Names of Beijing
"Beijing" is from pinyin Běijīng, which is romanized from 北京, the Chinese name for this city. The pinyin system of transliteration was approved by the Chinese government in 1958, but little used until 1979. It was gradually adopted by various news organizations, governments, and international agencies over the next decade.[1]
Etymology
The
Peking
Portugal was the first European country to contact China in modern times. In Portuguese, the city is called Pequim. This name appeared in the letters of Francis Xavier in 1552.[2] It transferred to English as "Pekin"[3] and to French as Pékin.
Jesuit missionary Martino Martini used "Peking" in De bello Tartarico historia (The Tartary [Manchu] War) (1654) and Novus Atlas Sinensis (New Atlas of China) (1655).[4] In 1665, Martini's work was reissued as part of Atlas Maior (great atlas), a much-praised atlas by Dutch publisher Joan Blaeu.
In English, both "Pekin" and "Peking" remained common until the 1890s, when the Imperial Post Office adopted Peking.[5]
Beginning in 1979, the Chinese government encouraged use of pinyin. The New York Times adopted "Beijing" in 1986,[6] with all major American media soon following. Elsewhere in the Anglosphere, the BBC switched in 1990.[7] "Peking" is still employed in terms such as "Pekingese", "Peking duck", "Peking Man" and various others, as well as being retained in the name of Peking University.
Historical names of Beijing
Year | City Name | Dynasty | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
c. 1045 BC |
City of Ji 薊城 | Zhou, Warring States |
[Note 1] |
221 BC | Qin | [Note 2] | |
106 BC - 318 AD |
Youzhou 幽州
|
Western Jin (晉)
|
[Note 3] |
319 | Later Zhao | [Note 4] | |
350 | Eastern Jin (晉)
|
[Note 5] | |
352–57 | Former Yan | [Note 6] | |
370 | Former Qin | [Note 7] | |
385 | Later Yan | [Note 8] | |
397 | Northern Dynasties
|
[Note 9] | |
607 | Zhuojun 涿郡 | Sui | [Note 10] |
616 | Youzhou
|
Tang | [Note 11] |
742 | Fanyang 范阳
| ||
759 | Yanjing 燕京
| ||
765 | Youzhou
| ||
907 | Later Liang | ||
911 | Yan (Five Dynasties) | ||
913 | Later Liang | ||
923 | Later Tang | ||
936 | Later Jin | ||
938 | Nanjing 南京
|
Liao | [Note 12] |
1122 | Northern Liao | ||
Yanjing
|
Jin (金) | ||
1122 | |||
1123 | Yanshan 燕山 | Song | |
1125 | Yanjing
|
Jin (金) | |
1151 | Zhongdu 中都 | [Note 13] | |
1215 | Yanjing
|
Yuan | |
1271 | Dadu 大都 | ||
1368 | Beiping 北平
|
Ming | [Note 14] |
1403 | Beijing 北京 | ||
1420 | |||
1644 | Qing | ||
1912 | Republic of China
|
||
1928 | Beiping
|
||
1937 | Beijing | Provisional Government of the Republic of China | [Note 15] |
1940 | Beiping
|
Republic of China
| |
1949– present |
Beijing | People's Republic of China
|
|
Capital of regional dynasty or kingdom Capital of China |
The city has had many other names. The chronological list below sets out both the names of the city itself, and, in earlier times, the names of the
- Ji: The first major known settlement was the eponymous capital of the ancient Ji state between the 11th and 7th centuries BC. The settlement was also known as Jicheng. It was located in the current city's Guang'anmen neighborhood south of the Beijing West railway station.
- Ji: simplified Chinese: 蓟; traditional Chinese: 薊; pinyin: Jì; Wade–Giles: Chi
- Jicheng: Chinese: 薊城; pinyin: Jìchéng; Wade–Giles: Chi-cheng; lit. 'Ji Walled City'
- Jixian: simplified Chinese: 蓟县; traditional Chinese: 薊縣; pinyin: Jìxiàn; Wade–Giles: Chi-hsien; lit. 'Ji County'
- Yan: Ji was conquered by Yanjing Beer and the former Yenching University (since merged into Peking University).
- Guangyang: After the Qin conquest, Ji was made the capital of the Guangyang Commandery.
- simplified Chinese: 广阳郡; traditional Chinese: 廣陽郡; pinyin: Guǎngyángjùn; Wade–Giles: Kuang-yang Chün
- Youzhou and Fanyang: Under the Fanyang Commandery, and the name Fanyang became associated with the city as well.
- Chinese: 幽州; pinyin: Yōuzhōu; Wade–Giles: Yu-chou
- simplified Chinese: 范阳; traditional Chinese: 范陽; pinyin: Fànyáng; Wade–Giles: Fan-yang
- Nanjing: In the 10th and 12th centuries, the northerly Liao dynasty restored the name Yanjing. They also knew the city as Nanjing as it was the southernmost of their secondary capitals.
