Dataset of Rural Settlement Place Names in the Jingjiang-Taixing Area (2025)

The Dataset of Rural Settlement Place Names in the Jingtai Area aims to systematically compile toponymic information for rural settlements within the jurisdictions of Jingjiang City and Taixing City in Jiangsu Province (collectively referred to as the "Jingtai Area"). The data were collected in December, 2024, which were sourced from the China National Geographical Names Information Database and comprise a total of 5,072 curated and processed records of rural settlement place names. During data acquisition, the following cleaning and normalization procedures were applied to the original entries: the phrasing of toponymic naming conventions was standardized; fields exhibiting missing data or logical inconsistencies (e.g., discrepancies between the stated connotation and the documented origin of a place name) were manually cross-referenced and corrected; and the longitude and latitude coordinates of the settlements were batch-matched and validated using high-resolution satellite imagery and publicly available geospatial datasets. The data file is provided in the common Excel spreadsheet format (.xlsx), facilitating direct access and manipulation within a wide range of office software and data analysis environments.The dataset consists of 11 fields: Place Name ID (id) (a unique identifier in UUID format), Standard Name (the Chinese character representation of the settlement name), Pinyin (the corresponding romanization of the standard name), Place Name Type (uniformly designated as "rural settlement" throughout this dataset), County/District (specifies either Jingjiang City or Taixing City), County/District Code (based on the national standard administrative division codes, where 321282 denotes Jingjiang City and 321283 denotes Taixing City), Longitude and Latitude (using the WGS84 geodetic datum, expressed in decimal degrees), Place Name Connotation (a concise description of the natural or cultural characteristics indicated by the name), Formation Period (the approximate era when the settlement was initially established or named), and Place Name Origin (a record of the specific circumstances or historical evolution that gave rise to the name). In terms of spatiotemporal coverage, the dataset spatially encompasses the rural administrative areas of Jingjiang and Taixing cities, while temporally, the records span from the Ming Dynasty (circa 1620 AD) to the early 21st century, with a particular emphasis on documenting the evolution of administrative village mergers and the nomenclature of natural villages since the 20th century. Due to inherent discontinuities in the historical record, the "Formation Period" and "Place Name Origin" fields for certain entries are noted simply as "in use to date" or established by convention. Furthermore, for a limited number of records (predominantly concentrated toward the end of the data table), values for longitude/latitude coordinates, place name connotation, and origin fields are missing owing to gaps in the original archival documentation; such instances are faithfully represented as null values within the data sheet.It should be noted that, as toponymic surveys often rely on local oral histories, genealogical records, and grassroots administrative reporting, the data may contain inherent uncertainties regarding historical chronology or variances attributable to folk memory. Additionally, due to urbanization-induced demolitions or administrative mergers, the names and spatial extents of some settlements may have undergone changes since the time of the survey; consequently, this dataset reflects settlement information as recorded at the specific juncture of the census enumeration. This dataset is suitable for research in toponymy, settlement geography, historical geography, and regional cultural studies, providing foundational data support for analyses of rural settlement naming patterns, spatial distribution characteristics, and the evolution of human-environment relationships in the plains of Central Jiangsu.