Taiyuan

See also: táiyuán, Tàiyuán, and T'ai-yüan

English

Alternative forms

• T'ai-yüan, T'ai-yuan (Wade–Giles)

Etymology

From Mandarin 太原 (Tàiyuán).

Proper noun

Taiyuan

1. A prefecture-level city, the provincial capital of Shanxi, in northern China.
   • [1903 [1901 August 9], “Appendix”, in Fire and Sword in Shansi: The Story of the Martyrdom of Foreigners and Chinese Christians‎^[1], Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, →OCLC, page 318:

     "On Wednesday 7th August 1901 a party from T'ai Yüan Fu, consisting of Mr. Duncan, Dr. Creasy Smith, Major Pereira, and Dr. Edwards, arrived to take part in the memorial service ; Mr. Hoste and Mr. Ernest Taylor of the China Inland Mission having arrived a day or two earlier.]

   • 1945 November 12, Charles J. V. Murphy, “China Reborn”, in Life‎^[2], volume 19, number 20, Chicago: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 113, column 1:

     Shansi (population 12,000,000): On the surface Taiyuan, the capital of Shansi, appears as calm as Sian, only more down at heel. Grass is sprouting in the cracks of the Jap runways on the airfield but smoke rises from the chimneys of foundries and textile plants. […]
     One discovers with shock how deeply the Japanese burrowed into North China. In backwoods Taiyuan there are 25,000 Japanese civilians, most of whom were put down here to mine Shansi’s coal.

   • 1978 April 9, “Freedom-seekers vow to defeat Reds”, in Free China Weekly‎^[3], volume XIX, number 14, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:

     The commitment was made at a meeting held in commemoration of Tomb-Sweeping Day and the third anniversary of President Chiang’s passing on April 5, at Yuanshan in front of the Shrine of the 500 Heroes (dedicated to those who fought to the end at Taiyuan, Shansi province, against the Communists in April 1949).

   • 1983, William Hinton, “Introduction: Shansi, Land of the Oxhide Lanterns”, in Shenfan‎^[4], New York: Vintage Books, published 1984, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page xxxiv:

     Taiyuan, the capital of the province, lies on the upper reaches of the Fen surrounded by irrigated ricelands, orchards and vineyards on the mountain slopes, with enormous seams of coal underground. In Shansi all roads lead to Taiyuan, but the roads that radiate out of Taiyuan in every direction lead nowhere.

   • 2011 September 23, Ségolène Malterre, “Modern-day Maoists worry Chinese authorities”, in France 24‎^[5], archived from the original on 28 December 2015‎^[6]:

     A group of Maoists commemorating the 35th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s death in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan was violently broken up by police. Chinese authorities have no patience for these Mao-lovers, who seem to have forgotten the former communist leader’s authoritarian streak and retained only the idyllic vision of a fairer society.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Taiyuan.

Synonyms

• Yangku

Translations

a prefecture-level city in northern China

• Arabic: تاي يونا m (tay yuwan), تاييونا m (tayyuwān)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 太原 (taai³ jyun⁴)

  Mandarin: 太原 (zh) (Tàiyuán)

• Finnish: Taiyuan
• Hungarian: Tajjüan (hu)
• Japanese: 太原 (たいげん, Taigen)
• Korean: 타이위안 (Taiwian)
• Macedonian: Та́ијуен m (Táijuen)
• Marathi: ताइयुआन n (tāiyuān)
• Russian: Тайюа́нь m (Tajjuánʹ)
• Spanish: Taiyuan
• Vietnamese: Thái Nguyên (vi)
• Zhuang: Daiyenz

Further reading

• “Taiyuan”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “Taiyuan, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “Taiyuan”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Taiyuan”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “Taiyuan” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.

Spanish

Proper noun

Taiyuan ?

1. Taiyuan (a prefecture-level city, the provincial capital of Shanxi, in northern China)