Coin carved with Chongqing Prefecture

Emperor Guangzong of Song Dynasty

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Perhaps you have heard that Chongqing gains its name in the Southern Song Dynasty. On the seventh day of August in the 16th year of Chunxi reign of Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Guangzong named his fief from “Gongzhou” (恭州) to “Chongqing” (重庆). Since then, the name “Chongqing” has come to the present with this city with a history of more than 3,000 years.

The seventh day of August in the 16th year of Chunxi reign is September 18, 1189 after converted to Gregorian calendar. That is to say, this year marks the 830th anniversary of Chongqing’s name. But why did Emperor Guangzong name “Gongzhou” as “Chongqing”?

Recently, He Jiang, a cultural and historical expert of the city, explored the reason for the name “Chongqing” through his years of research on Chongqing place name.

Was it changed randomly?

The Southern Song Dynasty changed the name with intention.

Is the name “Chongqing” changed randomly or does it have a special meaning?

Through his many years of research, He Jiang found that in history, there were few place names or era names named after the word “Chong” (重). The word “Chong” is not a common word used by the ancients.

So was it that the Southern Song Dynasty’s court suddenly had a whimsy, and changed the name of “Gongzhou” to “Chongqing”?

In this regard, He Jiang clearly denied. In ancient times, the folk may randomly name some place, but the name of the local administrative divisions must be carefully considered by the court.

He Jiang said, “I found that many experts used to look for answers from ancient geographical records, but the writers of records often had no first-hand historical data, and the workload was so heavy that it was difficult to prove every place name strictly. So I want to look for clues related to Chongqing from the history of that time. If the word 'Chongqing' has special significance to the Emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, it will surely appear elsewhere in history."

To He Jiang’s surprise, his exploration really contributed to amazing discoveries. The word "Chongqing" not only recurs around Emperor Guangzong, but also has great significance. "This may be the real origin of Chongqing's name."

What’s the point of changing?

“Chongqing” to “Zhongxing”, showing the passion to nation and family

Was there the word "Chongqing" in ancient times?

"If we travel back to the Southern Song Dynasty, and mention to the common people about the word 'Chongqing', they will surely smile at you. In ancient times, as long as grandparents and parents have at least one old person alive respectively, it can be called 'chongqing' (重庆). In other words, this word represents the family of three or four generations." He Jiang said.

Is the meaning of "Chongqing" really that simple?

Surely not. For Emperor Guangzong, the word “Zhongxing (中兴, reviving)” frequently appeared with "Chongqing".

When Emperor Guangzong was the crown prince in the Eastern Palace, in order to celebrate his birthday, Minister Fan Chengda once presented two "Birthday Poems to the Eastern Palace", each of which has a few sentences about Chongqing. “The revival of the nation is attributed to the wisdom of the monarch, the royal blessing enlightens the virtuous prince.” “The days of four generations under one roof are also a time of national prosperity.” (“中兴归濬哲，重庆启元良。”和“君亲重庆日，家国中兴年。”)

“These sentences share a common characteristic that 'Chongqing' corresponds to 'Zhongxing'; that is, the prosperity of the nation is put side by side with the royal four generations under one roof. It emphasizes the close and inseparable relationship between state and family affairs ”

In addition, in some official documents and related poems, the word "Chongqing" has appeared many times with Emperor Guangzong, which shows that the word is of great significance to the nation, the royal family, and Emperor Guangzong.

Why to change?

“Chongqing” to celebrate the empress dowager’s birthday and show the aspiration of revival.

What is the origin of changing from "Gongzhou" to "Chongqing"?

Why did Emperor Guangzong choose Gongzhou as the landing place of the name "Chongqing"?

In ancient times, He said, there was a folk tradition that families with three or four generations would often change the name of their hall to "Chongqing hall" (重庆堂) when they wished the elderly a birthday. Gongzhou is the fief of Emperor Guangzong, which is equivalent to another "home" of the emperor. Emperor Guangzong changed the name of Gongzhou to Chongqing Prefecture (重庆府), which is actually to follow the folk custom.

The “prefecture” here is not only the institutional name of the administrative division, but also the residence of the nobles. “Chongqing Prefecture” is a wonderful pun. Such a practice by Emperor Guangzong reflects an interesting interaction between ancient folk customs and the local management of the court.

Such a statement sounds a bit mysterious. Is there any evidence?

Of course! He Jiang said that in the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a law in elevating the fief to a prefecture. When Emperor Gaozong established the era year of Shaoxing, he changed the lodging place from Yuezhou to Shaoxing. From then on, emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty used the era name of enthronement as the name in elevating the fief to a prefecture. However, there are only some exceptions to Emperor Guangzong.

He Jiang said that during the reign of Emperor Guangzong, there were two times of elevating the fief to a prefecture:

One was that Gongzhou was elevated to Chongqing Prefecture on the seventh day of August, 1189; another was that Jianzhou was elevated to Longqing Prefecture on September 10, 1190.

The two times of prefecture elevation were related to birthday congratulations, with great significance. For Emperor Guangzong, Empress Dowager Wu and his father, Emperor Xiaozong, are the two most important family members. The two times of prefecture elevation can be treated as expressing gratitude, respect and filial piety to Empress Dowager Wu and Emperor Xiaozong.

Jianzhou is the fief of Emperor Guangzong's father, Emperor Xiaozong, which actually has a strong private attribute to the emperor. Elevating the fief to a prefecture has deep intention. September 10 is the birthday of Emperor Guangzong, during which elevating his father’s fief, and naming Jianzhou as Longqing Prefecture with his father’s era name “Longxing”, reflects Guangzong’s gratitude to his father.

The seventh day of August is approaching Empress Dowager Wu's birthday. At this time, Guangzong named his fief as "Chongqing" in order to reflect his respect and filial piety to Empress Dowager Wu. The folk custom of changing the name to Chongqing Hall usually takes place when giving the elderly a birthday, which explains the previous question.

"So, we can analyze the origin of Chongqing's name in this way; it is likely that in order to celebrate Empress Dowager Wu’s birthday, Emperor Guangzong followed the folk custom, and renamed his fief, his another ‘home’, as 'Chongqing' as a celebration, so that generation after generation will remember the royal family of “four generations” and it also reminds him of not forgetting the mission of reviving," He Jiang said. (Translated by Bai Fengling, Fathom Language Limited)