Origins of Name in the Chuandixia Village

Chuandixia Vlllage, founded during the Ming Dynasty, later boomed during the Qing, asnumerous traveling businessmen passed, stayed, and utilized this place a local distribution centerfor their goods.Legends about the origin of the village name vary.

One goes that it was so namedbecause of its location beneath Chuan Li An Military Pass during the Ming Dynasty, andtherefore it is believed that ancestors of the present villagers were generals and soldiers stationedalong the frontier pass. Another view is that the village’s residents are all descendants ofmigrants by the surname of Han, who relocated from Shanxi during the early Ming period.

The configuration of the first character of the village’s name aroused our interest dueto its complicated structure. We inquired with the locals and learned that the figure was acomposition derived from several characters, respectively meaning “boom,” “forest,” “big,”and “fire.” And so this character implies family unity and warmth.

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