- Chinese: 南京; pinyin: Nánjīng; Wade–Giles: Nan-ching
- Zhongdu: During the 12th-century Later Jin dynasty, it was known as Zhongdu.
- Khanbaliq: The Mongolian Yuan dynasty originally restored the name Yanjing before constructing a new capital adjacent to the former settlement. This settlement was called Dadu[18] in Chinese and Daidu in Mongolian.[19] (As Khanbaliq, it was noted as Cambuluc[20] by Marco Polo.) This city gradually absorbed the former settlements around the area.
- Beiping: Under the Ming dynasty, the city itself was initially known as Beiping. The name reads literally as "Northern Peace", although its usage and connotations are closer to the idea of "Northern Plains".[citation needed]
- Chinese: 北平; pinyin: Běipíng; Wade–Giles: Pei-p'ing; lit. 'Northern Peace'
- Shuntian: When the usurping Yongle Emperor established his base of Beiping as a secondary capital in 1403, he renamed the town Shuntian and the province surrounding it Beizhili to mimic the names of Yingtian (modern Nanjing) and the province of Zhili that surrounds it.[21]
- Shuntian: simplified Chinese: 顺天; traditional Chinese: 順天; pinyin: Shùntiān; Wade–Giles: Shün-t'ien; lit. 'Obedient to Heaven'
- Jingshi and Beijing: When the palace was finally completed in 1420, the Yongle Emperor moved the majority of his court north. The name Jingshi ceased to be used for Yingtian and was now employed for Shuntian. The area around Yingtian became known as Nanjing while Beijing was used to describe the area directly administered by the capital (generally modern Hebei).[21]
- Jingshi: simplified Chinese: 京师; traditional Chinese: 京師; pinyin: Jīngshī; Wade–Giles: Ching-shih; lit. 'Capital'
- Jingdu: Chinese: 京都; pinyin: Jīngdū; Wade–Giles: Ching-tu; lit. 'Capital City') was declared the official name of Beijing by the Beiyang government in January 1918, and remained so until 1928.[22][23]
- Beiping (then People's Republic of China. As noted above, the pinyin romanization, "Beijing", was adopted for use within the country in 1958, and for international use in 1979. The United States government continued to follow the Nationalist government in using "Beiping" until the late 1960s.[20]
Abbreviation
In Chinese, the abbreviation of Beijing is its second character 京 ("Capital"). This is employed, for example, as the prefix on all Beijing-issued license plates.
In the Latin alphabet, the official abbreviation are the two initials of the region's characters: BJ.[24]
Beijing Capital International Airport's IATA code is PEK, based on the previous romanization, Peking.
Similarly named cities
In addition to
in Japan still bears the similar-meaning characters 京都: the character "都", du in Chinese, can also mean "capital".The history of China since the
There were two previous Beijings: one, the northern capital of the
The Nanjing of the Northern Song was located at
Notes
- ^ The City of Ji was the capital of the States of Ji and Yan.
- ^ During the Qin dynasty, the City of Ji served as the regional capital of the Guangyang Commandery (广阳郡).[8][9]
- Yanqing County of Beijing).[11]
- ^ In 319, Shi Le captured Youzhou from Duan Pidi
- ^ In 350, Murong Jun captured Youzhou in the name of restoring northern China to Jin rule.
- ^ From 352 to 357, the Former Yan made the city of Ji its capital.[12]
- ^ In 319, Shi Le captured Youzhou from Duan Pidi
- ^ In the second lunar month of 385, Murong Chui seized Youzhou from Former Qin.[13]
- Northern Dynasties.[14]
- ^ During the Sui dynasty, Youzhou became Zhuojun or Zhuo Commandery.[15]
- Great Yan dynasty and made Fanyang, Yanjing or "the Yan Capital." After the rebellion was suppressed, the seat of government became Youzhou Lulong Dudufu (幽州卢龙都督府).[16]
- ^ The seat of government in Nanjing was known as Youdufu (幽都府) until 1012, when the name was changed to Xijinfu (析津府).
- ^ After 1151, the capital of the Jin dynasty from Shangjing to Yanjing, which was renamed Zhongdu. Zhongdu refers to the Zhongdulu (中都路), an administrative unit which governed about 12 surrounding prefectures and 39 counties. The governing seat of Zhongdulu was Daxingfu (大兴府).[17]
- ^ The seat of government in Beiping, later Beijing, was called Shuntianfu (顺天府).
- ^ From 1938 to 1945 the city was renamed Beijing by the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, a puppet regime backed by the Japanese occupation. The city's name reverted to Beiping after the Japanese surrender by 1 September 1945.
