1. The names and characters of the ancients were different.
The baby is named by his father three months after birth. When a man reaches the age of 20 (having his hair tied and crowned), he takes the name during the crowning ceremony. When a girl is 15 years old, she takes her haircut ceremony.
2. The ancients were particular about choosing words.
Words are limited to people with status. In the Zhou Dynasty, for men, "Bo Zhong Shu Ji" was usually added in front of the character to indicate rank, and "father fu2, fu" was added after the character to indicate gender; or row was used as the character. For example, Zhongni's father, Zhong, is the second child; father, a man; Ni is the character.
3. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was no taboo about whether names sounded good or not, and whether they were auspicious or not. When selecting characters, "zi", "zi", "ziyuan" and "zilu" are often added before the characters. During the Warring States Period, attention was paid to the beauty and ugliness of names.
4. The taboo avoidance system became increasingly strict after the Qin Dynasty. Some words containing the meaning of overlord, names of emperors, etc. are prohibited.
5. There are more than two names for Zhou, Qin and Han. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were more and more complex names.
6. During the Jin and Jin Dynasties, metaphysics was popular, elegance was emphasized in naming, and "zhi" was popular. Zu Chongzhi, Wang Xizhi, Gu Kaizhi.
7. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism and Taoism were popular, and so were the names of Buddhas.
8. The Tang Dynasty pursued elegance, and names such as Wen, De, Confucianism, and Ya were popular.
9. After the Song Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the character generation genealogy nomenclature was the most popular.
In short, there are four main ways for ancient people to choose names:
1. Names and characters are often synonyms. Qu Yuan, whose given name was Ping and whose courtesy name was Yuan.
2. Some have the opposite relationship. Zeng Dian, named Xi. (White corresponds to black).
3. Some are expressed as two aspects of the same thing. Confucius, courtesy name Zhongni. Qiu, Ni, mountain.
4. Some have exegetical relationships, with the latter explaining the former. Yan Hui, courtesy name Ziyuan. Yuan, backwater.
Be careful about how to pronounce names and characters:
1. Before the Han Dynasty, people were generally called by characters first and then by names. The characters were respected and the names were humble. Call yourself by your name, address your superiors by their names, address your superiors or peers by their names. Qu Yuan (character).
2. After the Han Dynasty, names were given first and then words. Yue Fei (name) Yue Pengju (character).