Jinggang Mountains
/tɕiŋ˥˥ kaŋ˥˥ ʂan˥˥/noun
A mountainous region in Jiangxi and Hunan provinces of China, historically important as an early revolutionary base.
Did you know?Jinggangshan became Mao Zedong’s first major rural revolutionary base in 1927 and is officially celebrated in China as the “cradle of the Chinese revolution.”
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Chinese
Old Chinese
井
“A well or water shaft”
Ancient Chinese
Old Chinese
岡
“A ridge, hill, or elevated strip of land”
Traditional Chinese usage
Chinese
井岡
“Jinggang, a local place-name written with the characters “well” and “ridge””
Modern Chinese
Mandarin
井冈山 (Jǐnggāngshān)
“Jinggang Mountain; literally “Well-Ridge Mountain””
20th Century
English
Jinggang Mountains
“The established English rendering of the Chinese place-name, using transliteration plus the translated geographic term”
Modern English
English
Jinggang Mountains
“A mountain region associated with the early development of the Chinese Communist revolutionary movement”
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