References
- ^ Lost Laowai. "From Peking to Beijing: A Long and Bumpy Trip Archived 2022-02-18 at the Wayback Machine". Accessed 21 October 2012.
- ^ Xavier, Francis, Letter to Didaco Perriera, 12 Nov 1552. Epistolae S. Francisci Xaverii aliaque eius scripta Archived 2022-04-09 at the Wayback Machine, vol. 2. Xavier gives the name as "Paquim."
For another early usage, see Gaspar da Cruz, Tractado em que se co[m]tam muito por este[n]so as cousas da China, co[n] suas particularidades, [e] assi do reyno dormuz, 1569. - ^ Raleigh, Sir Walter, and Robert O. Dougan, (1596) The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana, Volumes 1-3, p. 50.
- ^ Martini, Martino, De bello Tartarico historia, 1654.
Martini, Martino (1655), Novus Atlas Sinensis, "Prima Provencia Peking Sive Pecheli," p. 17. - ^ Lane Harris, "A 'Lasting Boon to All': A Note on the Postal Romanization of Place Names, 1896–1949 Archived 2015-10-05 at the Wayback Machine". Twentieth Century China 34.1 (2008): 99.
- ^ "Editors' Note". The New York Times. 26 November 1986. p. A3. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
- ^ "China notes". 26 September 2020. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ^ "Ji, a Northern City of Military Importance in the Qin Dynasty" Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage Archived 2012-08-25 at the Wayback Machine 2006-07-19
- ^ (Chinese)"北方军事重镇-汉唐经略东北的基地-秦王朝北方的燕蓟重镇" Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage Archived 2011-09-03 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2012-12-17
- ^ (Chinese)"北方军事重镇-汉唐经略东北的基地-东汉时期的幽州蓟城" Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine 2005-09-01
- ^ (Chinese)"北方军事重镇-汉唐经略东北的基地-民族大融合的魏晋十六国北朝时期" Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine 2005-09-01
- ^ (Chinese) "北京城市行政区划述略" 《北京地方志》 Archived 2022-02-18 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2012-12-19
- ^ (Chinese) [郗志群, 歷史北京 https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8F9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 Archived 2023-04-08 at the Wayback Machine] p. 36
- ^ (Chinese) 北魏太和造像 Archived 2022-02-18 at the Wayback Machine 2009-01-11
- ^ (Chinese)"北方军事重镇-汉唐经略东北的基地-隋朝统治下的北京" Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage Archived 2013-12-31 at the Wayback Machine 2005-09-01
- ^ (Chinese) 试论北京唐代墓志的地方特色" Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine 2005-09-01
- ^ (Chinese) "北半部中国的政治中心-金中都的建立" Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine 2005-09-01
- ^ Li, Dray-Novey & Kong 2007, p. 7
- ^ Denis Twitchett, Herbert Franke, John K. Fairbank, in The Cambridge History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p 454.
- ^ The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed.). 2008. Archivedfrom the original on 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
- ^ a b Hucker, Charles O. "Governmental Organization of The Ming Dynasty Archived 2017-01-29 at the Wayback Machine", p. 5–6. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 21 (December 1958). Harvard-Yenching Institute. Accessed 20 October 2012.
- ^ 『北京档案史料』. 2001. p. 304. Archived from the original on 2023-04-08. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
1918年1月,北洋政府正式定名北京为京都市。
- from the original on 2023-04-08. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
它说: "民国三年六月,设督办京都市政公所","民国七年一月(1918年1月),正式定名「京都市」","民国十七年六月月,北平特别市政府成立"。
- ^ Standardization Administration of China (SAC). "GB/T-2260: Codes for the administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China Archived 2017-02-22 at the Wayback Machine".
- ^ Theobald, Ulrich. China Knowledge. "Chinese History - Tang Dynasty 唐 (618-907): Map and Geography Archived 2012-08-13 at the Wayback Machine". Accessed 19 October 2012.
- ^ a b c d Theobald, Ulrich. China Knowledge. "Chinese History - Song Dynasty 宋 (960-1279): Map and Geography Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine". Accessed 19 October 2012.
- ^ a b c d Theobald, Ulrich. China Knowledge. "Chinese History - Jin dynasty 金 (1115–1234): Map and Geography Archived 2012-05-25 at the Wayback Machine". Accessed 19 October 2012.
- ^ a b Theobald, Ulrich. China Knowledge. "Chinese History - Liao Dynasty 遼 (907-1125): Map and Geography Archived 2012-12-18 at the Wayback Machine". Accessed 19 October 2012.
- ^ Eric N. Danielson, "The Ming Ancestor Tomb Archived 2013-09-27 at the Wayback Machine". China Heritage Quarterly, No. 16, December 2008.