Shandong - Name

Name

Individually, the two Chinese characters in the name "Shandong" mean "mountain" (山) and "east" (东). Shandong could hence be translated literally as "east of the mountains" and refers to the province's location to the east of the Taihang Mountains. A common nickname for Shandong is Qílǔ (simplified Chinese: 齐鲁; traditional Chinese: 齊魯), after the States of Qi and Lu that existed in the area during the Spring and Autumn Period. Whereas the State of Qi was a major power of its era, the State of Lu played only a minor role in the politics of its time. Lu, however, became renowned for being the home of Confucius and hence its cultural influence came to eclipse that of the State of Qi. The cultural dominance of the State of Lu heritage is reflected in the official abbreviation for Shandong which is "鲁" (Chinese: 魯; pinyin: Lǔ).