1. Name
Name is the title of something. When human beings develop language thinking, in order to distinguish widely different things, they must give different names to different things. The same goes for different people. Reflected in human language, different languages ??represent different things, which are the so-called "names".
In the early days of writing, after a child was born, his grandparents or parents (the esteemed person in the family) would name the child. This name was only used for calling, and was only a sound symbol that specifically referred to the child. There is no rush to put it into words. After naming the son, the father told the subordinate officials about his son's name, and the subordinate officials told the Lu officials. The Lu officials wrote two copies, one of which was hidden in the Lu government, and the other was dedicated to the state officials and kept in the state government.
Due to the richness of language, parents can give their children a variety of different names with all-encompassing meanings. Children who grow up from infancy to teenagers year by year live in the clan family and are protected and raised by the clansmen. These clansmen call them by their names, and most of them are their elders or people older than him. . Because of this relationship, it can be said that most people who call him by his name are people he should respect. All others call him by number according to the ranking of brothers. For example, Li Bai is called Li Twelve, Bai Juyi is called Bai Twenty-two and so on.
The ancients believed that choosing a name is a major event in life. You cannot choose it just as you want. You must follow certain principles of naming, otherwise it will not meet the requirements of etiquette. "There are five names, trust and righteousness." , there are likenesses, falsehoods, and kinds” ("Zuo Zhuan of the Spring and Autumn Annals·The Sixth Year of Duke Huan"). The so-called "youxin" means that the child is named after the characteristics of the child at birth; the so-called "youyi" refers to the auspicious omen at birth; the so-called "youxiang" means that the child is named after similar things. , that is, similar to his father.
Afterwards, with the continuous development of Yin-Yang theory, people gradually paid attention to the "five elements mutually reinforcing each other" in the eight characters and names. For example, Lu Xun's article "Hometown": "I have heard the name Runtu for a long time, and I know He and I are similar in age. He was born in a leap month and lacks earth in the five elements, so his father called him leap earth. "Zhang Binglin, a master of Chinese culture, has eight characters: Wuchen, Yichou, Guimao, Gengshen, born in the twelfth month, metal is cold and water is cold, and the five elements are lacking fire. His name is Binglin, and he calls himself Taiyan. However, the five elements of Chinese characters are in conflict with each other, and sometimes there are hidden factors that are detrimental to health. For example, with the name Song **, the dawn zone and the sun zone belong to fire, while the wave zone belongs to water. Water and fire are in conflict with each other, so there are adverse health factors.
The word
The word is closely related to the ancient crown ceremony, so we will talk about the crown ceremony first. According to the "Book of Rites·Quli" records: "When a man is twenty, his crown is given by his name." "When a woman is married, her hairpin is called her." Here, "the crown is called her" and "hairpin is called her" refer to the crowning ceremony. The crowning ceremony is roughly equivalent to the coming-of-age ceremony of many primitive tribes. It is a crowning ceremony held to indicate that a man has reached adulthood. After being crowned (women are given hairpins), they have the rights and obligations of adults, and their social, marriage, religious, distribution, war, and political participation are different from those before being crowned. The ancients took the wording in the crowning ceremony. Since the crowning ceremony is so important, its etiquette must also be very grand. Every move in the crowning ceremony has requirements, and the guests will choose a title for them. "When he reaches the age of weak crown or when he gets married, a famous official will honor him with another honorific title, which is called a title" ("Li") Matthew's Notes on China").
Why should the guest pick the characters? We infer that not many people could master the writing in ancient times, so this guest should be filled by someone with a relatively high level of writing. However, even so, in the face of many different names, it is definitely not easy to use a limited number of words that are out of touch with the language to attach the meaning of the "name". You have to try your best to find a close one. The words of this language name concept to express it. This word, when written, is "zi".
In this way, people at that time not only had a name they had used since childhood that could be called by mouth, but also had a word that could be written and recorded. Both names and characters are representative symbols of a person. One is a sound symbol and the other is a text symbol. The bridge between the two is their different meanings.
In ancient times, women and men were slightly different.
Women have relatively little social interaction, and are mainly used for marriage matchmaking after adulthood: "Men and women are not known to each other unless there is a matchmaker." At this time, he quickly came up with a "word" ("A woman is promised to marry, and her hairpin is a word.") , for use, the use of the word "女" is almost exclusively for engagement. Later generations called girls who were not engaged to marry "Wei Zi" or "Wai Zi", and those who were already engaged were called "Ji Zi". Therefore, in ancient times, some famous women had characters, such as Cai Yan and Cai Zhaoji. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the serious decline in the status of women and the abolition of the crown ceremony, there were very few women who took the title.
The relationship between names and characters
1. From the perspective of the requirements of feudal etiquette, it is mainly the need to distinguish between superior and inferior.
In ancient times, people only had names but no words. Names and characters came into being with the gradual maturity of Confucianism, feudal etiquette, and anxious social needs. "Shuowen": "Name is self-named. It comes from the mouth and the evening. The evening is the dark side, and the dark side does not meet each other, so it is named by the mouth." In the dark, people are connected with each other, and because they can't see, they have to speak with their mouths. Make a certain sound symbol to represent yourself. This is the original name of human beings. At this time, there is no distinction between superiority and inferiority, but the ruling class must maintain the etiquette of "lord, minister, father, son," and the "self-name" must also be different. Everyone cannot be the same. The same goes for calling other people's names. If the call is inappropriate, it is considered indecent.
