There is a place in Shandong Province called Leling City, which is under the jurisdiction of Dezhou City and is a county-level city. Laoling City is located at the junction of two provinces and four cities and belongs to the North China Plain. The total area under its jurisdiction is more than 1,110 square kilometers and the total population is more than 700,000.
Speaking of the place name Leling, many people who don’t know it always pronounce it as (le ling with four tones), but in fact the name should be pronounced as (lao ling with four tones), and many outsiders will pronounce it wrong. the name.
Let’s first talk about the origin of the place name Leling.
According to historical records, Leling should have been established in 202 AD, the fifth year of Emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty. In the subsequent dynasties, although there were changes in the establishment and ownership There have been many changes, but the name "Leling" has basically remained unchanged.
There are many opinions in the academic circles about the origin of Leling's name, but in fact there is no precise identification. There are four main theories:
One is the theory of building overlapping cities. Furthermore, because there is "Lecheng Mausoleum", the name Leling came into being. There is also a theory that this place got its name because there is "A Dou's Tomb". The last one is the saying of Da Fu Yue Ling. According to the records of "Shandong Tongzhi": "Da Fu Yue Mausoleum" means that the country is happy and happy because it is willing to take advantage of the four people. ?
After careful research by later generations of historical scholars, most of the above four statements believe that the first three statements are incorrect, and the last statement is more secure, so this last statement It has been used ever since.
As for the origin of the name of Leling County, we will not do too much research. Now we will focus on why the word "乐" in Leling is pronounced as (lao four tones)? This is about the ancient people’s habit of naming places.
The ancients generally had two habits when naming a place. One is to name people based on local surnames, eras, events or characters that happened at that time, and sometimes based on the wishes they want to achieve. Another habit is to name according to the local terrain, such as Shandong, Shaanxi, etc.
Leling was the name given by the people of Yan State at that time, and this place was on the boundary of Qi State. Then we should consider the national conditions at that time. There were constant wars between countries at that time, and the name was probably to show off their achievements. The commander of the Yan army at that time was Le Yi. This is probably the origin of "Le" in Leling.
But the word "乐" in Le Yi is pronounced (yue) instead of (lao). Why is this?
In fact, before the Qin Dynasty, each country had its own written language, and of course the pronunciations were varied. Le Yi's ancestral home was in the territory of Wei State at that time, which is now the Lingshou area of ??Hebei Province, and his accent should also be from this place. We can look at the pronunciation of the ancients at that time from the pronunciation habits that are still retained today. The pronunciation of ?yue? as ?lao? is very likely to be the pronunciation handed down from that time.
In 284 BC, when Yan State General Le Yi attacked Qi State, he built the Leling City. In the Han Dynasty, Leling County began to be established. Therefore, the place name "Leling" also means "Leyi attacks Qi, chooses the mausoleum and builds the city".