The names, characters, and numbers of the ancients
With the progress of society and the increase in population, social interactions and interpersonal interactions have become increasingly close. In order to distinguish a certain group of people from another group of people Then, the unique symbol of a certain group of people appeared, which is what we call "surname"; among a group of people, in order to distinguish you, me, and him in the middle, there also appeared the unique symbol of a group of people. A personal mark, this mark is what we call a "name". Regarding the origin of names, its earliest meaning can also be inferred from the Chinese character "name" itself. This Chinese character consists of two parts: "xi" and "口". In this regard, "Shuowen Jiezi" explains: "Name, self-named, from mouth, from Xi. Xi means Ming, Ming does not meet each other, so "Name oneself by mouth." This means that in early interactions, when people met during the day, they could identify each other by their body shape and appearance. Once it's night and you can't see each other clearly, you can only distinguish between you and me by registering yourself. It can be seen that the emergence of personal names is related to the actual needs of society. Its most essential role is to distinguish individuals in all situations in social interactions. It is a personal symbol used in society.
Some personal names left over from the Xia and Shang dynasties, such as Kong Jia, Zu Yi, Wai Bing, Tai Wu, Yong Ji, Pan Geng, Wu Ding, Xiao Xin, Wai Ren, etc., may be related to the heavenly stems. It has to do with a certain time. In the Spring and Autumn Period, some names such as "Black Hips" and "Black Humer" were probably named after physical characteristics. Zheng Zhuanggong's name is "Wansheng", which is a record of his mother's difficult delivery. It can be seen that the name at that time was still very simple. In ancient times, babies were named by their father after they were 3 months old. The methods of naming were summarized by Shen, a doctor in the state of Lu, into five types: "There are five kinds of names: faith, meaning, image, falsehood, and class. Names are born from faith, virtue and destiny are righteousness, and classes are named. As an image, it is taken from things as false, and as a kind of father. It is not based on the country, not on the official, not on the mountains and rivers, not on the hidden diseases, not on the animals, and not on the tools and coins. In the end, it will be taboo. Therefore, if you use the country, you will lose the name, if you use the official, you will lose the position, if you use the mountains and rivers, you will lose the owner, if you use the animals, you will lose the sacrifice, if you use the utensils and coins, you will lose the rituals." ("Zuo Zhuan·Huan Gong Sixth Year") We attach great importance to this passage, and there are similar discussions in "Book of Rites" and other books. The so-called "born with name as trust" here is to name a person according to his connection with something when he was born, which is true and reliable. For example, when Zheng Zhuanggong was born in the opposite direction, his mother Wu Jiang named him Huansheng; another example is When Tang Shu Yu was born, there were tattoos on his hands that looked like the character "Yu", so he was named Yu; when Lu Gongziyou was born, there were tattoos on his hands that looked like the character "You", so he was named You. The so-called "taking virtue and destiny as righteousness" means naming it based on auspicious things. For example, King Tai felt that King Wen would be prosperous in the future, so he named him "Chang". When King Wen of Zhou Jichang saw that his son was born, he would send troops to kill him when he grew up, so he named his son "Fa", which means King Wu of Zhou. The so-called "taking the analogy as the image" refers to naming something based on the appearance and characteristics after birth. For example, Confucius was "born with his head on the top of Weiding" and was named Qiu. The so-called "taking things as false" means naming things under the pretense of their names. For example, Chen Xuangong and Song Zhaogong were both named Chujiu; another example is Confucius' son Boyu, who was given a fish when he was born, so he was named Li. The so-called "taken from the father as a kind" means that the name is named after similar things related to his father. For example, Duke Zhuang of Lu and his father share the same birthday, so they are named the same. At the same time, there are 6 prohibitions on naming: do not use the name of a country as a person's name; do not use the official name of the country as a person's name; do not use the name of a country's mountains and rivers as a person's name; do not use the name of a disease as a person's name; do not use the name of an animal as a person's name; do not use ritual gifts The name is a person's name.
