When the prince of Duke Huan of Lu was born, Duke Huan of Lu asked the doctor Shen Sui for advice on the principles of naming.
Shen Sui replied:
"There are five names: faith, righteousness, image, falsehood, and Kind. Take birth as faith, take virtue and destiny as righteousness, take the name as the image, take it from things as falsehood, take it from the father as the kind, not to the country, not to the official, not to the mountains and rivers, not to the hidden disease, not to the Animals are not used as tools or coins. Zhou people use taboos to serve gods and names, so they will be tabooed if they use the country. If they use officials, they will waste their positions. Coins abolished rituals. In the Jin Dynasty, Xihou abolished Situ, in the Song Dynasty, Wu Gong abolished Sikong, and Xianjun and Wu abolished Ershan. This is because big things cannot be used." - "Zuo Zhuan·Huan Gong Sixth Year." 》
Five principles of naming
Shen Sui mentioned that there are five principles of naming: trust, righteousness, image, falseness and category.
Faith comes from reputation. For example, Tang Shuyu. Shu Yu was the younger brother of King Zhou Cheng, the son of King Wu of Zhou. When King Wu of Zhou met Shu Yu's mother, he dreamed that God said to King Wu: "I will let you have a son named Yu, and I will give him the Tang Dynasty." When King Wu's wife gave birth to the baby, there was a word "Yu" On the baby's hand, so he was named Yu. ("Historical Records: The Jin Family")
Another example is Mr. Lu's friends. When he was about to be born, his father, Duke Huan of Lu, had someone tell a divination. The divination said: "He is a boy named 'You'. He is located between the two communities and will become an assistant in the palace. After Ji You's death, the state of Lu no longer prospered." ." There was a word "Friend" on his palm, so he named it after Friends, and his name was Cheng Ji. His descendants are the Ji family. ("Historical Records: The Family of Dukes of Lu and Zhou")
Taking virtue and destiny as righteousness. For example, King Wen of Zhou was named Chang, and King Wu of Zhou was named Fa. The grandfather of King Wen of Zhou was Gu Gongdanfu. Taijiang, the wife of Gu Gong, gave birth to a young son, Ji Li. Ji Li married Tai Ren. Both Tai Jiang and Tai Ren were virtuous women. She gave birth to Ji Chang, King Wen of Zhou Dynasty. She was a "sage". Gu Gong said, "There should be a prosperous person in my world." , Is it going to be prosperous?" The hope of revitalizing the Zhou clan was pinned on this grandson. King Wen of Zhou really lived up to his grandfather's expectations and had two out of three parts of the world, laying the foundation for King Wu of Zhou to destroy Yin. ("Historical Records·Zhou Benji")
Take analogy as an image. For example, Confucius's head looks like a Niqiu. Confucius' parents prayed to Niqiu and Confucius was born. Confucius was born with a hollow in the middle of his head, so he was named Qiu and given the courtesy name Zhongni. ("Historical Records: The Family of Confucius")
Taking things from things is false. For example, when Confucius' son Boyu was born, Duke Zhao of Lu sent a big carp to express his congratulations. Confucius felt that it was a great honor for the king to personally give him something, so he named his son Li, whose nickname is Boyu.
Takes the parent as the class. Duke Huan of Lu's prince Tong was born on the same day as him and named him Tong.
Six situations that should be avoided
Six situations that should be avoided: not to the country, not to the official, not to the mountains and rivers, not to the hidden disease, Not with animals, not with utensils or coins.
People in the Zhou Dynasty used taboos to serve gods (this refers to ancestor gods). Names should be tabooed after the death.
Not based on the country. The son of a king is not named after his country. The country name cannot be changed, so the principle is to avoid naming it the same as the country name. For example, a son of the State of Lu cannot be named Lu.
Not as an official. If you take the name of an official position, you have to change the name of the official position. For example, when the Marquis of Jin Xi was named Situ, the Jin State abolished the position of Situ and renamed it Zhongjun. Song Wu's official name was Sikong, and the Song Dynasty abolished the position of Sikong and renamed it Sicheng. This is not the norm and is usually avoided so as not to cause official confusion.
Not with mountains and rivers. To take the name of mountains and rivers, you have to change the names of mountains and rivers. For example, the names of Duke Xiang of Lu and Duke Wu of Lu were Ao, so the mountains were named after their location. This is also not something that can be taken for granted.
Don’t hide your illness. Do not use disease names. It is unlucky and you should avoid bad luck.
Not as an animal. There is no need to name the animal used for sacrifice, otherwise the animal cannot be used for sacrifice. For example, a famous pig cannot be sacrificed with a pig, and a famous sheep cannot be sacrificed with a sheep.
Not in exchange for currency. Do not use the name of the instrument or currency, otherwise it will affect the etiquette.
The general principle is that you cannot use the name of some important things, otherwise it will cause confusion due to the name change.
Of course, this is for the son of the king, the future king. For an ordinary person, for example, if someone is named after a certain mountain or river, the country will naturally not change the name of the mountain or river for this reason. But everyone can call the name of this mountain and river, so it cannot be avoided by the elders. Therefore, these principles also apply to ordinary people.