Jia Village on the Plateau, Zitou Village

By Yang Guanghu

Canadian Shaanxi Association

January 16, 2026

In my youth, I was neither wise nor had the time to ponder such matters. Place names were simply memorized, rarely questioned for their origins. In recent years, as I've grown older, thoughts of tracing my roots and exploring my heritage have gradually emerged. “Who are you? Where do you come from? Where are you going?” These are the three ultimate questions of philosophy. Reflections on the origin and destiny of life have always lingered throughout human civilization, and we ordinary people are no exception. At the most fundamental level, I simply wish to know where I come from. That's how I see it. Unfortunately, this answer, like stars in the night sky, though illuminating the earth, remains ever shifting and elusive.

Born in Zhitou Village, Qiaozhen Town, Jiacun Plateau, Chencang District, Baoji City. Please allow me this persistence and stubbornness—I have always maintained that Jiacun Plateau is Jiacun Plateau, not Panlong Plateau (which is merely a southeastern part of Jiacun Plateau); Qiaozhen is Qiaozhen. Though now merged with Jiacun under the unified name Jiacun Town, this does not negate its historical identity and original toponym; Zhitou Village is Zhitou Village. It should not be casually replaced with Jitou Village merely for the sake of simplified Chinese characters. Fortunately, this village survived the wave of reforms and was not absorbed into oblivion.

Countless villages and towns nationwide bear names like “Zuitou” or “Juitou,” and place names containing ‘Zui’ are too numerous to count. Most likely, these names originated from the local topography. I believe our “Zuitou Village” also traces its roots to this. From my earliest memories, though few villagers were literate, they upheld the family tradition of “farming and reading.” Beyond tilling the land, they valued education. When writing the village name, the elders would invariably pen: “Zuitou Village.”

Zuitou Village sits at the very edge of the northwest corner of Jiacun Plateau. Locals call it the “most outermost point” of the plateau. Surrounded by mountain valleys on the north, south, and east, it connects only to the plateau via a narrow path, bordering Qiaozhen Village and Dongpo Village. Its terrain forms a classic ‘mouth’ shape—I wouldn't dare call it a “dragon's mouth,” but viewed from afar or looked up at from below, it resembles one perfectly. I sometimes marvel at the greatness of ancient people. Without advanced scientific tools like helicopters, drones, or satellite positioning, how did they rely solely on mysterious geomancy knowledge and surveying experience to identify “feng shui treasure lands”? The village name “Zhoutou Village” likely originates from this.

Jiacun Plateau faces Fengxiang's Chen Village across a former dense forest. This ancient Silk Road branch route saw bustling traffic during the Han and Tang dynasties, became a battlefield in the Song-Jin wars, and flourished in the late Ming and early Qing periods. Also known as “Dachong Ridge” (Great Tiger Ridge), “Da Chong” means tiger. Viewed from above, it lies sprawled across the loess plateau. Looking up from Didian, it truly resembles a tiger, making “Da Chong Ridge” or “Tiger Ridge” perfectly fitting names. Later, likely after the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was also called “Panlong Ridge” (Coiled Dragon Ridge), with villages like Linglong (Spirit Dragon) and Longwei (Dragon Tail) adding auspicious meanings—a positive development. It is also called “Xiping Ridge,” returning to its geographical essence. The various names stem from diverse reasons; regardless of what it's called, Jiacun Ridge remains Jiacun Ridge.

The ancient character for “mouth”  was “觜,” later splitting into “嘴” specifically denoting the mouth of humans, animals, or objects. The character “咀” predates “嘴,” pronounced jǔ, signifying the act of chewing slowly in the mouth and savoring carefully, as in “咀嚼” (chew) or “含英咀华” (savoring the essence). Later, however, informal vernacular characters emerged in folk usage. Such characters typically originate through borrowing or neologism, with ‘咀’ replacing “嘴” being an example of borrowing. Although used in some folk contexts thereafter, traditional dictionaries like Shuowen Jiezi, Zhonghua Dazidian, and Ciyuan listed “咀” solely with the pronunciation “jǔ,” lacking any ‘mouth’ meaning or the “zuǐ” pronunciation. It wasn't until the later simplification of Chinese characters that “咀” was adopted as a simplified form of “嘴,” leading to its widespread adoption—a trend that has since become unstoppable. Because “咀” has fewer strokes than “嘴” and is simpler to write, some people continue to use it to this day. However, one crucial point must be emphasized: when ‘咀’ is used in place of “嘴,” it must never be pronounced or annotated as “jǔ.” This is not ignorance; it is a desecration of place names. I believe we must respect history, respect geography, and respect the will of the people.

