section 8 Yuan Ming Yi Tongzhi and other important place names

With the increase of topography, the books that provide place name information are also becoming more and more abundant. The "Dayuan Dayi Tongzhi" compiled by the official in the Yuan Dynasty set a precedent for the official revision of the local general annals in the Ming and Qing dynasties.This book has been edited twice, the first time it was compiled from the 23rd year of Yuan Shizu Zhiyuan (1286 AD), and it was completed in the 28th year of Zhiyuan (1291 AD).Later, it was continued in the seventh year of Emperor Chengzong of Yuan Dynasty (AD 1303), and materials were added to expand the length to 1300 volumes.Its content is based on the administrative area, and describes its establishment history, city outlines, towns, mountains and rivers, local products, customs, scenic spots, historic sites, characters, etc.The original book has been circulating for a short time, and it was lost by the Ming Dynasty. "Xuanlantang Series Sequel" has published 35 volumes of fragments.Jin Jing'an, who is a close friend, also compiled and compiled 15 volumes of "Dayuan Dayi Tongzhi" and compiled four volumes. Zhao Wanli also compiled the school and compiled seven volumes of "Yuanyi Tongzhi".

The "Da Ming Yi Tong Zhi" compiled by the Ming Dynasty was written by Li Xian and others. It took three years and was completed in the fifth year of Ming Yingzong Tianshun (AD 1461), with a total of 90 volumes. The style and content are roughly imitated from the above-mentioned general annals of the Yuan Dynasty, and there are records from some overseas countries at the end of the book.In the later engraved editions, there were also added later construction materials.The shortcoming is the lack of some important pass materials. Later generations criticized this book as "false (wrong) and contradictory (contradictory), especially sparse and absurd" and "unreasonable reading of sentences", but after all, it preserved a lot of Ming Dynasty materials. , which also includes a large number of place names.Still quite valuable. "Yuan History Geographical Chronicles", Yuan Dynasty Local Chronicles and Zhu Siben's "Yu Map", "Ming History Geographical Chronicles", "Huan Yu Tong Zhi" and an increasing number of local chronicles and Luo Hongxian's "Guang Yu Tu" also provide a lot for research. Important information on the origin, evolution and naming rules of place names in ancient my country.

The Yuan and Ming dynasties were also periods when my country had more frequent contacts with Europe and Africa, as evidenced by the above-mentioned whereabouts of Marco Polo and his Travel Notes.In the Ming Dynasty, the records of place names in Europe and Africa, especially the records of place names in Europe, increased greatly. "History of Ming Dynasty Zheng He Biography" said: "(Zheng) He served seven times as envoys, and recorded Champa (in today's southern Vietnam), Java (in today's Indonesia), Chenla (now in Cambodia), Siam (now in Thailand),... …Mount Ceylon (today’s Sri Lanka), …Khorumos (today’s Iran), …Mugudushu (today’s Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia in Africa), Marin (today’s Malindi, Kenya)……Fan Thirty Yu Guo." The situation of each country can be found in Ma Huan's "Yingya Shenglan", Fei Xin's "Xingcha Shenglan" and Gong Zhen's "Western Fan Guozhi".In addition, according to Zheng He's last voyage, the "Zheng He Nautical Map" recorded more than 500 place names, and its southernmost point on the coast of East Africa was Manbasa (now Mombasa, Kenya).Zheng He's voyage took place in the early 15th century, long before the so-called "Great Geographical Discovery" in the West.This voyage team only exchanged products with the locals everywhere, and never occupied an inch of other people's land. This is completely different from the later aggressive behavior of Western colonists.

The earliest Europeans who came to China and went deep into the interior of our country were some missionary Jesuits, the most famous of whom was the Italian Matteo Ricci.In the name of paying tribute to Beijing, he brought many novelty items, including the "Map of All Nations", which won the favor of Emperor Ming, who granted him permission to build a scripture hall behind Shoushan Academy and began to preach.The "Kunyu Tu" and "Wan Guo Tu Zhi" introduced by Matteo Ricci reflect that the earth is spherical and divided into five continents, namely Asia, Europe, Levia (Africa), America (America) and Mexico. Wara Niga (an unidentified southern continent at the time).At that time, the translated names of European countries were also different from those of today, such as Italy (Italy), Issypania (Spain), Remani (German, referring to Germany), Poldovar (Portugal), etc. .

It should also be mentioned that Xu Xiake (AD 1586-1641), a famous traveler in the Ming Dynasty, made outstanding contributions to the study of karst landforms in his later years when he went deep into the remote mountainous areas of the Southwest, "exploring for knowledge".His travelogue is a well-known geographical masterpiece, which also includes rich information on place names.He has made important contributions to the textual research of geographical common names, the exploration of the origin of place names, the correction of corrupted place names, the research and interpretation of ancient and modern place names, the description of the different names of place names, and the supplement of missing place names.

Wang Shixing (1547-1598 A.D.) was an outstanding geographer in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. He "liked to travel" and traveled all over the country. He traveled all over the two capitals and 12 provinces of the Ming Dynasty. "Five Mountains Youcao", "Guangyouzhi", "Guangzhiyi" and other works have been handed down to the world, which contain a large number of place name records and place name research.The explanation of the history of place names and the origin of place names is particularly wonderful.For example: Shanhaiguan, "the left auxiliary of the capital, and the internal and external limits. To the east of the pass, the Liaoyang side road... is the pass, established by the state of Wei. To the west of the pass, there are Ji, Xuan, Da, Yan, Ning, and Gan side roads."

"Those between the rivers are also between the nine rivers. The nine rivers are like Tuhai, Taishi, etc." "The land of the meander is derived from a bend of the Yellow River". (both quoted from "Guang Zhi Yi")