The latest issue of the Sino-Platonic Papers explores the theme of toponyms in China. James M. Hargett’s paper “Anchors of Stability: Place-Names in Early China” explores place names and naming during the earliest phases in the history of China.
The abstract reads:
“The use of place-names in China predates its written history, which extends back at least 3,500 years. While the basic principles of toponym formation in ancient China are similar to those in other cultures around the world, early in its history a process took place that led to a standardization of the practices by which place-names were formulated. The central argument in this essay is that the essential features of place-name nomenclature in China were already in place before the Qin unification in 221 BCE.”
The journal is open-access and available online here:
http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp312_chinese_place_names.pdf