The renaming of “石咀山” back to “石嘴山” and ‘嘴头村’ to “咀头村” is something I cannot comprehend.

“嘴” originally referred to the feathered protrusions on the heads of owls and other birds. Its meaning later expanded to denote the oral cavity of humans or animals, or the protruding part of an object, as in “山嘴” (mountain peak). In dialects, it also signifies a place or village surrounded by ditches on three sides. “Chui” originally means to savor or chew thoroughly, as in the word “chew,” emphasizing this meaning. In dialects, it also denotes a place or village surrounded by ditches on three sides, as seen in “Tsim Sha Tsui” and “Shijiushan.” From the perspective of ancient Chinese character creation history and methods, ‘pictographic’ is the most important type, with “chui” being an example.

For newly named places, the character “嘴” is typically prioritized. However, historical place names generally adhere to the principle of “names follow their owners and established conventions,” retaining their original spellings.

Place names are not only fundamental public information but also vital carriers of profound cultural significance.

In practical usage, both “咀” and “嘴” are correct in specific place names. The key lies in adhering to historical continuity and widely recognized naming conventions. Gradual standardization is essential to enhance the accuracy and normativity of written usage, thereby better preserving and protecting place name culture.

I believe the village name “嘴头” is more accurate. Place names originate from topography, geographical location, historical culture, significant events, auspicious meanings, and other factors.

In the early 1980s during the initial phase of China's reform and opening, the village had over a thousand residents. The village committee (production brigade) administered nine production teams (village groups, hereafter referred to as “teams”). Among these, the Yang family was primarily concentrated in Teams 1, 2, 3, and 5; the Cao family mainly resided in Team 4; the Wei family was predominantly found in Team 6; the Gan family was centered in Teams 7 and 8; and the Hao family was mainly located in Team 9. I went back to visit, and now the village has essentially become a ghost town. A pound of wheat sells for less than a bottle of mineral water, so everyone has gone to the city to work and seek their fortune. Each brigade now has only seven or eight elderly households remaining. Brigades 4 and 5, situated at the bottom of the valley, lie in ruins with crumbling walls and abandoned fields, virtually deserted as residents relocated to other villages or cities. Brigades 7 and 8 moved from the valley and hillsides to the plateau, while other brigades also relocated an masse, clustering near the highway for better transportation and daily conveniences.

Food security? Where to even begin?

Team Three is the mouth, Team Two the tongue, Teams Four and Five the lips (Team Four also built Xintan Temple near a spring). Teams One and Six are the gullet, while Teams Seven, Eight, and Nine form the throat. Such is this peculiar terrain and topography.

The village committee is in our Second Team. In the past, the village operated the Qinbao Winery, a flour mill, and an electric grinder. It collectively funded the village elementary school, built a grand opera stage, and established a supply and marketing cooperative, a health clinic, and more. Today, the elementary school stands vacant after consolidation, the grand stage has been demolished, and the village committee now operates from the school premises. The courtyard is spacious yet sparsely populated. The “Village Day Care Center” at the entrance sees few visitors, while the “Three Officials Temple” diagonally across the street remains shuttered. I recall it once being a seven- or eight-meter-high earthen platform topped with a temple housing divine statue. Every year, shadow plays were performed here before it was leveled to the ground at some unknown point in time.

This place was once the bustling heart of the village—its political, economic, and cultural center. Grand assemblies, elections, theatrical performances, policy announcements, idle chatter, sunbathing, pipe smoking, and card games all gathered here.

It was the heart of the village, the place where life blossomed.

Sadly, it's now almost deserted. On the plateau, I imagine people used to live near the edges for easier travel and access to water. Since the plateau is arid, getting water was tough in the days before modern technology. Even after liberation, wells had to be dug a hundred or two meters deep. I recall carrying water from the bottom of Yuzigou. Each uphill trip took over half an hour. Spilling water was a minor setback, but tumbling down the ravine with bucket and pole was a major disaster. The Qin people expanded eastward from Gansu, following water sources like the Qian River and Wei River. It's also possible that the plateau's flat terrain made it difficult to evade warfare and banditry, forcing them to carve caves for shelter along its edges. These resembled the cave dwellings of northern Shaanxi, with intricate, winding paths that offered vantage points for surveillance and swift retreat. Later, during times of peace and prosperity, they gradually migrated to live in communities at the plateau's center.

