<p><a href="https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/43838089.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">太行山名字的来历</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>太，有极大至高的意思，行，应该就是行列的意思，联系起来，就是极大的一行。再看太行山的形势，基本是南北走向，绵延千里，分割西部黄土高原和东部华北平原，真是极大地一行列。古人命名为太行，名副其实。</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>太 has the meaning of 'extreme; ultimate; grand'; 行 here should be interpreted as 行列 (row). 太行 means 'grand row'. Look at the shape of the 太行山, it is basically from North to South, a thousands-mile long row,  that divided the Loess Plateau in the west and the North China Plain in the east. The ancients named it 太行 was a fitting choice</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Base on the description from this article 太行山 can be translated as 'Grand Row Mountains'</p>
<p>From the same page:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>对太行山的限定《括地志》载：“太行数千里，始于怀而终于幽，为天下之脊。”</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;太行&quot;, is thousands of miles long. Starts from 怀州 (Huizhou), ends at 幽州(Youzhou). It is the spine of the world</p>
</blockquote>
<p>'The spine of the world' would be an extremely long row</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-01T01:20:11.733Z
2020-08-01T01:35:49.120Z
2020-08-01T01:35:49.120Z
Tang Ho
<p>When used independenly, 太行山 is just a proper noun refering to the Taihang Mountains in northern China. It may acquire some figurative meaning in specific sentence. Can you show the context?</p>
<p>Btw, Taihang Mountains nowadays don't separate Shanxi and Shandong (But in history they did). Shandong does not border on Shanxi in modern time. Henan and Hebei lie between.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-03T13:22:31.520Z
2020-08-03T13:22:31.520Z
Takayi
<p>The translation is not present on the Wikipedia article about the mountains, nor anywhere else that I've looked. My best guess is that it's something like &quot;Much movement&quot; or &quot;Long journey&quot;, but I can't pin it down, and I can't tell if it's referring to the length of a journey to make it through the mountains, or the way the mountains seem to move when you look at them, or something like that.</p>
<p>For those who are interested, this is the mountain range that separates the provinces of Shanxi and Shandong.</p>

<translation><place-names>
What is the meaning of the Taihang Mountains (太行山)?
# What is the meaning of the Taihang Mountains (太行山)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-08-01)

The translation is not present on the Wikipedia article about the mountains, nor anywhere else that I've looked. My best guess is that it's something like "Much movement" or "Long journey", but I can't pin it down, and I can't tell if it's referring to the length of a journey to make it through the mountains, or the way the mountains seem to move when you look at them, or something like that.

For those who are interested, this is the mountain range that separates the provinces of Shanxi and Shandong.

**Tags:** translation, place-names


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-08-01. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

[太行山名字的来历](https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/43838089.html)

> 太，有极大至高的意思，行，应该就是行列的意思，联系起来，就是极大的一行。再看太行山的形势，基本是南北走向，绵延千里，分割西部黄土高原和东部华北平原，真是极大地一行列。古人命名为太行，名副其实。

> 太 has the meaning of 'extreme; ultimate; grand'; 行 here should be interpreted as 行列 (row). 太行 means 'grand row'. Look at the shape of the 太行山, it is basically from North to South, a thousands-mile long row, that divided the Loess Plateau in the west and the North China Plain in the east. The ancients named it 太行 was a fitting choice

Base on the description from this article 太行山 can be translated as 'Grand Row Mountains'

From the same page:

> 对太行山的限定《括地志》载：“太行数千里，始于怀而终于幽，为天下之脊。”

> "太行", is thousands of miles long. Starts from 怀州 (Huizhou), ends at 幽州(Youzhou). It is the spine of the world

'The spine of the world' would be an extremely long row


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### Answer by username_2 on 2020-08-03. Score: 0

When used independenly, 太行山 is just a proper noun refering to the Taihang Mountains in northern China. It may acquire some figurative meaning in specific sentence. Can you show the context?

Btw, Taihang Mountains nowadays don't separate Shanxi and Shandong (But in history they did). Shandong does not border on Shanxi in modern time. Henan and Hebei lie between.


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