Thursday 12 April 2012

YUE beyond the south

YUE - BEYOND THE SOUTH




History and language are linked and the word and name Yue proves this.

Yue as a word and character is a verb.
As a name it describes an ancient nation in what is now southern China.
The original Yue people seem to have been non Sinitic probably speaking an Austroasiatic language related to Vietnamese though the name is now used to describe a grouping of dialects that includes Cantonese.

The Yue realm was once in eastern Zhejiang south of WU then came to cover the areas that are now Guangdong and Guangxi before becoming assimilated fully into the Chinese or Sinitic culture.

Beyond is perhaps not the best translation of Yue but conisder the name of of modern Vietnam. YueNan.

I suspect Beyond the South reflects the  ancient view of Yue  and Vietnam. 

The lands that were beyond the borders of southern China.

There was a time when the Huai and then the Yangtze river was the southern border.

Yes that was thousands of years ago and its China or in the case of Vietnam Sinicized now.

Borders change though. Who knows what the few thousand years will bring to the lands beyond the south?


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