In Zitou Village, the “Yang” surname is quite common. The character “Yang” in the Yang clan originally derived from “Yang” (阳), “Yang” (扬), and later evolved into “Yang” (杨). In ancient times, the characters “Yang” (阳), “Yang” (扬), ‘Yang’ (羊), and “Yang” (羊) were interchangeable. The Yang people descended from the Jiangrong tribe, descendants of the Yan Emperor. They first settled by the Yang River in the Yangyu Mountains. The Yang River, also known as the Yangshui or Yangshui, flows through present-day Shibao Town in Huanglong County, Shaanxi (ancient Shibao Valley), emptying southwest into the Beiluo River. Originally called the Yang people, they were a tribe that worshipped the sun, hence the name “Yang” for the Yangyu Mountains, meaning “sun.” The traditional character for “Yang” combines “木” (wood) and “昜” (an ancient variant of “阳”). “木” refers to the Fusang tree, also known as the Yang tree, which grew in the Tang Valley (present-day Yunhe Mountain in Lianyungang) on the eastern sea. ‘昜’ is an ancient form of “阳,” depicting the image of “the sun rising from the Tang Valley.” The ancient Yang clan, whose totem was this sun, gave rise to the Yang family crest and ultimately the surname. During the Yu and Xia dynasties, the Yang people migrated eastward with their kin—the Lü and Shen tribes—to Yangcheng (southeast of Hongtong County, Shanxi) near Mount Lü and Mount Huo along the middle reaches of the Fen River in Shanxi. There they established the Jiang-surnamed State of Yang, marking the origin of the Yang clan.

The “Yang” surname traces its origins to the Ji clan, descending from the royal lineage of the Western Zhou dynasty. Three accounts exist, all tracing back to the Zhou royal family. One originates from the grandson of King Wu of Zhou, the second son of Shu Yu, and the younger brother of Jin Hou Xie Fu. During the reign of Duke Wu of Jin (the eleventh-generation descendant of Shu Yu), the second son Bo Qiao was enfeoffed at Yang and titled the Marquis of Yang, becoming the founding ancestor of the Yang surname. It also traces back to the reign of King Xuan of Zhou (?–783 BC), when King Xuan (Ji Jing) enfeoffed his son Changfu at the State of Yang (east of Fan Village, Hongtong County, Shanxi Province today), making him the Marquis of Yang. During the Spring and Autumn period, the state of Yang was conquered by Jin. Its descendants adopted Yang as their surname. Originating from Duke Wu of Jin's son Bo Qiao. After Jin conquered Yang, the territory was granted as a fief to the minister Yangshe Xi (style name Shuxiang). The Yangshe clan descended from the Ji surname. Since Bo Qiao's grandson Tu held the fief at Yangshe at that time, they adopted Yangshe as their surname. By the twelfth year of Duke Qing of Jin (514 BC), Jin annihilated the Yangshe clan. Yang Dao, the son of the feudal lord, fled to Mount Hua and settled in Huayin, Hongnong. He adopted the ancestral fiefdom name “Yang” as his surname. His descendants established lineages across various regions, becoming the primary lineage through which the Yang clan proliferated and developed.

During the reign of King Xuan of Zhou, the Ji-surnamed state of Yang was destroyed by the rampaging Xianyun tribes. King Xuan waged relentless campaigns against the Xianyun. To counter the Xianyun and restore the Ji-surnamed Yang Kingdom, and because the Ji-surnamed “Lord Yang” Ji Kang had died in battle without an heir, King Xuan dispatched his youngest son, Shangfu (also known as Changfu), to the Yang region to reestablish the Ji-surnamed Yang Kingdom.

On January 19, 2003, a collection of Western Zhou bronze vessels was unearthed in Yangjia Village, a remote hamlet in Meixian County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province. Among them was an artifact later named the “Forty-Second Year Qiú Ding,” which bears significance to the founding of the Yang Kingdom. This ding bears an inscription of over 280 characters, recording how in the 42nd year of King Xuan of Zhou, the minister “Qiú” distinguished himself in subduing the “Xianyun” tribe of the Quanrong, earning him a land grant from the Zhou king. The following 75 characters are crucial: "I have established my son Changfu as marquis of Yang. I command you to support Changfu and rest. You shall support him with your troops. You have followed the example of your ancestors. The Xianyun achieved victory at Jing'a and Li Yan. You did not resist the Rong tribes; you followed Changfu to pursue and attack them, immediately launching an assault at Gonggu. You captured prisoners, seized weapons, chariots, and horses. You were swift in military affairs, never faltering." The inscription on the “Forty-Second Year Qiu Ding” confirms a historical fact: King Xuan of Zhou indeed enfeoffed his son in Yang to establish a state, specifically to guard against Xianyun incursions.

