“沙县”县名始置年份考

An Examination of the Year of Initial Establishment of“Sha County”as the County Name

沙县作为千年古县,始置年份目前存在若干不同说法。因无严肃的考证支撑,没有定论,至于“沙县”一名到底使用了多少年,也无从确定。因此,系统梳理历史资料,严密考证沙县的始置年份,既有必要性,也具有现实意义。“隋开皇元年改沙县”是目前较普遍的说法,2005年出版的《中国古今地名大词典》应是最早提出这一说法的书籍,而经笔者考证,这一说法缺乏史料依据。笔者认为,“沙县”应始置于唐武德四年(621),至今业已存在了1400年,因此入列“千年古县”名副其实。

There are currently several different theories concerning theyear of initial establishment ofSha County as an ancient county with a history of more than one thousand years Yet no definitive conclusion has been drawn due to lack of firm academic proofs Therefore itis both necessary and practically significant to thoroughly go through historical references and rigorously examine the year of initial establishment of Sha County.“Itwas changed into Sha County in the first year of the Kaihuang period(581-600)of Sui Dynasty”isa most popular theory,first raised in The Great Dictionary of Chinese Ancient and Contemporary Place Names published in 2005.Yet the current examination proves that this theory is lacking in proofs of historical references This paper takes the view that Sha County was first established as a county in the fourth year of Wude(618-626)of Tang Dynasty,lasting some 1400 years todate,and there for eisvery much worthy of theg lory of“a one-thousand-year-old ancient county”.