Generally speaking, the ancients called themselves by name in front of the venerable without saying a word to show their humility and respect for the other party, and when talking to people of lower status or status than themselves, they called themselves by name. When, it is generally called a word. "Qin Ji" says: "The ruler is to his ministers, and the master is to his disciples. It's okay to give them names. As for fellow officials to officials, the same surname to younger brothers, and fellow disciples to friends, you can call them by their names but not by their names. Therefore, "Gongyang Zhuan" says: "The name is not as respectable as the name, but it does not mean that the person's name is not as respected as the person's name, but that the person's name is almost respectful, and the person's name is almost inferior." That is to say. , being called by someone's name means that you are humbler than the other person, and being called by someone's name means that you are more noble than the other person. Therefore, in ancient times, it was a sign of disrespect to directly denounce his name. Among colleagues of the same generation, calling each other by their first names also shows respect for each other.
The regulations in this regard were very strict in ancient times. For example, when you call yourself before your father, you have to give your name, and your father calls his own name. This is "the name of the son before the father, and the name of the minister before the king." Kings and emperors are the most respected, so it is said that "the king has no name." The difference between a name and a character eventually became a special symbol of identity: "The name is the reason why one is respected, and the respected person is the reason why one is named; the character is why one is humbled, and the humble person is why one is called oneself." At this point, names and characters have simply become marks and symbols that distinguish social status from inferiority.
2. From a personal perspective, there is a certain connection between names and characters.
"Qin Ji" says: "The crown has a word, so its name is respected. The name becomes a ritual, and the word depends on the name." "The word depends on the name" shows that the meaning of "zi" comes from Derived from "name". Only in this way can the two have a relationship between the outside and the inside, and the ancients called the characters "table characters". This relationship leads to the saying that "when a person is famous, he knows his character, and when he hears the character, he knows his name."
There are many relationships between names and characters in ancient China. The following are some of the more typical ones:
First, there is a complementary relationship. That is, the word explains and illustrates the name, and the two meanings complement each other. For example, Yue Fei's name is Fei, and his courtesy name is Pengju. Pengju means the big peng spreads its wings, which means flying; Zhuge Liang's name is Liang, and its courtesy name is Kongming. Special), Ping and Yuan explain each other; Du Fu, whose name is Fu, has the courtesy name Zimei, and Fu is a good name for a man; Su Shi, whose name is Shi, has the courtesy name Zizhan, and Shi is the crossbar of the ancient cart coins, which can be supported by people on the cart. To look into the distance means to look far away.
Second, complementary relationship. The word is a supplement to the name in meaning, making the meaning expressed more complete and perfect.
For example, Chao Buzhi, a writer in the Song Dynasty, had the courtesy name Wujiu. The character and name complement each other, which together means "Buzhiwujiu"; Zhang Jiuling, a minister in the Tang Dynasty, had the courtesy name Zishou. Nine is the highest number, and the only correct age is, of course, Longevity; Du Shenyan, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, insisted on keeping his words simple, and he used the words to supplement his name, that is, he insisted on "keeping his words simple"; Gao Song, a Song Dynasty native, had the courtesy name Guo Ying, and the couplets are big pillars, which together mean, this "Gao Song" "Nie Gui, a native of the Yuan Dynasty, will definitely be called the pillar of the country in the future. Nie Gui, also known as Tingqi, is a jade instrument used by emperors and princes in ancient times to hold various ceremonies.
Third, parallel relationship. The name and the character have the same or similar meaning. For example, Meng Jiao, whose name is Dongye, is similar to Jiao. Mencius called Ke, with the courtesy name Ziyu, and Ke and Yu have similar meanings; Bangu, whose given name is Gu, and whose courtesy name is Mengjian, together mean solidity; Song Dynasty historian Zheng Qiao, whose courtesy name is Yuzhong, together means a woodcutter and fisherman.
Fourth, repeated relationships. The name and the character are exactly the same in meaning, and they are the same character, because the character is usually two characters, just add a certain character before and after the name. For example, Li Bai, whose given name was Taibai; Du Mu, whose given name was Muzhi; Gongye Chang, whose given name was Zi Chang; and Han Bo, whose given name was Kang Bo.
Fifth, the opposite relationship. The names and characters have opposite meanings (the characters have opposite meanings, but they are complementary in terms of etiquette or theory). Wang Ji, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, was famous for his achievements and his courtesy name was Wugong. Merits are achievements, and those who are given the word "without merit" are called modestly; Confucius's disciple Zigong, whose surname is Duanmu, whose given name is Ci, whose courtesy name is Zigong, Ci, is from top to bottom, Gong, from bottom to top, the meaning of the word is opposite and the overall meaning is complement each other. Similar situations include: Huang Sun, a native of the Southern Dynasty, whose courtesy name is Yizhi; Liao Deming, a native of the Southern Song Dynasty, whose courtesy name is Zihui; Lu Rou, a native of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, whose courtesy name is Zigang, etc.
Habits other than names and characters
In ancient times, people were "born with a name, a strong character," and after middle age they had a nickname, which was something other than a person's name or character. Alias, this title is usually given by oneself, but it can also be awarded by the highest local official. After having a number, anyone can call his number regardless of whether the person is present or not. There is not necessarily a meaningful relationship between the number, the name, and the character. The number is generally related to the person's living environment, characteristics, religious beliefs, aspirations, hobbies, and attitudes towards politics and other things. For example, Bai Juyi was known as Xiangshan Jushi, Su Shi was known as Dongpo Jushi, and Ouyang Xiu was known as "Liuyi Jushi" in his later years. That is to say, there were 10,000 volumes of books, 1,000 volumes of inscriptions, a qin, a game of chess, a pot of wine, and more. Going up to himself is called "Six One". Lu Zhaolin, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, was nicknamed Shengzhi and nicknamed Youyouzi, because he was from Youzhou and had a long-lasting ambition to care about the country and the people.