Shandong Province is commonly known as the land of Qilu. Why is the abbreviation "Lu" instead of "Qi"?

Shandong Province is commonly known as the land of Qilu, and the abbreviation is "Lu" instead of "Qi"

Shandong Province has a long history, because there were once Qi State and Lu State within its jurisdiction, so there are many People call this the land of Qilu. However, the strange thing is that the abbreviation of Shandong is "Lu" instead of "Qi". Why is this?

(Map of the Pre-Qin Period)

Let’s first talk about why Shandong is called the land of Qilu.

"Qilu" originated from the pre-Qin Qi and Lu countries. It is the collective name of Qi and Lu. It was originally a national concept. Qi and Lu were two feudal states in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and they were two important positions for the Western Zhou Dynasty to exercise its power in the east. Because when the Western Zhou Dynasty was first established, the Yin and Dongyi people in the eastern coastal areas were powerful and disobedient to the rule, and rebelled against the Zhou Dynasty many times. After Duke Zhou marched eastward and quelled the rebellions of Wu Geng and Shang Yan, the king of Zhou granted the two most powerful figures: Duke Zhou and Jiang Taigong to the old lands of Shang Yan and Bogu respectively, and established the State of Lu and the State of Qi to pacify the Yin Dynasty in the east. People and barbarians.

Lu occupies the yang of Mount Tai, which is the south of Mount Tai, and Qi occupies the yin of Mount Tai, which is the north of Mount Tai. When Qi and Lu first became feudal, the areas were hundreds of miles apart. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, after hundreds of years of annexation wars, the territories of the two countries continued to expand and basically controlled the present-day Shandong area. With the political, economic and cultural development of the two countries, national integration and humanistic assimilation have occurred. Cultural exchanges and internal ties between Qi and Lu gradually strengthened. The Qilu regional cultural circle, which is different from the Central Plains, Yanzhao, Qin, Jin, Wuyue, Jingchu, etc., gradually formed.

So, the area in Shandong is called Qilu Land.

(Shandong topographic map)

Shandong as a region was named later than Qilu.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Jin State lived west of the Taihang Mountains and called the east of the Taihang Mountains "Shandong". The capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty was Pingcheng. During the Five Dynasties, the Jin Dynasty was also located to the west of the Taihang Mountains, so Kuching was used to call the east of the Taihang Mountains "Shandong". However, "Shandong" at that time did not specifically refer to Shandong today.

After the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms, the Shandong area was established as counties and counties, such as Qijun, Langxie, Donghai, Dongjun, and Xuejun, etc., all within the scope of Shandong. In the early Han Dynasty, most of Shandong was granted the title of king, and most of Shandong was granted to King Liu Fei of Qi. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the power of feudal princes and kings was weakened, and thirteen prefectures and prefectures were initially established. In Shandong, three prefectures, namely Qing, Yan, and Xu, were established, followed by counties, states, and counties. After that, the administrative divisions changed in several dynasties, but the basic changes were not significant.

In the Tang Dynasty, the country was divided into ten roads, and Shandong was divided into Henan Road and Hebei Road. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the roads were changed into roads, and the country was divided into twenty-four roads. Shandong was divided into Jingdong East Road and Jingdong East Road. In the eighth year of Dading of the Jin Dynasty (1168), the Shandong East and West Road Army Command Division was established to govern Yidu (today's Qingzhou City, Shandong Province) and govern the Shandong region. At this point, the name "Shandong" officially became the name of an administrative region.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the Shandong East-West Road Suzheng Lianfang Department and the Shandong East-West Road Xuanwei Department were established under the direct control of Zhongshu Province, which were called "Wuli". In the first year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1368), Shandong Xingzhongshu Province was established to govern Qingzhou. Later, it was moved to Jinan and the Shandong Chengxuan Administrative Envoy Department was established. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the administrative region of Shandong was officially named Shandong Province, and it has been used unchanged since then.

(Confucius)

Shandong Province and the land of Qilu actually refer to a region, and this is still the case today, with little change. After the founding of New China, each province required an abbreviation. So why did Shandong use "Lu" instead of "Qi"? There are mainly two reasons.

1. The influence of Confucian culture

It should be said that the Qi State was one of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period. It had a strong national power and a very important position. There were also five hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period. Although the State of Lu is not strong, it has strong cultural soft power. Confucian culture represented by Confucius was born in the State of Lu, and it still affects many people today.

2. The orthodox status of the State of Lu

From the perspective of distance and distance, the State of Lu is a feudal state of the younger brother of King Zhou, and the State of Qi was the earliest feudal state of the founding hero Jiang Ziya, so The state of Lu is closer. Later, Qi State had become Tian Qi, and it became even more alienated from the Zhou Dynasty.

3. Worry about similar pronunciations

During the Republic of China, when setting up telegraphs, each province was required to report its own abbreviation. At that time, the Hebei region belonged to the Zhili Province and had a higher status. It was the first to report the abbreviation of "Hebei". As for Shandong Province, because the pronunciation of "Qi" is similar to "Ji", in order to prevent confusion, Shandong adopted the abbreviation of "Lu". After the founding of New China, this name was also used.