西汉“合肥”非“都会”“输会”辨析

Misinterpretation of Hefei as a Metropolis or a Transportation Hub in the Western Han Dynasty

《史记·货殖列传》云“而合肥受南北潮,皮革、鲍、木输会也”,这是“合肥”一词首次见于史籍。后世学者认为此处“合肥”就是合肥县,并据此认为西汉合肥县是“输会”“都会”。这是误读。比较《史记》《汉书·地理志》记载的其他都会城市可知,马、班并不将合肥视作都会。西汉时期,合肥所在的“楚越之地”,“地广人稀,饭稻羹鱼,或火耕而水耨”,“无积聚而多贫”,“亦无千金之家”。其时九江郡共15县,户15万、口78万,合肥的户数不会超过1万、口不会超过5万。合肥位处江淮分水岭以南,西和北为丘陵岗地,北去淮河不通水路,交通运输条件不好。从生产力水平、交通、物产等方面分析,可知合肥亦非输会。《货殖列传》所云“合肥”,当指寿春附近有肥水与淮水相合,寿春才是输会。

The word "Hefei"(合肥) was first seen in Biography of Merchants in Historical Records (《史记·货殖列传》). Later scholars thought that the "Hefei" mentioned was Hefei County and Hefei County in the Western Han Dynasty was thus "a metropolis" and "a transportation hub". This is a misinterpretation. In comparison with other metropolis recorded in Historical Records and History of Geography of The Book of Han (《汉书·地理志》), Sima Qian(司马迁) and Ban Gu(班固) do not regard Hefei as a metropolis. During the Western Han Dynasty, Hefei belongs to “Chu(楚) and Yue(越) Area”, which is “vast and sparsely populated, with rice paddies and fish ponds for agriculture and aquaculture”,“largely poverty-stricken without accumulation of wealth” and “no place for the affluent”. At that time, Jiujiang(九江) province had 15 counties, 150,000 households and 780,000 people. The number of households in Hefei did not exceed 10,000 and the population did not exceed 50,000. Hefei is located in the south of the Jianghuai(江淮) watershed. The west and the north are all hills. Hefei is not connected with the Huaihe(淮河) River in the north, with few transportation routes. From the aspects of productivity, transportation and products, Hefei is not a transportation hub.“Hefei” mentioned in Biography of Merchants is in the vicinity of Shouchun(寿春), where Fei River(肥水) and Huaihe River converges.