Shanxi

See also:Shānxi,Shānxī,andShaanxi

English

Etymology 1

From theHanyu Pinyinromanization ofMandarinSơn Tây(Shānxī,“[Land]Westof the [Taihang]Mountains”),in reference to the location of the province's central Fen River valley.

Alternative forms

• Shānxi(also fromHanyu Pinyin)
• Shan-hsi(Wade–Giles)
• Shansi(Postal Romanization)
• Xansi(obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈʃɑnˈʃi/

Proper noun

Shanxi

1. Aprovincein the northern part ofChina.Capital:Taiyuan.
   • [1738,A Description of the Empire of China and Chinese-Tartary, Together with the Kingdoms of Korea, and Tibet‎^[2],volume I, London, translation of original byJ. B. Du Halde,→OCLC,page172:

     Shi-whang-tihaving obſerv’d in viſiting his Empire that the Northern Provinces, eſpeciallyPe-che-li,Shan-ſi,andShen-ſi,were much expoſed to the ſudden Incurſions of the Tartars; he fent a formidable Army, which having driven them back a great way beyond the Frontiers of the Empire, he immediately put in Execution the Scheme he had form'd to ſecure his Country againſt ſuch dangerous Neighbours, by building a Wall from the Sea to the Extremities of the Province ofShen-ſi.]

   • 1975,Janet Goldwasser, Stuart Dowty, “Agriculture: The Foundation”, inHuan-Ying: Worker's China‎^[3],Monthly Review Press,→ISBN,→LCCN,→OCLC,page101:

     The Tachai Production Brigade is part of the Tachai Commune in Xiyang County,ShanxiProvince, in Northern China. It’s tucked away in the Taihang Mountains, a bit over two hundred miles southwest of Peking, in an area with poor soil, serious erosion, and rock-strewn, mountainous terrain.

   • 2008April 21, Eric Ng, “China Leason budgets 200m yuan to expand gas liquefaction”, inSouth China Morning Post‎^[4],→ISSN,→OCLC,archived fromthe originalon19 August 2023‎^[5]:

     First-phase liquefaction and storage facilities are in Qinshui county,Shanxiprovince while the second phase is in nearby Yangcheng county.Shanxiis the nation's largest coal-producing region accounting for about 25 per cent of the nation's output.

   • 2017October 21, Chris Buckley, “In China’s Coal Capital, Xi Jinping’s Dream Remains Elusive”, inThe New York Times‎^[6],→ISSN,→OCLC,archived fromthe originalon21 October 2017,Asia Pacific‎^[7]:

     Mr. Xi began proclaiming his dream since taking power five years ago, though he focused much of his early efforts on battling corruption. InShanxi,the province that includes Datong, investigators have arrested so many corrupt cadres that the national government has declared the region to be in a state of “implosive corruption.”

   • 2023November 16, “China: Fire at coal mine company kills dozens”, inDeutsche Welle‎^[8],archived fromthe originalon16 November 2023,China:

     A fire at a coal company's office in China's northernShanxiprovince on Thursday killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more, according to Chinese state media.
     Shanxiis a major coal-producing hub in China.

   • For more quotations using this term, seeCitations:Shanxi.

Translations

province of China

• Arabic:شَانْشِيm(šānšī)
• Armenian:Շանսի(Šansi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Sơn Tây(saan¹sai¹)

  Mandarin:Sơn Tây(zh)(Shānxī)

• Czech:Šan-si
• Georgian:შანსი(ka)(šansi)
• Greek:Σανσί(Sansí)
• Hungarian:Sanhszi(hu)
• Japanese:Sơn Tây(さんせい, Sansei)
• Korean:산시(Sansi),산서(sanseo)
• Latvian:Šaņsji
• Lithuanian:Šansi
• Macedonian:Шансји(Šansji)
• Manchu:ᠰᠠᠨᠰᡳ(sansi),ᠰᠠᠨ
  ᠰᡳ(san si)
• Marathi:शान्शी(śānśī)
• Mongolian:

  Mongolian script:ᠱᠠᠨ
  ᠰᠢ(šan si)

  Cyrillic:Шаньси(Šanʹsi)

• Russian:Шаньси́f(Šanʹsí)
• Vietnamese:Sơn Tây
• Zhuang:Sanhsih

See also

• Not to be confused withShaanxi.

Further reading

• Saul B. Cohen,editor (1998), “Shanxi”, inThe Columbia Gazetteer of the World‎^[9],volume 3, New York:Columbia University Press,→ISBN,→LCCN,→OCLC,page2886,column 1:“Sometimes spelled as Shansi.”
• “Shanxi”,inCollins English Dictionary.
• Shanxi, Shansi, Shan-hsi, Xansiat theGoogle Books Ngram Viewer.
• “Shanxi,pn.”,inLexico,Dictionary;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
• “Shanxi”,inOneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Shanxi”,inMerriam-Webster Online Dictionary,Springfield, Mass.:Merriam-Webster,1996–present.
• “Shanxi”inTheFreeDictionary,Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.