Since the Zhou Dynasty, people not only have a "name", but they must also have a "character". "Zi" is a new title after "name". "Book of Rites·Tan ??Gong Shang": "Young name, crown character." A child should be named after three months of life, and the character should be added when he is 20 years old. "On the Ceremony" there is "a man who is twenty, with a hairpin on his head", and "a woman who is about to marry, a hairpin on her head". That is to say, when a man is crowned and a woman is crowned, it means that she has reached adulthood and will formally participate in social interactions, so she must add the word after her name. Why should there be words? Kong Yingda of the Tang Dynasty wrote annotations for "Young name, crown character" in "Tan Gong Shang", "If you are born without a name, you can't distinguish it, so you add a name in the third month, so it is called a young name. The person with the name is twenty years old, and he is a good person. As a father, friends, etc., should not be called by their first names. This means that when a person reaches adulthood, the "name" originally assigned by his elders and called by his elders over the years will no longer be used. When you are called out in social situations, you have to choose a new name for your peers or juniors to call you, that is, "Zi". "Name" is for the elders to call, and "word" is for the peers, juniors and themselves to call. Therefore, in ancient times, it was a disrespectful and rude behavior to "call your peers or seniors by their first names" or "name them by name".
You can only address your peers or elders by their names, but not their names. You can only address your peers by their names when you respect someone who is inferior or when you call yourself yourself. When we understand the custom of "a woman who is betrothed and has a hairpin", we can understand why women who have been betrothed or married are called "ziren" for a long time, and girls who have not been betrothed are called "waizi guizhong". Because at that time, "when a woman was only fifteen years old, she was given the title of hairpin ceremony". For women, coming of age, getting married, and getting married are basically the same thing.
The ancients had names first and then words, and words were born from names. Therefore, the ancients generally followed the principle of "name correspondence" when choosing characters, that is, there must be a certain relationship between names and characters. "Baihu Tongyi·Name" says: "If you are famous, you will know its character; if you hear the character, you will know its name." From the perspective of the joint relationship and composition of names and characters, there are mainly the following types:
Same Mutual training in righteousness. For example, Zhuge Liang was named Kongming; Zaiyu was named Ziwo; Zhang Heng was named Pingzi; Zeng Gong was named Zigu; Qin Guan was named Shaoyou. The words "bright" and "bright", "you" and "I", "balance" and "balance", "consolidation" and "consolidation", "viewing" and "you" here are synonymous and can explain each other.
Antonyms and opposites. For example, Zhu Xi has the courtesy name Hui; Zhao Meng has the courtesy name Zi'ang; Han Yu has the courtesy name Tuizhi; Jian Tong has the courtesy name different; Huang Sun has the courtesy name Yizhi. Here, Xi and Hui, Ang, Yu and retreat, similarities and differences, loss and benefit are all opposites.
Lian Yi speculated. For example, Guan Yu, whose courtesy name is Yunchang, is taken from Zhuangzi's "Xiaoyaoyou" sentence: "its wings are like clouds hanging down from the sky." From "wings", we think of feathers, and from "clouds hanging down from the sky" we infer Yun Chang. Zhao Jiaju's word Qianli comes from the idea of ??a young horse galloping thousands of miles. Bai Juyi's courtesy name is Lotte, and he is able to live in Yi because of Lotte. Su Shi's courtesy name is Zizhan, which comes from relying on Shi and inferring Zhanwang.
Lian Yi means real. For example, Du Fu's word Zimei is associated with beauty from the good name for a man. The word Yin in Tang Dynasty is Bohu, and Yin is associated with the "Twelve Earthly Branches" of Yin and Tiger.
Like resembles like. For example, the character Kong Li is Bo Yu, and carp is a fish. Zheng Qiao's courtesy name is Yu Zhong, and the woodcutter often partners with the fisherman. Liang Hong's courtesy name is Boluan. Both Hong and Luan are praised birds. Luji's character is Shiheng, and Ji and Heng are the two stars on the Big Dipper.
The original name was added. For example, Xie An's courtesy name is Anshi, and Du Mu's courtesy name is Muzhi.
