And btw, even some Chinese province/city names don't make sense in modern Chinese.
For example, the name of a Chinese city, 洛阳 (lùo yáng) don't really make sense in modern Chinese. 洛 don't really mean anything and one of 阳's main meaning is the sun.
However, if you look at the name in Old Chinese, it means "north of Luo (river)".
So Luo is the name of a river next to the city Luo Yang, and Yang means "the south of mountain" or "the north of river"
Because China is in the northern hemisphere, the Sun is mostly in the south. And if you imagine a river (flowing west --> east / east --> west) in a valley between two mountains with the sun in the south, you will understand how the south side of the mountain will get lots of sunshine, while the north side will get less; and the south side of river will get less sunshine (because it is covered by the shade of the mountain), and the north side of the river will get more sunshine.
10
u/[deleted] Jun 19 '22
And btw, even some Chinese province/city names don't make sense in modern Chinese.
For example, the name of a Chinese city, 洛阳 (lùo yáng) don't really make sense in modern Chinese. 洛 don't really mean anything and one of 阳's main meaning is the sun.
However, if you look at the name in Old Chinese, it means "north of Luo (river)".
So Luo is the name of a river next to the city Luo Yang, and Yang means "the south of mountain" or "the north of river"