The Puzzle of Chinese Names.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 238, 12 October 1904, Page 4

The Puzzle of Chinese Names.

WHAT THEY MEAN. The interest of "the man in the street" in tlie great war raiging in the East is chilled by the uncomfortable, unintelligible character of tho names of tho places over which the tumult of war is sweeping. Who will undertake even to pronounce—still lesu to understand— such a witches' dance of consonants and vowels as make up Chinese names ? Yet the names of these places are all descriptive, and meaning of a fow terms, if borne in mind, .would greatly illuminate the cablegrams : The word Ling, for example, meuns "a pass" or "a range of mountains." Thus we read that tho Japanese captured the Mot'ien ling, or "the skyscraping pass l ," the t'enshuiling, or "the pass of the dividing of the waters," and the Ta ling, or " great Vass."

"Ho" (says the London Times) is the common word.for "river" north of the Yang-tsze-kiang—south of that stream rivers are termed kiung. So wo have the Liao ho, or "distant river," and the T'aitzu ho, or "Heir Apparent river," tho Sha ho, or "sandy river," and tho T'ai yang ho, or "great sheep river." Chiao is "a bridge," as in Tashih ehiao, "the great stone bridge."

Shan means "a liill" .or "mountain,' as in Shanhai kwan, "the pass (at tho junction) oi the mountains and llie sea." llai, "the s-ea," occurs in such names as- llai ch'eng, "tho city oi' the sea," an interesting! nomenclature, since, standing as it now does some thirty miles inland, the city marks the extent to which tho land has) encroached on the sea since its foundations were laid.

Ch'eng is "a castle" or "a city," as in the name Feng hwang ch'eng, "tho city of male and female phoenixes." Wan is "a bay" or '••bend," and occurs in Tulien wan. Ta means "great," lien "connected" or "continued," and wan '''buy," and it may mean "the greatly extended bay." Tuo is "an island." T'un is "a village" or "cam))," and forms apart of many compounds. Tieu is "an inn or "shop," and occurs very commonly i n Manchuria, us in Laoze tien, "the gentleman's Inn," I'-ali tien, "the eight-mile inn."