Dilemma and Countermeasures of Protection and Utilization of "Old Place Names"

"Old place names" are "living fossils" of urban history, including roads, alleys, temples, houses, houses, bridges, shops, ponds and graves. They are symbols of urban development and change, components of cultural heritage, intangible carriers of historical information, and have great historical value and voucher function.

At present, urbanization is vigorously promoted, the transformation of the old city is in full swing, and a number of "old place names" are dying out, mainly as follows:

1, "old place name" is "replaced" in commercial naming. In Yunxiao County, the century-old "Catholic Church" (called "Armed Forces Department" after liberation) and "old place names" have been replaced by "Hengsheng Supermarket" and "new place names" for more than ten years. In Jin 'an District of Fuzhou, Gucheng Village of Xindian Town, and the ruins of the ancient capital city of Fujian and Vietnam in the early Han Dynasty, the place name of "Ancient City" with a typical thousand-year history was named "Happiness City" on the bus stop sign. The "Wu Liting" in Fuma Road was named "Famous City" and so on. Under the influence of the concept of city management, commercial naming became popular, and new place names emerged one after another. The ancient place names have quietly changed, replacing the local flavor with western style, replacing the antique with tall fashion, and replacing the old streets and alleys with gardens, villas and respected houses are emerging in large numbers. Behind it, driven by commercial interests, what is neglected is precisely a city's civilization inheritance, cultural texture and humanistic charm.

2. "Old place names" were "destroyed" in the process of urbanization and demolition. With the transformation of the old city, the old place names "Louzaijiao", "Old Cinema" and "Big Rice" in Yunxiao County will soon disappear. The "old place names" such as Xiamen Road and Mazu Road in Xiangcheng District have disappeared, and the remaining historical old streets such as Taiwan Road and Hong Kong Road have become precious memories of "Old Zhangzhou". In Siming District of Xiamen, with the demolition and reconstruction of 200,000 square meters of China, the old place names such as Guang Tai Street, Zhoubao Lane, Puyou Street, Xia Jing Lane, Ma Jian Lane and Caopu Lane are disappearing.

3. "Old place names" are "forgotten" in electronic exchange. With the emergence and popularization of electronic maps, many "old place names" are difficult to switch effectively and have existed in name only. The "Dasuo Street", "Dusting Street" and "Three Streets and One City" in Yunxiao County are "old place names" formed in the late Qing Dynasty, which cannot be searched on the electronic navigation map.

The "old place names" are disappearing rapidly, not only in Xiamen, Zhang Quan and southern Fujian, but also in many cities in China. There are more than 30,000 place names in Nanjing, including nearly 2,000 "old place names" with historical value. Starting from 15, there are 180 "old place names" such as "Chanjinglou", "Xinghua Village", "Woods Road", "Phoenix Terrace" and "Li Renxiao", which have disappeared from the map of Nanjing. According to official statistics, since 1986, more than 60,000 township names and 400,000 village names have been abandoned in China. One by one, the "old place names" that have condensed thousands of years of history and precipitated deep memories from generation to generation are gradually drifting away.

To this end, it is suggested to work hard on the "five major projects":

1, "carding project" should be "tight, tight". Government departments should set up an expert team as soon as possible to sort out and integrate the culture, history and geography of "old place names" and improve the scientificity, sustainability, systematicness and pertinence of "naming", "labeling" and "reconstruction". For those "old place names" with a long history and cultural tradition, we should adhere to the "triple principles" of "respecting history, relying on laws and attaching importance to inheritance" and scientifically protect and utilize them. First, we must set up a ledger. Organize investigation and textual research, sort out one by one, compile a comparison table of ancient and modern place names, and report to the people's government at the same level for approval and publication after expert review and soliciting social opinions, and establish a list of historical place names protection. Second, we must strictly protect it. For some "old place names" bearing the historical memory of the city, we will step up the declaration of intangible cultural heritage. Some valuable "old place names" that disappeared due to urban construction will be salvaged, and after the completion of the new district, "old place names" will be used scientifically. Third, we must re-inherit. Strengthen the in-depth study of "old place names", fund the publication of the research results of "old place names" into books, and record some anecdotes of "old place names" with historical origins and cultural connotations in a multi-dimensional way such as words, pictures and videos.

