Changsha, as a place name, should have appeared before the city was formed. There have always been different opinions on how the name Changsha came about, and there are different historical records. In summary, the following are the main theories:
First, it was named after the Changsha star. When ancient astronomers observed celestial phenomena, they selected a group of stars as markers for positioning observations, creating the theory of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. It is believed that there are stars above and corresponding "star fields" below. "Historical Records Tianguan Shu" says: "The sky has constellations, and the earth has states." Among the twenty-eight constellations, there is an attached star named "Changsha". The ancients According to the theory of astrological distinction, the place of Changsha corresponds to the Changsha star, and it is believed that the place name of Changsha comes from the name of the star, so Changsha is also known as "Xingsha". "Historical Records of Justice" by Zhang Shoujie of the Tang Dynasty said: "A star in Changsha in Zhen means longevity." It is also said that a bright star in Changsha means "longevity and prosperity of descendants." These statements are adapted to the understanding and psychological needs of people in feudal society, so Changsha This theory, which is named after it, has the greatest influence and is the most widely circulated.
Second, it is named after Wanlisha Temple. The theory of Wanli Sha Temple was first seen in "Thirteen Prefectures Chronicles" written by Kan Mayin of Jin Dynasty: "There are Wanli Sha Temple in Han Dynasty, and it goes from Xiangzhou in the west to Wanli Wanli in the east, so it is called Changsha." After that, Li Jifu's "Thirteen Prefectures" in the Tang Dynasty "Yuanhe County Chronicles" quoted "Dongfang Shuoji" as saying: "There are thousands of miles of sand temples in Nanjun, and it is thousands of miles from Xiangzhou to Donglai, so it is called Changsha." In Tang Duyou's "Tongdian", "Qin Dynasty is Changsha County" in Tanzhou. The note also says: "There is a shrine of thousands of miles of sand, so it is called Changsha." Therefore, local chronicles of various dynasties often cited this statement as the source of Changsha's name. According to "Historical Records·The Benji of Xiaowu": In the spring of the second year of Yuanfeng (111 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty went to Donglai, Shandong Province to pray for the "Ten Thousand Miles of Sand" (there are "more than three hundred miles of sand path" in Qucheng from the east). (original), Ying Shao of the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote: Wanlisha is also a shrine. Changsha and Donglai are thousands of miles apart. People connected this incident with these two places, so there is a saying that "Changsha is the so-called Changsha thousands of miles away".
Third, it is named after the "land of sand". The geological structure of Changsha is based on quartz sandstone, sandy conglomerate, siltstone and shale. After years of external forces, the collapsed rocks, weathering and water erosion, caused a large amount of sand and stone to accumulate on the surface. , especially the Xiangjiang River Valley where Changsha is now located, is dotted with large tracts of beaches and sandbanks. During the dry season, these islands and beaches are exposed, showing people vast tracts of sand, especially the growth of sand grains. , "The sand is as white as frost and snow." In ancient times, the natural environment was unpolluted and undamaged. This sight was so eye-catching that many ancient books called Changsha a sand township or a land of sand. For example, Zhang Wei, the prefect of Changsha during the Dali period of the Tang Dynasty, quoted the "Changsha Tufeng Stele Inscription" from "Dunjia Ji" as saying: "The land of sand is the ruins of Yunyang." Another "Road History" said: "The sand is Changsha; Yunyang is tea. "Ling." "Yuanhe Prefecture and County Chronicles" says: "Yu Gong" The territory of Jingzhou was in the middle of Guizhou, and the southern border of Chu was unified by the Qin Dynasty, and the Shaxiang in the south of central Guizhou was divided into Changsha County to control Hunan. Sichuan."
