In order to reflect the clan relationship, the same generation in the family usually need to find a homonym when naming. Homophones of different generations are arranged in the generation of words used by this family to express lineage. The formation of word generation is to distinguish seniority and seniority. Here, the order of seniority does not refer to the order of seniority in political status, but refers to the generation within the family. The use of word generation is particularly important for a large family, especially a lasting family like Confucius, which has lasted for dozens of generations and multiplied hundreds of thousands. Because of this function, it can be used for reference by other groups that need to be distinguished, such as religious sects, social gangs, Wulin schools and so on. In this way, the word Dai, which was originally used purely within the family, has a wider scope of application.
The generation of word generation, some people say that it originated from the Han Dynasty. After investigation, we think that in the Han Dynasty, even in the pre-Qin period, there have been some budding or signs that reflect the relationship of the same surname in names and words, such as choosing * * * to use the same surname or to reflect it by radicals. However, this is only the bud. It is not enough to use homonyms of * * * consciously to distinguish generations, and then select a certain number of auspicious words with certain significance in advance as the prescribed word generation that future generations must abide by when naming. Moreover, during the Han and Wei Dynasties and for quite some time thereafter, names were mostly single words, making it more difficult to distinguish generations. What's more, Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, has the word "zhi" in his father's and son's names for generations, which is not only impossible to talk about, but also fundamentally violates the requirements of later generations. Therefore, this period, even if there are traces of text generation, is in a spontaneous embryonic stage.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, because the genealogical data of this period were basically not handed down, it was impossible to make an accurate judgment. However, from some phenomena, we can still feel that during this period, some families began to use the word * * * in the same name and surname. For example, Yan Zhenqing, a famous calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, whose cousins were famous for resisting An Lushan, such as Yan Gaoqing, Yan Yaoqing and Yan, everyone used the word "Qing". Yan Zhenqing's two sons Yan? Both Yan Shuo and Yan Shuo have the word "page", which seems to meet the requirements of the word generation. But there is no connection between his great-grandson name and Yan Gaoqing's great-grandson name. However, how to determine the word "Qing", whether to determine the words used in different generations, and how many generations have been determined at the same time, these are uncertain. However, it is certain that the Yan family has a word generation in some generations, but the requirements for word generation are not as standardized as those of later generations. The Yan family is like this, and other families must use the word generation.