2. "Naming projects" should be "cautious". The number of cities in China increased from 356 in 1986 to 657 in 20 13. The urban built-up area increased from less than 6,543,800 square kilometers to 46,000 square kilometers; Tens of thousands of new place names are produced every year, which challenges the naming of place names. The naming of regions is never a trivial matter. One is to maintain the continuity of the use of "old place names". Changing "old place names" at will is essentially a kind of "cultural demolition". In the design of new place names, priority should be given to the use of "old place names" and the renaming and cancellation of "old place names" should be strictly controlled. It is difficult to use the "old place names" directly, but Yazheng can use them. Take "grave" as an example. There are many names of graves around Beijing. Reducing the name of "grave" is more in line with modern people's psychology, but some important names of "grave" have not changed, such as "Eight Kings Tomb" in the East and "Princess Tomb" in the West. The second is to reflect the representativeness of the connotation of "old place names". In the reconstruction of old cities and the construction of new districts, a large number of new districts need to be named or redesigned. You can choose some suitable streets, communities and squares and name them after the most representative people, events and allusions in urban history and culture. For example, according to the news of Xiamen Daily 20 14+ 13, Xiamen has published 64 new place names, including 40 roads, 23 residential areas and 0 streams 1 one, many of which have inherited the old place names. For example, "Tatou Middle Road" originated from Tatou Natural Village, and "Gao Qi Road" originated from Gao Qi Natural Village. Third, we must adhere to the laws and regulations on the management of "old place names". The management of geographical names must adhere to the management according to law, and effectively avoid the phenomenon of arbitrarily changing and canceling "old geographical names". Any place name listed as "non-legacy" or of great commemorative significance shall not be named with compensation. When naming a region, we should give full consideration to the historical evolution, make people remember "homesickness", and strive to overcome the name of "foreign countries are not foreign, soil is not soil" and there is no local flavor.

3. "Marking project" should be "beautiful". To make "old place names" deeply rooted in people's hearts, we need to work hard on various signs. For example, stone tablets and memorial archways with unique shapes can be erected in conspicuous places at the intersections of some "old place names", and the historical context behind the place names can be briefly described in Chinese and English. Kevin Lynch, a famous American urban planning designer, pointed out that citizens generally use five elements to generate the image of urban landscape, namely "road", "edge", "region", "node" and "landmark". If we can integrate the elements of urban regional characteristics into the label of "old place names" for modern design, it will certainly make the label system more cultural, social and contemporary.

4. "Reconstruction project" should be "old and new". In many famous historical and cultural cities, "old place names" either contain an interesting story or legend or are attached to a colorful cultural background. When conditions are ripe, these allusions can be restored to architecture. Reuse or transplant old place names into the names of newly-built public buildings and residential areas, so that those "old place names" with a long history can be preserved and rejuvenated. For example, Yangzhou has restored a number of old place names, Majiaxiang has been restored to Ma Jian Lane, and Xinhua East Lane has been restored to Fushouting Lane. Among the 23 old place names listed in the first batch of protection in Nanjing, Wanzhu Park, Xinlin and Jiangcheng have been re-used. Another example is Qilipu, Huotian Town, Yunxiao County, which has the "Dai Jun Maling Pavilion". It is the burial place of Chen, the daughter of the "Zhang Kai Wang Sheng" season in the Tang Dynasty, and Dai Junyi, the husband of the season, and still retains the tombstone side of Ma Ling in the Song Dynasty. In front of the tomb pavilion, there is a river pit stream, one of the source veins of Zhangjiang River. The remains of Heyi Bridge built in the Song Dynasty still exist. A beautiful story has spread to this day: Chen San, a young man and woman in the Southern Song Dynasty, fell in love with Wu Niang, and her maid Yichun went to Chaobei Quanzhou, passing through Qilipu and Yiyi Bridge, but was recovered by the Guangdong government. The story is tortuous and touching. This timeless story adds elegance to "Qilipu and Joey". Dai Junyi in the Tang Dynasty and "Chen Sanwu Niang" in the Song Dynasty are familiar to Minnan people. Can you build a "Tang and Garden", a "lovers' covered bridge", a row of "farewell willows", a "farewell banquet" and a letter near today's Qilipu?

5. "Network search project" should give consideration to both the old and the new. With the help of modern technology, promote the industrialization of urban place names information and accelerate the electronization of place names. Electronic maps should have the function of comparing old and new place names, meet the needs of ancestors, car owners, donkey friends, tourists, couriers, renters and other different groups, provide differentiated electronic search services for place names, integrate into the overall pattern of economic development and social governance, and strive to achieve "win-win" in economy and society.

(Originally published in Straits News Express 10, 20 14)