Use the five elements of stems and branches. For example, Zheng Shigui is named Jia Fu, and Qin Bing is named Bai Yi, which is purely a combination of heavenly stems. Chu Gong Ziwu's courtesy name is Zigeng, Zheng Yingui's courtesy name is Ziyou, and the heavenly stems and earthly branches match each other.
Body separation. For example, Song Mei's character is Wenyu, You Dong's character is Tongren, and Yao Chun's character is Chunmu.
The shape is increased. For example, Qin Hui's character is Huizi, and Gu Mei's character is Meisheng.
Modify the ancient sayings. For example, Pan Yue's courtesy name is Anren. In the Analects of Confucius, "the benevolent person Leshan" and "Liren" are said to be "the benevolent person is Anren". Xu Qian's character is "Wei Long", and this sentence in "Kong Congzi" says, "It's not that he's not great, but he's very dry". Cao Cao's courtesy name is Meng De, which is derived from the sentence "This is what I call virtue" in "Xunzi". Lu Guimeng's courtesy name is Lu Wang. According to "Poetry·Lusong·Gong", "Mount Tai is a rocky rock, which Lu Bang looks at. There is Guimeng on the verge of death, so Dadong is deserted." Zhu Xi's "Collected Biography" has: "The name of the second mountain is Guimeng." The second mountain is the base of Lu State. Dai Zhen's courtesy name is Dongyuan, which is said in the Book of Changes "Shuo Gua" that "everything comes out of earthquakes, earthquakes are from the east". Qian Qianyi's character is received, and this is the sentence "Qian benefited" from "Shangshu".
Respect the ancients. For example, Gu Zuyu's courtesy name Jingfan expresses his admiration for the historian Fan Zuyu. Yan Zhidui's nickname was Zijie, who was recommended by a famous scholar from the Jin Dynasty during the Spring and Autumn Period. Lu You, Ziwu Guan, admired Qin Guan, a great talent in the Northern Song Dynasty.
The "name" and "zi" of the ancients were often used to express seniority in the family. Often adding Bo (Meng), Zhong, Shu and Ji before the first name and surname represented the eldest and younger brothers. There is a difference between "Bo" and "Meng". The son (daughter) born from the direct wife is called "Bo", and the son (daughter) born from the concubine is called "Meng". For example, Boyi and Shuqi, Bo is the elder brother and uncle is the younger brother; Confucius' courtesy name is Zhongni, and Zhong is the second child; Meng Jiangnu is the eldest daughter with the surname Jiang. Some words are followed by "father" (Fu) to indicate gender. Wang Yinzhi pointed out in "Explanation of Names in the Spring and Autumn Period" that when the ancients used consecutive names, they always put the word first and then the name. The title is "a certain father", such as Zhongnifu, Zhongshanfu, etc. After the Qin and Han dynasties, the given name was given first and then the given name, such as Zheng Youji, whose nickname was Uncle Zi. Here Youji is the given name and Uncle Zi is the character. After the Han Dynasty, the same character or radical in the "name" or "zi" gradually indicated the peer relationship. For example, the famous general Yan Gaoqing and his younger brothers Yan Yaoqing and Yan Chunqing in the Tang Dynasty used the character "Qing", and their cousin Yan Zhenqing, the great calligrapher of the same generation, also used the character "Qing". Brothers Su Shi and Su Che, writers of the Song Dynasty, used the radical "Che" to represent their peers.
The sons of Ming Shenzong, Zhu Changluo and Zhu Changxun, used the second character "Chang" and the third character "氵" next to "氵"; Ming Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian and his brother Zhu Youxiao were hanged on Jingshan Mountain. (Xizong of the Ming Dynasty), cousins ??Zhu Youlang (Emperor Yongli of the Southern Ming Dynasty), Zhu Yousong (Emperor Hongguang of the Southern Ming Dynasty), etc. The second character is preceded by "you", and the third character is preceded by "木". In this case, the first character in the name is the family name used by the father and ancestors, and the second and half of the third character are the generational names used by the brothers. It depends on the individual. Only half a word left.
