从地名演变看中国南海疆域的形成历史

A Review on the Formation History of the Territory of the South China Sea by Analyzing the Evolvement of Toponyms

本文通过对南海诸岛古今地名变化的梳理,认为,对于中国大陆而言,中国南海从模糊的区域概念到明确的地理界线,恰恰反映了中国南海疆域形成的历史过程。从古代历史上的"有疆无界"到以"U"形断续线为标志的南海疆域的底定,经过了漫长的历史发展过程。在这一过程中,中国人不仅发现、命名并长期开发经营了南海诸岛,而且历代中国政府行使了连续不断的管辖权,从而确立了中国在南海诸岛及其附近海域的主权地位。

The evolvement of toponyms of the South Sea Islands in ancient and modern times is collected in this article and the author calculates that the confirmation of the South China Sea territory experienced a lengthy historical process from unbounded to the territory marked by u-shaped line('U'形线). In this process, Chinese people have found, named and managed the South Sea Islands for a long time, and the successive Chinese governments exercised the jurisdiction to establish the sovereign status.