史称…
known to history as; historians call it
Structure
事件／时期／人物 ， 史称 “名称”
What it means
史 here means the history books: 史称 gives the name historians use for a period, an event or a person. “Known to history as”.
How it is built
Description，史称 + “name”: 文帝、景帝两代田租很轻，史称“文景之治” (history calls this the Rule of Wen and Jing). Short: 刘邦定都长安，史称西汉.
When to use it
Written and museum-guide Chinese. It usually follows the description it names, and the name often goes in quotation marks. You met it in 4-2: 史称“焚书坑儒”.
Watch out
It is active in form: ✗ 被史称西汉. For a name ordinary people use today, say 人们称之为 or 被称为, not 史称.
Examples
刘邦定都长安，史称西汉。
Liu Bang made Chang’an his capital; historians call this the Western Han.
文帝、景帝两代只征收很轻的田租，史称“文景之治”。
Emperors Wen and Jing kept the land tax very light, a time history calls the Rule of Wen and Jing.
唐太宗在位时政治比较开明，史称“贞观之治”。
Government under Emperor Taizong of Tang was relatively enlightened, and history calls his reign the Rule of Zhenguan.
Learn this in Lesson 87 · HSK 6–7: 汉：一个朝代的名字 (The Han: a dynasty that named a people)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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