Xuling Wu Sep 6, 2021:

@Simon, now think of it, in Chinese Fengshui, roads/streets are treated the same as rivers since they all represent some sort of flow, either the flow of traffic or water.

Xuling Wu Sep 5, 2021:

@Simon To answer your question: "yes," but in ancient China, not now. In modern Chinese, "chuan" refers to rivers, as in the phrase "山川“ - mountains and rivers.

SeiTT (asker) Sep 5, 2021:

Many thanks - I had no idea that 川 could also mean "main road", i.e. "highway", presumably. Was 川 often used to mean this, maybe in other areas of China too?

Xuling Wu Sep 3, 2021:

I now see why "川府" is defined as "a collection of things." It is from a Baidu entry which includes a citation of "川府" in the Book of Changes. Well, that "川府" is entirely different than "川府" in the name of your favorite local Sichuan restuarant. In the place name "Sichuan," "chuan" means "roads." The Chinese central government began using 'chuan' in reference to "sichuan' since the Tang Dynasty. Back then, the region was called "san chuan" - 3 main roads connecting the region to rest of the country and their 3 corresponding administrative entities. One more road was added in the Song Dynasty, hence "Sichuan," aka 4 roads or 4 prefectures. In Chinese language, "Sichuan" is often abbreviated as "chuan."

If you can read Chinese: http://www.kysuji.com/etagid22911b0/.
Otherwise, I found a Britannica entry about Sichuan: https://www.britannica.com/place/Sichuan/History.

This is a great question. Hope that my answer helps.

Xuling Wu Sep 3, 2021:

Hello Simon, I don't know why educalingo defines "川府" as a colletion of things. It's just absurd. “川府" means "Sichuan." In ancient Chinese, "Sichuan" was called "川" instead of "四川", and "府" was a government administrative entity who had jurisdiction over a large area/region. So "府" refers to a "place" as in ‘川府' - a place called Sichuan.

The definition, "a collection of things", might come from the word ‘学府,' a place of learning which has a collection of study materials.