In addition to names and characters, some ancient people also had "numbers". "Hao" is a fixed alias, also known as an alias. The middle and upper class figures in feudal society, especially the literati, often named themselves based on their address and interests, including the name of their house, the name of their room, etc. For example, Li Bai's Qinglian layman in the Tang Dynasty, Du Fu's Shaoling Yelao, Su Shi's Dongpo layman in the Song Dynasty, Liuru layman by Tang Yin in the Ming Dynasty, and Banqiao by Zheng Xie in the Qing Dynasty are all well-known to future generations. Some aliases are even more used than their real names. Nicknames are given by the user himself, unlike names that are restricted by family and seniority. Therefore, they can more freely express or flaunt certain sentiments of the user. Common nicknames include "lay scholar" and "mountain man". The purpose of class is to express the user's disdain for Li Lu. In the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu's title of "Six-Yi layman" in his later years was based on "ten thousand volumes of books, a thousand volumes of ancient inscriptions, a piano, a game of chess, a pot of wine and himself as an old man", and created six " "One" name. The patriotic poet Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty was concerned about the world and cynical. He was ridiculed by the powerful for not observing etiquette and law, so he called himself "Fang Weng" to express his contempt for them. Zheng Sixiao, a painter of the Southern Song Dynasty, called himself "Suonan" after the fall of the Song Dynasty, indicating that his heart was towards the south. The painter Zhu Da in the late Ming Dynasty was a descendant of Zhu Quan, King of Ning in the Ming Dynasty. He became a monk after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. He was nicknamed "Bada Shanren" because he admired the Eight Great Masters for enlightening the Sutra. "Bada" is written consecutively, which sounds like "cry" but not "cry". "Laugh" is not "laugh", it means "can't laugh or cry", to express one's sadness and indignation of missing the motherland. Of course, the various beautiful nicknames adopted by more bureaucratic gentry and feudal literati are just a cover for being arty and seeking fame.
There are also "nicknames", which are mostly recognized nicknames given by others and are characterizations and descriptions of people. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Bailixi fell to the Chu State and was redeemed by Qin Mu Gong with five black ram skins. He was known as the "Five Doctors", which can be regarded as an ancient nickname. Li Yi, the treacherous Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty, was a traitor inside and outside the palace, and was known as the "Knife in the Smile". In the Song Dynasty, the king served as prime minister for more than ten years and did nothing else except "taking orders, receiving orders, and delivering orders". At that time, he was known as the "Prime Minister with Three Orders". These two nicknames vividly outline the face of feudal bureaucrats. In "Water Margin", 108 people on Liangshan Mountain have nicknames, and most of them accurately describe the characters' personalities, specialties or physical characteristics. These nicknames are well-known as substitutes for names, such as "Black Whirlwind" Li Kui, "Zhi Duo Xing" Wu Yong, "Leopard Head" Lin Chong, "Green-faced Beast" Yang Zhi, "Beautiful Bearded Gong" Zhu Tong, "Mother" "Yaksha" Sun Erniang, "Flea on the Drum" Shi Qian, etc.
In addition to the above-mentioned characters and numbers, there are several other situations that have been commonly used to replace personal names in history:
1. Place of birth (including place of birth, residence, and place of employment, etc.) . For example, Kong Rong in the Eastern Han Dynasty was called Kong Beihai, Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty was called Han Changli, Liu Zongyuan was called Liu Hedong, Meng Haoran was called Meng Xiangyang, Wang Anshi in the Song Dynasty was called Wang Lin'an, etc. In the feudal era, naming people by place names showed respect, which was called "diwang". But at the end of the Qing Dynasty, someone made a couplet: "The Prime Minister Hefei is thin and the world is thin, and the agriculture minister is often familiar with the world's famine." The first couplet refers to Li Hongzhang (from Hefei) who was appointed as the Beiyang Minister (Prime Minister), and the second couplet refers to Weng who was appointed as the Minister of Household Affairs (Sinong). Same (from Changshu). Here, the pun meaning of "地看" is used to satirize the greed and luxury of the feudal bureaucrats.
