We are all very familiar with the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period, but it can be said that we have always had great doubts about the names of each of these seven countries. Among the seven countries, six country names actually appeared in later generations, such as Qi State, which was called "Northern Qi" in later generations, Qin State, which was called "Pre-Qin" in later generations, Wei State, which was also called "Northern Wei Dynasty" in later generations, etc. Of course, the north, front, south, etc. here were all added by later generations to make it easier to distinguish them, but one thing can be confirmed, that is, the country names of these countries have been used in later generations. However, there is one country that is an exception, and that is South Korea. Since the Warring States Period, no regime has ever named its country Han, and there has never been a regime like "North Korea" or "South Korea" in history. Why is this? Why do people choose the name of their country? Why was Han never used in the Han Dynasty? 1. The country names of the regimes after the Han Dynasty
If we look back at the country names of China since the Han Dynasty, we find that a large number of regimes have the same name as the names of ancient countries in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. , the statistics are as follows:
Zhou: Northern Zhou, Wu Zhou, Later Zhou
Qi: Southern Qi, Northern Qi, Huangchao Qi
Chu: Liu Yu, Qi Chu, Huan Chu, Ma Yin Chu Kingdom
Yan: Former Yan, Later Yan, Southern Yan, Northern Yan, Western Yan
Zhao: Former Zhao, Later Zhao
Wei: Cao Wei, Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Ran Wei, Li Mi Western Wei
Liang: Southern Liang, Western Liang, Later Liang
Jin: Western Jin, Eastern Jin, Later Jin
Qin: Former Qin, Later Qin, Western Qin
Song: Southern Song, Northern Song, Southern Song
Wu: Sun Wu, Nan Wu, Zhang Shicheng Wu, Zhu Yuanzhang Wu, and Wu Yue For the country name
Shu: Former Shu, Later Shu (the country name of Shu Han is Han)
Tang: Tang Dynasty, Later Tang, Southern Tang
Zheng : Wang Shichong and Zheng
We can see that basically all the pre-Qin country names have been used, but only "Han" has not been used. Why is this? 2. Why is there no regime called Han?
We know that ancient country titles were either titles that existed before the founding of the People's Republic of China, such as Han, Tang, and Cao Wei. Liu Bang was named the King of Han, Li Yuan was named the Duke of Tang, and Cao Cao was named. King Wei, this was followed down.
Either it is a place name related to the place where he made his fortune. For example, Zhao Kuangyin, the military commander of the GuiDe Army who originated from Songzhou, Xiao Daocheng of Junwang Lanling, and Gao Yang of Junwang Bohai are all in Qidi, and the country name They all called together.
So, why is there no country called "Han"?
Some people say that maybe South Korea was too weak during the Warring States Period. Indeed, among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period, South Korea was the first to be destroyed by the Qin State. However, compared to other countries, South Korea, such as the Song State, was first destroyed by the Qi State, but some people still use "Song" as their country name.
Others say that most of the people who founded the country were princes canonized by the previous dynasty who raised their troops to establish the new dynasty. However, among the more than 40 princes named Han, none of them had the ability to rebel. Zhao Pu and Cao Bin were both awarded posthumously. The previous Korean kings did not provide enough strength, so there was no Korean Dynasty. This seems a bit far-fetched. After all, many country names are based on the region, and not all are named after the founder's king name.
Some people say that South Korea is a small country and its people are incompetent. Since ancient times, there have been no outstanding figures, let alone the founding of the country. This statement makes some sense, but it doesn't seem to hit the point.
In the end, this question often turns into a folk joke. Isn’t there a country named Han today? Of course, this is just a coincidence.
So, why is this?
The territory of the Warring States Period basically determined the names of major regions in China. To this day, some places have left traces of the Spring and Autumn Period. The names of the countries in the Warring States Period, such as Shaanxi was called Qin Di, Shanxi was called Jin Di, and Shandong was called Qilu Dadi. These are regional names derived from the country names, so there is some connection between country names and regions.
3. What is the relationship between country names and regions?
We who play Go all know the saying "golden corners, silver edges, grass belly". The corners are not only strategically important, but also highly identifiable, making it almost impossible It was replaced by other regions, such as Qin in Shaanxi and Yan in Liaodong. It is impossible for people in Shaanxi to take "Yan" as their country name. This is the role of recognition. If China becomes a nine-square grid, then the names of the countries and regions on the borders of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period will be very clear.
The northwest corner is Qin. In the past dynasties, as long as the founding of the country was in Shaanxi and Gansu, it was the land of Qin. This is why Fu Jian and Yao Chang's country name "Qin" came from this.
In the northeast corner is Yan. In the past dynasties, as long as the country was founded in Liaodong, it was the land of Yan, and the Murong family's country name "Yan" came from this.
The southwest corner is Shu. The people who founded the country in Bashu in the past dynasties often used this country name.
In the southeast corner is Wu. As long as the country was founded in Nanjing, most people used this country name, and Zhu Yuanzhang was no exception. He took "Ming" as the country name after he became emperor.
To the west is Han, the land of Hanzhong. To the south is Chu, the land of Jianghan. To the east is Qi, the land of Qi and Lu. To the north is Zhao, and the three Jin lands generally use these as their country names.
Therefore, during the troubled times of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, a large number of countries were named after their regions. This is the origin of their country names.
Next, only the "Tian Yuan" in the middle is left, and the one in the middle is Wei. "Wei" was the overlord in the early Warring States Period. He dominated the Central Plains in the early period. In the later period, Lord Xinling stole talismans to save Zhao and also defeated Qin many times. Yecheng was the land of Wei, so it was later named "Wei County", and Cao Cao was named Wei King, was granted this place, so Cao Wei's country name was called "Wei". The Xianbei Tuoba clan claimed to be descendants of the Yellow Emperor. After taking over the Central Plains, Cui Hao suggested that the country be named "Wei" because "Wei" means "big name" and Wei also symbolizes the land of the Central Plains. The Xianbei Tuoba clan was eager to make progress. The Central Plains has the orthodox identity of the Central Plains, so the name of the Xianbei Tuoba clan is also called Wei. The place names of Weizhou and Wei Bojun Town in the Tang Dynasty and Daming Mansion in Beijing in the Northern Song Dynasty all come from Wei.
Kaifeng, the capital of the Wei State, is an exception. It is also called "Daliang City", so "Wei" is also called "Liang". Most of the countries whose capitals were in Kaifeng in the past were called "Liang", which is actually "Wei". of the same name.
From this, we know that the nine palaces of the world have been determined, Han’s position is no longer there, and Han in the Central Plains has been replaced by Wei. Moreover, South Korea is a small country, and most of its place names already have fixed names. For example, the destroyed Zheng State retained the place name "Zheng". Today's Xinzheng and Zhengzhou place names in Henan are derived from this. The cause of the Changping War between Qin and Zhao was the fight for Shangdang County on Korean land. Shangdang County was later established as "Luzhou" in the Sui Dynasty because the Lu people lived here in ancient times. Later, this place was also called "Lu" instead of "Luzhou". "Han", even though this place was still the fiefdom of Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, if there are those who rise in Korea in later generations, they are often classified under titles such as Song, Wei, and Liang, especially Wei, which overlaps with Han. Most of the people who established their capitals in the Central Plains in the past dynasties were called "Wei". Therefore, there was no country named "Han" in the past dynasties, and it was obviously replaced by "Wei" which also represented the Central Plains.