Jinan
Names

The modern-day name Jinan literally means "south of the Ji" and refers to the old Ji River (濟水) that had flowed to the north of the city until the middle of the 19th century. The Ji River disappeared in 1852 when the Yellow River changed its course northwards and took over its bed. The current pronunciation of the character "Ji" with the third tone (jǐ) was established in the late 1970s. Prior to this, it was pronounced with the fourth tone (jì). Older western texts spell the name as "Tsinan" (Wade-Giles romanization) or "Chi-nan".

During the times of the Zhou dynasty (1045 BC to 256 BC), the city of Lixia (simplified Chinese: 历 下; traditional Chinese: 歷 下; pinyin: Lìxià) was the major settlement in the area. The name "Lixia" refers to the location of Jinan at the foot of Mount Li, which lies to the south of the city. Today, Lixia is the name of one of the city's districts.

The Battle of An, which was fought in the area during the Spring and Autumn period (in 589 BCE) between the states of Qi and Jin, is named for the ancient city of An (Chinese: 鞍; pinyin: Ān) which stood within the city limits of present-day Jinan. Marco Polo gives a brief description of Jinan under the name "Chingli" or "Chinangli". 19th and early 20th century texts frequently give the name of the city as "Tsinan Fu" where the additional "Fu" (Chinese: 府) comes from the dated Chinese term for a provincial capital (Chinese: 省 府).

Jinan is also referred to by the nickname "City of Springs" (Chinese: 泉 城), because of the many artesian springs in the urban city centre and its surroundings.
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