Why is Shanxi called the Land of Three Jins?
During the Warring States Period, it was divided into three kingdoms: Han, Zhao, and Wei, so they were called the Three Jins. At that time, the territory of Jin or the Three Jins far exceeded Shanxi. The Jin or Sanjin used in later generations refer to Shanxi Province.
Jin is the cultural center of the Yellow River Basin and an important birthplace of Chinese civilization. National integration brought about the development of Buddhism in the Three Jin Dynasties, which left the Yungang Grottoes and Wutai Temple Group in Shanxi, becoming an artistic treasure house of Buddhist architecture, stone carvings, and sculptures.
Shanxi opera has a long history. Social operas in the Song and Jin Dynasties, Zaju in the Yuan Dynasty, and Bangzi in the Ming and Qing Dynasties are all major types of operas and have far-reaching influence. In addition, Shanxi's vinegar, loess cave dwellings, and folk paper-cuts also express the characteristics of the Three Jin cultures. Extended information
Shanxi, referred to as "Jin", is a provincial-level administrative region of the People's Republic of China and the provincial capital Taiyuan. It is located in North China. Shanxi is bounded by 34°34′-40°44′ north latitude and 110 east longitude. Between °14′-114°33′, it borders Hebei to the east, Shaanxi to the west, Henan to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the north, with a total area of 156,700 square kilometers.
Most areas in Shanxi use Jin dialect, most areas in southern Shanxi use Central Plains Mandarin, and Guangling County uses Hebei-Shandong Mandarin.
Jin dialect is the only non-official dialect in northern China. The biggest feature of Jin dialect that is different from Mandarin is the retention of entering tones. Most Jin dialects have five tones. The tones of Jin dialect have extremely complex continuous tone changes. The ancient voiced sounds in Jin dialect are now pronounced as stops and fricatives with a flat tone and no aspiration. Jin language retains many characteristics of ancient Chinese.
The "big opera" among local operas in Shanxi are Pu Opera, Jin Opera, Beilu Bangzi and Shangdang Bangzi, which are known as the "Four Big Bangzi in Shanxi". Among them, Pu Opera, Jin Opera and Beilu Bangzi have the same roots.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Sanjin Culture