From Folk Memory to National Symbol: The Identity Construction of Hainan Fishermen's Vernacular Names in the Genglubu for the South China Sea Islands
Received date: 2025-08-23
Revised date: 2025-10-14
Online published: 2025-12-25
Genglubu is a nautical manual passed down through generations among Hainan fishermen that contains a large number of Hainan fishermen's vernacular names for the South China Sea Islands. This paper combs through the origin and development of these local names, and then cross-verifies them with relevant records in documents such as the 16th-century Portuguese transliterated names and Britain's The China Sea Directory (1868). This process rules out the possibility that other forces held early naming rights to the South China Sea Islands. However, in the contemporary context, digital technologies such as satellite coordinates have gradually obscured the fishing season patterns and oral history behind these local names. Meanwhile, Western media have simultaneously implemented a "de-historicization" strategy by systematically using Vietnamese and Philippine-designated names, attempting to deconstruct China's sovereignty narrative over the South China Sea. As geographical names serve as important symbols of national sovereignty, the historical value and practical significance of these local names urgently require in-depth exploration. This study adopts various methods, including field surveys, literature reviews, and toponymic textual research. By systematically investigating the trajectory of the identity construction of Hainan fishermen's vernacular names for the South China Sea Islands in Genglubu—from a carrier of folk memory to a symbol of national sovereignty— this study explores their value in contemporary South China Sea governance and sovereignty protection. Hainan fishermen's vernacular names for the South China Sea Islands in Genglubu were guided by three core naming principles: functionality, oral inheritance, and cultural metaphors. These names embody the Hainan fishermen's maritime survival wisdom and collective identity of "maritime homeland", and also serve as living historical evidence of Hainan fishermen's early development of the South China Sea. With the deepening of national border governance, local names have gradually transformed from folk experiences into symbolic tools of territorial governance. The historical rights embedded in them through judicial transformation and international communication have become key evidence for China to safeguard its sovereignty over the South China Sea. The evolution of Hainan fishermen's vernacular names for the South China Sea Islands, from a carrier of folk memory to a symbol of national sovereignty, demonstrates the vitality of local knowledge and provides a "memory-identity-sovereignty" practical paradigm for contemporary maritime governance. Today, the contemporary value embodied in the Hainan fishermen's vernacular names for the South China Sea Islands in Genglubu is unfolding before us with unprecedented urgency and richness. From the perspective of sovereignty protection, their transformation from "historical evidence" to "the core of legal narrative" represents the practical implementation of the "memory-identity-sovereignty" interactive logic in international games. From the dimension of building a maritime power, the "maritime homeland" identity contained in these names serves as a core carrier of the "memory-identity-sovereignty" logic in fostering public maritime awareness. From the perspective of border governance and cultural confidence, these Hainan fishermen's vernacular names stand as a typical practice of the "memory-identity-sovereignty" logic in maritime border governance.
Guofang Zhu . From Folk Memory to National Symbol: The Identity Construction of Hainan Fishermen's Vernacular Names in the Genglubu for the South China Sea Islands[J]. Tropical Geography, 2025 , 45(12) : 2145 -2155 . DOI: 10.13284/j.cnki.rddl.20250559
表1 中国政府对南海诸岛的6次命名 (个)Table 1 The six naming events of the South China Sea Islands by the Chinese government |
| 序 号 | 公布时间 | 公布单位 | 南海诸岛地名数量 | 海底地理实体 | 琼人俗名数量 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1909 | 清政府 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1935 | 水陆地图审查委员会 | 135 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 1947 | 中国内政部方域司 | 172 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 1983 | 中国地名委员会 | 287 | 0 | 128 |
| 5 | 2020 | 自然资源部、民政部 | 25 | 55 | 9 |
| 6 | 2024 | 自然资源部、民政部 | 64 | 0 | 9 |
1 刘南威在2005年6月发表在《热带地理》的《现行南海诸岛地名中的渔民习用地名》中给出说明:中业群礁西环礁北面有3个珊瑚礁成串,位居海面附近,时隐时现,远望如水中铁链,渔民称之为“铁链”。
2 即琼人俗名,其标准地名为牛轭礁。
3 括号内为南海诸岛标准名称。
4 八辛郎为琼人俗名,其标准地名为湛涵滩。
5 刘南威曾指出,该地名因渔民曾在此捡到520块银锭而得。
6 鸟仔峙为琼人俗名,在1983年中国地名委员会受权公布的南海诸岛部分标准地名中,将其命名为“南威岛”。
7 因环礁有6个缺口而得名。
本文的成稿特别感谢导师次仁片多教授的鼓励与教导,衷心感谢西藏大学王正宇教授的指点与帮助,诚挚感谢编辑老师和评审专家对本文提出了极具建设性的修改意见,使本文获益匪浅。
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