“嶺南”、“五嶺”考

A Study on the Words Origin of Wuling and Lingnan

"嶺南"和"五嶺"是兩個常見的專有名稱,但從歷史上看,這兩個詞並不是從一開始就指代現在的南嶺及以南地區。最早在《史記》中出現的"領南"並不是指現在的嶺南,而且嶺南一詞也有一個從泛指到特指逐漸演變的過程,直到唐代天寶年間將福建劃歸江南東道後,"嶺南"一詞纔最終被固定下來,成爲南嶺以南地區的代稱。而"五嶺"與"嶺南"有相似的發展過程,秦漢時期是指秦軍通往東南百越的五處駐軍要道,到晉代則逐漸局限於南嶺地區。

"Wuling" (五嶺)and "Lingnan" (嶺南)are two common proper nouns. But historically,these two words from the outset did not specifically refer to the Five Ridges and the South of the Five Ridges,the area on the south of Nanling(南嶺)now. The word "Lingnan" (領南)that earliest emerged in Shiji(《史記》)did not mean the South of the Five Ridges nowadays,either. The word "Lingnan" (嶺南)was not finally fixed to refer to the area on the south of Nanling(南嶺)until Fujian region was incorporated into East of the South of Yangtze River Dao during the Tianbao years of Tang Dynasty. The word "Wuling" (五嶺)has a similar process of development. It formerly referred to the five arteries leading to Baiyue(百越)region in Southeast China where troops garrisoned in the Qin and Han periods,and then was gradually limited to Nanling(南嶺)region in the Jin Dynasty.