In English, Qinghai Lake was formerly known as Ch'inghai Lake or ; the Chinese Postal Map romanization was of the Mongolian name . As for the Mongolians, the color of the lake is unambiguously labeled blue, but classical Mongolian did not distinguish between lakes and larger bodies of water. The Chinese name, using "sea" rather than "lake," is thus an overly literal calque of this name, used by the Qinghai Mongols, some of whom made up the local ruling class during the standardization of western Chinese toponyms in the Qing Dynasty. Similar use of the Chinese word for "sea" to translate Mongolian lake toponyms can be seen elsewhere around Qinghai, as with Lake Heihai ("Black Sea") in the Kunluns.