Ashi River

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Ashi River
Chinese 阿什
Gold River
Chinese 按出虎

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.

Contents

Name

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

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

Notes

  1. Preserved in Chinese transcription as , [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]

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Coordinates: 45°49′29″N126°42′43″E / 45.8246°N 126.7119°E / 45.8246; 126.7119