2. Official title (including title, title, etc.). For example, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ma Yuan, who made the bold statement "When you are poor, you will be strong, when you are old, you will be strong", he was called Ma Fubo (formerly General Fubo); Ban Chao, who joined the army, was called Ban Dingyuan (formerly named Marquis of Dingyuan); Cai Yong was called He was Cai Zhonglang (formerly General Zuo Zhonglang).
3. An honorific title respected by disciples or descendants. For example, Zhou Dunyi in the Song Dynasty called him Mr. Lianxi, Lu Benzhong called him Mr. Donglai, youguang in the Ming Dynasty called him Mr. Zhenchuan, and Wang Euzhi called him Mr. Chuanshan.
4. Posthumous title. That is, the title given to a person after his death based on his deeds during his lifetime. Generally, the posthumous title of the emperor is decided by the ceremonial officials, and the posthumous title of the ministers is given by the court. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were also private posthumous titles.
The characters used as posthumous titles can be roughly divided into three categories: one with a positive meaning, such as "文, 武, 仁, Zhao, Jing, Hui, Mu", etc.; the other with a derogatory meaning, such as "Miao, Ling, Li". ", You, Yang" etc.; the third one expresses sympathy, such as "sorrow, mourning, cherishment, sympathy, mourning" etc. For example, Duke Mu of Qin, King Zhao of Zhou, and Emperor Ai of Han, Bao Zheng in the Song Dynasty was called Bao Xiaosu, Yue Fei was called Yue Wumu, and Qin Hui was called Qin Mu Chou (originally named "Zhongxian" by Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, but changed by Emperor Ningzong of the Song Dynasty). Ji Yun called Ji Wenda and others. Private posthumous titles include Huang Tingjian's disciples in the Song Dynasty who posthumously named him Mr. Wen Jie.
5. Add an adjective before the surname to refer to a specific person with the same surname. For example, Da Dai and Xiao Dai refer to Han Dynasty scholars Dai De and Dai Sheng's uncle and nephew respectively. The "Book of Rites" compiled by them is also called "Da Dai Li" and "Xiao Dai Li" respectively. The uncles and nephews Ruan Ji and Ruan Xian, writers of the Jin Dynasty, were also called Da Ruan and Xiao Ruan respectively. Xie Lingyun and his cousin Xie Huilian in the Southern Dynasties were both poets, and were called Da Xie and Xiao Xie; Da Xie and Xiao Xie also referred to Xie Lingyun and Xie. Among the poets of the Tang Dynasty, Lao Du or Da Du refers specifically to Du Fu, while Xiao Du refers to Du Mu. In the Song Dynasty, the names Lao Su, Da Su, and Xiao Su referred to Su Xun, Su Shi, and Su Che.
6. Call specific people by several surnames. For example, "Ban Ma" refers to the historians Ban Gu and Sima Qian; "Li Du" refers to the Tang Dynasty poets Li Bai and Du Fu (or Li Shangyin and Du Mu); "Yuan Bai" refers to the Tang Dynasty poets Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi; "Han Liu" refers to the Tang Dynasty poets Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi; Tang Dynasty writers Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan; "Er Cheng" refers to the brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, acting scholars of the Song Dynasty; "Three Su" refers to Su Xun and his sons Su Shi and Su Che.
7. Address people by their first name and last name. Li Bai was called Li Twelve, Han Yu was called Han Shiba, Liu Zongyuan was called Liu Ba, Yuan Zhen was called Yuan Jiu, Bai Juyi was called Bai Twenty-two, Qin Guan was called Qin Qi, Ouyang Xiu was called Ou Jiu, Huang Tingjian was called Huang Jiu and so on.
The development of human surnames and given names is part of human spiritual civilization and material civilization. Originally, the name of anything has little to do with the essence of the thing. A good name does not necessarily have a good essence. In the same way, a bad name does not necessarily have a bad essence. But once this name is related to politics, economy, The connection between culture and nation has the significance of culture, politics, sociology and ethnology. Therefore, by studying this, we can gain a deeper understanding of a nation’s culture and history. This also has reference significance for today's socialist modernization construction.
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