Ashi River

River in Heilongjiang, China

Ashi River

Chinese| 阿什河
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Āshí Hé
Wade–Giles| A-shih Ho
Gold River
Chinese| 按出虎
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Ànchūhǔ
Wade–Giles| An-ch'u-hu

The Ashi River is a right tributary of the Songhua in eastern Manchuria,[1] in Harbin's Acheng District in the People's Republic of China.

## Name

[edit]

The river has borne the name "Ashi" since the Qing (17th–20th century).[1] Before that, it was known as the Anchuhu (Middle Chinese: ʔan-tsyhwit-xu), a medieval Chinese transcription of its original Jurchen name Anchun, Ancun, or Alcun,[n 1] meaning 'gold' or 'golden', presumably from placer deposits along its banks.[1]

## History

[edit]

From the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD, the river formed part of the Korean kingdom of Buyeo.

The river was the home to Huining (now Acheng), the original settlement of the Wanyan clan of the Jurchens. When their chief Aguda declared himself the successor of the Liao c. 1115, he adopted the dynastic name Jin as a Chinese translation of the river's name.[1][n 2] Huining—as Shangjing (the "Upper Capital")—served as the Jin capital until 1234 and later served as a subsidiary capital after 1173.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* Rivers of China

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Preserved in Chinese transcription as 按春,[1] now pronounced ànchūn but ʔan-tsyhwin in Middle Chinese.
2. ^ A passage in the official History of Jin gives a garbled Chinese misunderstanding of the reasons for the adoption of the name. Cf. Chan.[2]

## References

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Chan (2006), p. 59.
2. ^ Chan (2006), p. 56–8.
3. ^ EB.

### Bibliography

[edit]

* "A-ch'eng", Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th ed., Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010, ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
* Chan Hok-lam (2006), "What 'Manju' Was in the Beginning and When It Grew into a Place-name", Tumen Jalafun Jecen Akū: Manchu Studies in Honour of Giovanni Stary, Tunguso Sibirica, No. 20, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz GmbH, pp. 55–72, ISBN 9783447053785.

45°49′29″N 126°42′43″E﻿ / ﻿45.8246°N 126.7119°E﻿ / 45.8246; 126.7119

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