Regardless of the origins of the “Yang surname,” Jiacun Plateau flourished during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties—likely its most recent period of prosperity. Historically, the plateau witnessed mutual influence and development between agricultural and nomadic civilizations, marked by warfare, migration, and significant ethnic integration. Observing the villagers' physical traits—high noses, tall stature, broad waists, large eyes, and angular faces—along with their accents, dialects, and lifestyle habits, one finds characteristics typical of agricultural cultures: robust physical strength, resilience, and a lack of business acumen. Traces of nomadic heritage are scarce. While undeniably carrying bloodlines from the Yan Emperor, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, they may also possess some ancestry from the Xiongnu, Di, Qiang, or Xianbei peoples, though this requires scientific verification. This reflects the outcomes of extensive ethnic integration and cultural openness. Generations of oral traditions among the village elders largely agree that their ancestors originated from the “Great Locust Tree” in Hongtong County, Shaanxi. Some claim descent from Yang Jiyue (Lord Yang). It can be said that due to warfare, famine, migration, and multiple waves of ethnic integration, the origins of Guanzhong people are exceptionally complex. Pure descendants of Guanzhong or even Shaanxi natives are exceedingly rare, and Mouthou Village is no exception.

The turmoil of the late Yuan dynasty, the wars between Song and Jin, coupled with natural disasters and epidemics, led to a sharp decline in the northern population. During the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang implemented the military settlement policy of “turning fields into garrisons,” relocating people from the Great Locust Tree in Hongtong, Shanxi. After the mid-Ming period, due to heavy taxes and corvée labor, as well as frequent natural disasters, population outflow from Shaanxi caused by displaced people increased steadily. The Ming Dynasty established military settlements to maintain troops. Besides defense, these garrisons also cultivated land for sustenance. On the plateau stood the Eastern Garrison (Donghao Village) and the Western Garrison. I believe the Song-Jin wars transformed the plateau and its surroundings into battlefields, making survival exceptionally difficult. Those who endured have thrived to this day. The plateau dwellers, rooted in agriculture, rarely ventured into commerce. Even now, their livelihoods center on practical industries: bricklayers in construction and real estate, restaurant owners serving handmade noodles, and farmers contracting land in the west to cultivate grain and cotton. Financial or tech ventures remain uncommon.

Zhoutou Village, situated on the northwest edge of the plateau, was relatively inconspicuous and likely spared the worst of the conflict. However, it served as a gateway along a trail leading to villages like Fengxiang's Chen Village, Bijizhuang, Diangou, and Huayuan. Crossing Beishan and Qianyang Ridge, this path connected to the Qianlong Road, enabling the Yang descendants to thrive. Between 1862 and 1873, the Tongzhi Shaanxi-Gansu Hui Rebellion erupted as large-scale unrest among the Hui Muslim population in Qing-era Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. As the defensive systems of Linghou Fort, Dahuaishu Fort, and Mazhong Fort fell successively, the formidable stronghold of Longchuan—Jiacun Fort—held firm. Leveraging its natural fortifications and ample provisions, under the capable leadership of Rong Tian and Rong Zhuoran, the community united and successfully defended the fortress, thereby safeguarding the lives of its inhabitants. Other villages on the plateau fared similarly, ensuring the preservation of Jiacun Plateau. Since the 29th year of the Qianlong reign (1764), Baoji County implemented a three-tier system of “township-subdistrict-village,” dividing the entire territory into ten townships, fifty-three subdistricts, and two hundred fifty-eight villages.

The main area of Jiacun Plateau fell under the jurisdiction of Xiaoti Township, which oversaw five li, forming a composite governance structure of “township-li-village.” As the basic administrative unit, it handled functions such as household registration, tax collection, and educational management. Each li corresponded to 5-8 villages or fortified settlements at the time. Spatial scope of Xiqu Li: Historically part of Qiaozhen area (present-day administrative villages include Longwei, Jingbiantou, Beiwang, etc.), with “Zhitou Village” also falling within this jurisdiction. Zhitou Village belonged to Qiaozhen, which is now located in Chencang District, Baoji City. In 1949, it became Qiaozhen Township under Xiping District. In 1959, it was designated as the Qiaozhen Management Area under Xian Gong Commune. A commune was established in 1961, renamed Xuguang Commune in 1967, and restored to Qiaozhen Commune in 1970. It was converted back to a township in May 1984, later upgraded to a town. In 2011, Qiaozhen Town was dissolved and merged into Jiacun Town.

Fortunately, “Zhoutou Village” still exists, though it has been simplified to “Jutou Village”—a simplification that may be excessive or too hasty. In my heart, no matter what it's called, it will always be my eternal hometown, my eternal “Zhoutou Village.”