Fourth, it is named after the long sandbar. The Shuilu Island in the Xiangjiang River in Changsha is about 5,000 meters long and 100 meters wide. It is a relatively unique geographical landscape. There are different understandings about the emergence of Shuiluzhou. In the past, people based on the Song Dynasty's "Taiping Huanyu Ji" said: "Emperor Hui of Jin Dynasty was born on this continent in the second year of Yongxing." It was believed that Shuiluzhou only appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. However, when geologists sampled and analyzed the geological structure of Changsha, they confirmed that Shuiluzhou is a typical first-level terrace formation formed during the Holocene of the Quaternary Period, which is at least 10,000 years old. The water level of the Xiangjiang River was low in ancient times. For example, the Nantuqiu site in Changsha County was excavated in 1986, not far from the southern end of Shuiluzhou, and located on the river beach lower than Shuiluzhou. The site is more than 7,000 years old, and its bottom layer is also Quaternary Holocene strata. Therefore, Shuiluzhou should have appeared before the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and may have been submerged by floods due to the fluctuation of water levels.
Fifth, it is named after the "Manyue" language "a place to worship the goddess". Before the Chu State's "Nanping Barbarian Yue", the residents of Changsha belonged to the "Barbarian Yue" tribe. In the Manyue language, "chang" means "altar" and "sha" means "goddess", not "god of sand". "Changsha" means "the place where the goddess is worshiped" in Manyue. To this day, the custom of worshiping the goddess is still practiced in the areas where the Zhuang and Dong ethnic groups live. One of their idioms includes the saying, "Before the village fortress is built, Changsha must be built first."
After discussions by scholars of various eras, the first and second theories have been gradually rejected. Regarding the first theory, it is believed that the book "Lu Shi Chun Qiu" which proposed the theory of "there are nine fields in the sky and nine states on the earth" records Zhensu and Changsha Xing, but the book was written around 239 BC. The name Zhensu only appeared in 443 BC. A piece of lacquerware from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng has a picture of the twenty-eight constellations and the name of Zhensu. In addition, according to the fact that some of the twenty-eight constellations have appeared in the Book of Songs, the appearance of their constellations can be dated from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period. But the above are all later than the time when the first one in Changsha appeared. Just as "Shanhua County Chronicles" said, "Stars are named after sand, and non-shades are named after stars." As for the second theory, some people have long questioned it. Ming Chongzhen's "Changsha Prefecture Chronicles" says: "Tongzhi says There is a shrine with thousands of miles of sand in the county. It cannot be verified that it was built in the reign of King Weilie of Zhou Dynasty. "Yi Tong Zhi" of the Ming Dynasty says: "Thirty miles northeast of Laizhou Fucheng, sandwiched between the two banks of Wansui, the shrine is three hundred miles long." In Donglai, it has nothing to do with Changsha.
"It has nothing to do with the "Wanlisha Temple" based on all aspects. Whether Changsha began to have Wanlisha Temple during the reign of King Weilie of the Zhou Dynasty is not only considered "untestable" by the narrator, but also King Weilie of the Zhou Dynasty reigned from 425 BC to B.C. In 402, it was more than 600 years after the appearance of King Cheng of Zhou Dynasty in Changsha. I am afraid that even if there was Wanlisha Temple, it would be after the place name of Changsha appeared.
The basis of the third theory and the fourth theory are basically the same. , both highlight the geological features of Changsha. The difference is that the former focuses on individuals, while the latter focuses on groups. The sandy soil is a characteristic of Changsha's geological structure. It is as long as meters and as white as snow, which must be very eye-catching. , but the formation of a sandbar about 5,000 meters long is an even more spectacular sight. Place names are the product of the development of human society to a certain stage. Ancient people named place names based on the outstanding characteristics of the natural environment where they lived, which is the main source of ancient place names. , which is in line with the understanding level and materialist epistemology of ancient people. The place name of Changsha should have been gradually confirmed by the ancestors based on the ancient natural environment characteristics of Changsha, and was finally established by convention and passed down to later generations. It should "begin in the prehistoric era" and end in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It was confirmed at that time.
As for the fifth theory, although it is not conclusive, it can also be regarded as a family opinion. The many sources of Changsha's place names just illustrate the rich connotation of place name culture.