In fact, many people should have discovered that in the past dynasties after the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, when people chose names, their names were relatively simple in the form of surname plus given name. In addition, there were also There are characters, but the format of the names is still very consistent. However, in the pre-Qin period, especially the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people's names sounded strange, such as Fu Chai, Qing Ji, Shu Liang He, etc. These names sounded strange to others. It always makes people feel very strange. Could it be that many surnames were later lost? How did people choose names during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period? 1. Why are the names of Fu Chai, Gou Jian, and Shu Liang He strange
Names such as "Fucha" and "Goujian" are actually transliterations. It seems that people in the Spring and Autumn Period have strange names, but this is actually normal. This can be divided into two situations. One is people from all over China. For example, Confucius’ father was called “Sh Liang He”. Is this name strange? There are also people with the surname Shu? Another example is the famous romantic man whom the old master went to meet. Female Nanzi, this name is strange enough. Could it be that her surname is Nanzi? This situation is mainly because the name form of people in the Spring and Autumn Period (and before) was different from that of today. On the one hand, there is a divergence of surnames. Men are called surnames instead of surnames, but surnames are unstable and often change with changes in their fiefdoms and official positions.
For example, we all know that Marshal Xian Zhen of the Jin Dynasty was also called Yuan Zhen. Zhen is a given name, and Xian and Yuan are surnames. He first sealed it in the place of "Yuan", so it was called Yuan Zhen, and later it was changed to the place of "Xian", so it was called Xian Zhen. For women, they are called by their surname instead of their given name. Although the surname is fixed for a long time, the structure of women's names is different from that now. The surname is placed last. So the "Nanzi" mentioned above is actually the surname "Zi". The surname Zi is the national surname of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and Confucius also had the surname Zi.
On the other hand, the structure of people's names in the Spring and Autumn Period was different from today's, such as Confucius's father and uncle Liang He mentioned earlier. Of course, this old gentleman's surname is not Uncle. As mentioned before, his surname is Zi. Uncle is not his surname, his surname is Kong. So what does Shuliang He mean by Mao? In fact, "Shuliang" is his character, and He is his name. This is a combination of name and character.
Similarly, for example, Confucius's ancestor-Kong Fujia, this old gentleman was given the name Kongfu and his given name was Jia. His descendants took his name as their surname and called them Kong. This is how Confucius' Kong came to be. In the eyes of us modern people, the names Kong Fujia and Shu Lianghe are so strange. Another situation is the people from the surrounding barbarian countries, such as "Fu Chai" and "Yao Li".
It should be noted that Wu and Yue both belong to Baiyue and are Yue people. Their language is different from that of China. To give a very famous example: E Junzixi, the younger brother of the King of Chu, was playing in the river. The bells and drums were ringing on the boat. The boater was a Yue man, so he sang a song. What kind of song was it? He sang: : "The grass and grass are overflowing to Changzhou, Fangze, Changzhou, and even the state. How can the Qinxuxusuman be almost Zhaochan, the Qin Dynasty overflow, and the rivers and lakes can be followed?" Zixi said, what kind of bird song is this? Come on, please translate it for me, so a translator came over and said, he sang "What night is it today, I am in the middle of the boat. What day is it today, I have to be in the same boat with the prince." . I am not ashamed of being humiliated. My heart is stubborn but I know that there are trees in the mountains and there are branches in my heart. "This is the famous "Yueren Song", It is also the earliest translated poem in Chinese history. From this example, we know that the language of Wuyue is different from that of China, so names like Goujian, Fucha, and Helu are naturally transliterated and have no practical meaning. 2. Why are the names of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods so strange?
In fact, each dynasty has its own unique culture, so it also has its own popular names. In ancient times, "Bo Zhong Shu Ji" was used to calculate rankings, which is similar to the modern "Zhang San Li Si Wang Wu". During the Jin Dynasty, people generally believed in Buddhism, so most people's names at that time were called so-and-so, so-and-so, and so-and-so; during the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism and Taoism coexisted, and the religious meaning was very strong, so most people liked to give such names as so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, etc. A certain way.
In the 1950s and 1960s, that is, my father’s generation, because of the strong patriotic enthusiasm, most people liked to call them names such as Jianguo and Weidong; in the 1970s and 1980s, that is, our generation In one generation, because of their parents’ wishes, most people’s names were Qiang, Bo, and Yang; in the 1990s and 2000s, because their parents loved watching Qiong Yao dramas, they had a lot of names like Zihan, Zihan, and Zihan. Names like Zixuan and Zihao.
