Nanyang refers to the South China Sea and Southeast Asia today.
What is the historical name of the South China Sea?
The names of South China Sea and South China Sea Islands have appeared in ancient books for a long time. Xie Cheng's Book of the Later Han Dynasty says that "crossing the toes of seven counties comes and goes from the sea". Yangfu's Records of Foreign Objects in the Eastern Han Dynasty recorded: "The sea is shallow and there are many magnets. Outsiders can take a big boat and take iron as a barrier. At this point, they can't pass the magnet. " Wu Wanzhen of the Three Kingdoms is superficial but full of magnets. Song Liyun and others wrote the Record of Foreign Bodies in Zhou Nan, and quoted Kangtai's Magnolia in Peace: "Landing on the Sea to Coral Island". The name of "going to the sea" was extended to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Biography of Fu Nan Volume 54 Liang Shu: From Gan Opera to Tang and Song Dynasties, the name "Nanhai" became more and more popular. Shen Quanqi, a poet exiled to Vietnam in the early Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem.
Explain the meaning of "ascending the sea" and say: "Tianchi is also in the south, so it is called Yanhai; Water always overflows, so it is called rising the sea. " Qu Dajun, a beginner in the Qing Dynasty, also had a similar explanation: "Burning the sea overflows well, so it is called' ascending the sea'." It reflects our ancient understanding of tidal phenomena in the South China Sea. In ancient times, the South China Sea was called "going to the sea", "South China Sea" and "burning the sea", including Zhu Yahai and Tang Lishan's "Qiongzhou County Records": "There are Zhu in the sea, and there are oceans in the mainland." In addition to the above-mentioned "sea level rise" and "coral islands", there is also "Zhou Muyin" among the South China Sea islands. Among them, Kangtai's "Qiongzhou Zhi"
With the development of production and the progress of navigation, the names of islands in the South China Sea have gradually deepened into group names. The Annals of the Sea Country compiled by Ceng Gongliang in the Northern Song Dynasty ranged from "Julian Waghann's garrison" to "nine cities like Luocheng". This is not only the first time that an island name appears, but also the first time that the Xisha Islands are named. Song and Wu's Qiongzhou County Records and many subsequent books all refer to the Xisha Islands as "seven continents" and its waters as "seven continents and seven oceans". "Wu Du Fu and the Occupation of the City-State" said that when Song Tianxi's occupation of the city came to China in the second year, "the wind blew to Shitang and he was tired". The article rich in truth also records that he came to China from his own country, passing through Bosland, Zhenla, Binda Coconut and Zhancheng, and then passing through the South China Sea: "After crossing the sea for ten days, there is a shitang in the southeast named Wan Li". The name "Wanli Shitang" appeared for the first time, and it was pointed out that it was located in the southeast of Zhancheng, which was the first name of Nansha Islands. There are Wanli Changsha and Shitang in the South China Sea. Changsha and Shitang refer to Xisha Islands and Nansha Islands respectively for the first time, that is, Changsha is the main sand island and Shitang is the main atoll. Southern Song Dynasty's Yi Tai Xu You Yang Zayu: "Changsha is a thousand miles east, Shitang is a thousand miles east"
From the names of the islands in the South China Sea recorded in Han, Jin and Song Dynasties, it can be found that the names of the islands are relatively stable from concept generalization to island naming. The Xisha Islands have almost always used "a thousand miles of Changsha" and the Nansha Islands have always used "a thousand miles of stone ponds". Geographical names are scientific, which can be seen from the geographical entities of sand island and atoll referred to in "Changsha" and "Shitang" respectively. Wang Anqing, a fisherman from Hainan, said that Nansha is more than six times larger than Xisha, so it is objective to name it "Changsha in Li Qian" and "Wanli Shitang" respectively.