A name of a place, a mountain, or a river is not purely a name. It also embraces cultural stories. The study on cultural meanings of Quang Ninh’s place-names tell us many interesting tales.
There are a lot of communal houses, temples, and shrines at the areas where Quang Ninh’s ethnic people groups are living. In 9 communes alone where Tay and Dao ethnic people populate densely (more than 50% of population), there are 17 communal houses and shrines. Festivals organized there bear specific cultural characteristics but share common features with Kinh people’s festivities concerning New Year’s tree, swinging, arrow shooting…A study on geographical names shows us a strong attachment among ethnic groups and tenacious vitality of Vietnam’s culture.
Hundreds of place-names in Quang Ninh have words associated with specific features of the areas where ethnic people live like “Nà”, “Khau”, and “Voòng”. The place-names with these words just appear at half-mountain and half-plain areas, not at coastal areas. On the contrary, geographical names with words like “áng”, “vụng”, “đượng” just appear at sea and coastal areas, not at mountainous areas. Therefore, toponymy is inherent in native people’s living environment and custom and habits. Quang Ninh is diversified in terrains and ethnic groups’ custom and habits. As a result, the province is rich in place-names.
“Changeable” is another feature of place-names in Quang Ninh. It means they were changed in time. One time of change, a cultural and historical story was written.
Since 15th century, Vietnamese people have named their hamlets, villages, mountains, rivers, streams, and fields with specific meanings like Bình La Hamlet, Ngọc Sơn Hamlet, Tứ Xuyên Hamlet, Hiệp Khẩu Hamlet, Bùi Village, Đồng Ho Hamlet, Đồng Chùa Hamlet…Some unique geographical names can be listed as Làng Dạ Hamlet, Làng Đài Hamlet, Làng Ngang Hamlet, Làng Nhội Hamlet, Làng Mô Hamlet, Làng Mới Hamlet, Làng Han Hamlet, Vân Village, Hà Nam Island Village, Bản Sen Commune…Those place-names are folklore products, worth being proud of, respecting and protecting.
Translated by Quynh Trang
