Fatshan

See also: Fat Shan

English

Etymology

From Cantonese 佛山 (fat⁶ saan¹).

Proper noun

Fatshan

1. Synonym of Foshan: the Cantonese-derived name.
   • 1877, C. T. Gardner, Mr. Gardner to Consul Sir B. Robertson (Correspondence Respecting the Attack on the Indian Expedition to Western China and the Murder of Mr. Margary)‎^[1], page 105:

     The places where I myself saw the Proclamations exhibited are as follows:- Fatshan, Sam-shui, Ching-yüan, Po Miao, Ying-tê, Shao-kow, Shao-chou Fu.

   • 1970 April 7, Craig Claiborne, “Hong Kong Hotel of Splendor Where the Dining Is Fine Art”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 September 2023, page 72‎^[3]:

     It is an uncommonly handsome and rather small restaurant on two levels with a priceless Coromandel screen painted in the 17th century by Fong Long Kan of Fatshan. It is reported to be one of a pair. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has one on display.

   • 1974 February, “China's Young Electronics Industry”, in China Reconstructs‎^[4], China Welfare Institute, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9, columns 1, 2:

     A semi-conductor components plant in Fatshan in Kwangtung province, eager to suit its output to the needs of other industries, sent groups to over 50 factories and mines in Peking, Shanghai, Chengtu, Sian and a dozen other medium and large cities to study what electronic products they required. […]
     In 1972, when the Chiaocheng County Trucking Company in Shansi province over 1,000 kilometers to the north bought five electronic ignition systems from the Fatshan plant, it sent workers and technicians to help the buyers master their use, returning only when they were satisfied.

   • 1988, Bill Ream, Too Hot for Comfort: War Years in China 1938-50‎^[5], Epworth Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 5:

     A number of us on the boat were expecting to go on from Hong Kong to various stations in Kwangtung province and further north and east. I myself was to be stationed at a boys' Middle School at Fatshan, some ten miles west of Canton where we had a large compound with a hospital as well as the boys' and girls' schools.

   • 2008, Andrew Lambert, “John Fisher”, in Admirals: The Naval Commanders who Made Britain Great‎^[6], Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 292:

     Between 1856 and 1860 Fisher took part in three battles during the Second Anglo-Chinese War. At Fatshan Creek his boat was up with the leaders at the destruction of the Chinese flotilla.

   • 2015, Amitav Ghosh, Flood of Fire‎^[7], John Murray, →ISBN, page 532:

     Now thousands of fresh troops were pouring into the city, from other provinces and cities; new vessels, modelled on British gunboats, were being built at secret locations and guns were being cast in a foundry at nearby Fatshan, among them a colossal eight-pounder.

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

Further reading

• “Fatshan”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “Fatshan” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.