“八闽”源流考

A Study on the Origin and Development of Ba Min

"八闽"是福建的一个别称,在当代广为流传,无论报刊、杂志、各类著作或是广告宣传中以及互联网上,随处可见。特别是在福建,"八闽"一词几乎妇孺皆知。然而,关于"八闽"的源起及其逐渐取代其他别称的过程,学界迄今甚少认真探讨。本文或可看作是就此问题进行认真学术探索的首次尝试。一般而言,社会上相关议论大体可分为三类:其一,"八闽"一词的应用始于唐陈元光;其二,该词应用始于宋代官僚;其三,其应用始于元末民间人士吴海。这三种说法均有明显的可商榷之处。以笔者所见典籍而言,"八闽"一词的出现应是在元初,日益流行则在有明一代,居于统治地位当是中华人民共和国成立后的事。

＂Ba Min＂ is now widely known and used as an alternative name of Fujian province. However, few studied its origin and development. This article might be the first attempt to explore that. Generally speaking, there are mainly three opinions about its origin： firstly, it was first used by Chen Yuanguang in the Tang Dynasty; sec- ondly, by officials of the Song Dynasty; thirdly, by someone called Wu Hal in the late Yuan Dynasty. According to historical records, the author believes the name of ＂Ba Min＂ appeared in the early Yuan Dynasty, became popular in the Ming Dynasty, and it was officially adopted after the founding of the People＇s Republic of China.