Etymology 2

From theHanyu Pinyinromanization ofMandarinThiểm Tây／Thiểm Tây(Shǎnxī).

Proper noun

Shanxi

1. (proscribed)Alternative form ofShaanxi.
   • 1975,Janet Goldwasser, Stuart Dowty, “Principles of Chinese Socialism”, inHuan-Ying: Worker's China‎^[10],Monthly Review Press,→ISBN,→LCCN,→OCLC,page298:

     The "Yenan Period," 1935-1947, was the decisive decade of the Chinese Revolution.*[…]
     Liu Bao-zhei had helped create the Yenan spirit; he had joined the Eighth Route Army in 1937, leaving his home in Henan Province to fight the Japanese in the North. We met Liu on a state farm nestled in the Nanniwan Valley, near Yenan. His face, rough and creased, reflected many years of labor in the harsh climate of northernShanxiProvince. Liu wore a towel tied about his head in the traditional peasant fashion of the area.

     * During this period the headquarters of the Communist Party and the revolutionary government were in Yenan, in northernShanxiProvince.

   • 1997,Donald J. Marion,The Chinese Filmography: The 2444 Feature Films Produced by Studios in the People's Republic of China from 1949 through 1995‎^[11],McFarland & Company,→ISBN,→LCCN,→OCLC,→OL,page212:

     After the Red Army sets up headquarters at Yanan in northShanxiprovince, he accepts a frontline post in repelling the Japanese invasion, and becomes commander of the New Fourth Army.

   • 2000December 6,Mark Landler,“Could Terra-Cotta Warriors Be a Trojan Horse?”, inThe New York Times‎^[12],→ISSN,→OCLC,archived fromthe originalon19 March 2023,World, page 2‎^[13]:

     A fervent believer in an afterlife, Qin Shihuang ordered his tomb to be guarded by 8,000 terra-cotta statues. This grandiose resting place was accidentally disinterred in 1976 by farmers digging a well in the ancient capital, Xian, during a drought.
     Dr. Huang broached the idea of a terra-cotta exhibit on a trip toShanxiProvince, where Xian is located, three years ago.

   • 2002,“Cleaning the Yellow River”, inTu nguyệt trinh[Xiu Yuezhen], editor,Du lịch tiếng Anh giáo trình[Lü you ying yu jiao cheng]‎^[14],Beijing:Renmin University of China,→ISBN,→OCLC,pages256–257:

     Owing to soil erosion, some farmland has become totally barren. In Chenjiagedu Village, Fugu county,ShanxiProvince, since all farmland was lost, the local people were obliged to travel several kilometers for fertile soil.

   • 2003,Guangqiu Xu,Imperial China, 617-1644(World Eras)‎^[15],volume 7,→ISBN,→LCCN,→OCLC,→OL,page98:

     634·The Palace of Great Clarity, an imperial resort including residential and official buildings, is constructed northwest of Chang’an inShanxiProvince.
     636·The Zhaoling (Clarity Tomb) of Emperor Taizong is built in Liquan County,ShanxiProvince. The tomb includes the well-known stone sculptureSix Horses of the Clarity Tomb.

   • 2005,Fiona Fordyce, “Selenium Deficiency and Toxicity in the Environment”, inEssentials of Medical Geology: Impacts of the Natural Environment on Public Health‎^[16],→ISBN,→OCLC,→OL,page400:

     In China, an outbreak of endemic human selenosis was reported in Enshi District, Hubei Province, and in Ziyang County,ShanxiProvince, during the 1960s.

   • 2008,James MacManus,Ocean Devil‎^[17],Harper Perennial,→ISBN,→OCLC,→OL,page148:

     Production around the town of Ankang, a hundred miles south of Xian inShanxiprovince, dropped by 25 per cent.

   • For more quotations using this term, seeCitations:Shanxi.

Usage notes

Because ofhomographywithShanxi(Sơn Tây(Shānxī), another province of China, this spelling is proscribed.
The official English language names for the two provinces are:
(1) Shanxi Province (Sơn Tây(Shānxī)) with only one 'a' (capital:Taiyuan) and
(2)ShaanxiProvince (Thiểm Tây／Thiểm Tây(Shǎnxī)) with two a's (capital:Xi'an).
The Chinese characters used in the names of the two provinces are different (the characterSơn(shān) in Shanxi versus the characterThiểm／Thiểm(shǎn) in Shaanxi). The names of the two provinces are similarly (but not identically) pronounced.