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period also had their own popular names, but because it was so long ago, many cultures either disappeared or changed their flavor. For example, the words mortar, ying, ke, and martingale are all nouns. The mortar is a kind of agricultural tool, and few people see it now; ke is a kind of cart, which has been eliminated for more than two thousand years and no one has seen it; yingzhi necklace , now there is no such meaning; as for the martingale, it refers to the leather strap of the horse. Although the meaning is not much different, few people come into contact with it.
Of course, in addition to this, there were some common names during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, such as Ying Zheng, Sun Wu, Li Xin, etc. It seems that no matter which era, people will take such common names. 3. The difference between surname and surname
The surname is the place where the ancestors came from; the surname is the place where the descendants are divided; "the surname is the symbol that marks the blood lineage of the family." According to research, ancient Chinese surnames originated from totem worship and were clan emblems or symbols.
The original source of ancient Chinese surnames is the primitive religious worship, totem worship and ancestor worship based on the "Way of Heaven". Primitive totem worship is the root of ancient Chinese surnames. A large number of ancient documents support this view.
Scholars believe that the original origin of Chinese surnames was primitive religious worship, totem worship and ancestor worship based on the "Way of Heaven". The so-called "Way of Heaven" refers to the rules that govern everything. Regarding totems, there are three views in academic circles: the totem name is the unique name of a group; the totem is the ancestor of the group, and the members are all derived from the totem; the totem is the protector of the group. The origin of surnames can be traced back to the matrilineal clan system in primitive human society, so many ancient surnames in China have the character female next to or at the end. A surname is a specific symbol that distinguishes a clan, such as the name of a tribe or the name of a tribal leader.
The famous eight surnames in ancient China: Ji, Yao, Gui, Si, Jiang, Ying, Si, and Cui.
The Yellow Emperor lived on the shore of Jishui and took Ji as his surname. Sima Qian said in "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the Five Emperors": "The Yellow Emperor had twenty-five sons, and fourteen of them had the surname." "Three Languages" Zhongxu Chen explained: "There are twenty-five sects of the Yellow Emperor's sons, and there are fourteen people with the surnames, which are the twelve surnames, Ji, You, Qi, Ji, Teng, Zhen, Ren, Xun, Xi, Ji, Yan, Yi Yes. But Qingyang and Yigu have the same surname." The later five emperors Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Ku, Yao, Shun, Xia Yu, Qi, the ancestor of the Shang people, and Houji, the ancestor of the Zhou people, were all Huangdi. descendants. Hou Ji inherited the surname Ji, and his descendants established the Zhou Dynasty. At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, when the emperor Ji Fa granted the princes a large number of titles, there were 53 countries with the surname Ji. The surname Ji is ranked 297th in "Hundred Family Surnames". There are 411 surnames derived from the surname Ji, accounting for 82% of the total 504 surnames in "Hundred Family Surnames". There are countless surnames evolved from it, so it is said that the Yellow Emperor is the Chinese The ancestors of the nation.
Emperor Yan lived next to Jiangshui and took Jiang as his surname. Jiang is also one of the important origins of many surnames in China today, such as Lu, Xie, Qi, Gao, Lu, Cui, etc. The Jiang surname ranks 60th among the 100 Chinese surnames ranked by population today.
Guan originated from Emperor Ku’s Gaoxin clan; Ying originated from Shaohao’s Jintian clan; Yao and Gui had the same origin, both originating from Emperor Shun; Si originated from Dayu.
In addition, the son of a tribal leader can also receive a surname. The Yellow Emperor had twenty-five sons, fourteen of whom had the surnames Ji, You, Qi, Ji, Teng, Ren, Xun, Wei, Xi, Ji, Zhang, and Yi. Four of them belonged to the second surname. . After Zhu Rong, there were eight surnames: Ji, Dong, Peng, Tu, Ju, Cao, Zhen and Mi. They were called the eight surnames of Zhu Rong in history.
With the development of social productivity, the matrilineal clan system transitioned to the patrilineal clan system, and the clan system was gradually replaced by the class social system. The method and means of governing the country by giving soil and life to the clan emerged.
The emergence of the clan records the march of human history into class society.
The surname and surname are two stages of human progress and the product of civilization.