Language is the carrier of a nation’s culture and contains a wealth of cultural information. The origin of a name is the reason why something is named, which is closely related to the cultural concept of people in the time when the word was created. Therefore, it is possible to explore the cultural information behind the words by examining their origins. Qi Min Yao Shu is one of the four major agricultural books of ancient China and is known as the “Encyclopedia of Agriculture in Ancient China”. We selected four typical terms in Qi Min Yao Shu, farming tools, farming actions, farming places, and water conservancy facilities, and conducted an extensive cognate word association of these terms. On this basis, we explore the characteristics of the naming rationale of these farming words and interpret the cultural concepts in them. The study finds that the naming rationale of these words reflects the ancient “agricultural-oriented” thought, which is reflected in both farming practice and emotion. Secondly, the naming rationale of these words also contains the cultural concept of the ancient people’s pursuit of the unity of heaven, earth, things and people, that is, to accurately understand and use the objective laws of heaven, earth and things. Lastly, What is more profound is the philosophical thinking of the ancient people on the relationship between man and nature, which is reflected in the naming rationale of these words, reflecting the ancient people’s feelings of reliance on and reverence for nature, and reflecting the philosophical concept of “the unity of nature and human”.

• 劉偉曼(鄭州大學) | Weiman LIU
• 何余華(鄭州大學漢字文明研究中心) | Yuhua HE