Zhu Yuanzhang was a very interesting emperor. Not only was he called the Beggar Emperor, but he also did some interesting things. For example, his name coincided with the periodic table of chemistry. Something with a high rate. Many people think it is a coincidence and feel a little strange, but if you understand it carefully, you will find how interesting it is.
The periodic table of elements was invented by the Russian Mendeleev, and was later introduced to China. Xu Shou’s translation led to the current chemical periodic table. As for the princes of the Ming Dynasty, such as "Zhu Gongxi, Zhu Shuai'an, Zhu Zai'an, Zhu Shuai'zin, Zhu Xiaoti, Zhu Xiaoli, etc." are they very similar? It feels strange.
In fact, the similarity of this name is related to the Five Elements Theory that Zhu Yuanzhang believed in at the time. When Zhu Yuanzhang was naming, he chose the name according to the standard format of surname + seniority + single character. His sons, Prince Zhu Biao, second son Zhu Xi, third son Zhu Xi, and King Yan Zhu Di, all have wood as the five elements among the five elements.
Their descendants set up different five elements according to different branches. For example, Zhu Di's branch is "Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Gaosui, Zhu Gaoyun." It is based on the generation of "Gao", which contains the two five elements of water and fire.
The same thing about naming also troubled our great inventor "Xu Shou" in the late Qing Dynasty.
Although Xu Shou had the help of British missionaries and others to translate chemical knowledge, Xu Shou still needed his own efforts to translate it into Chinese. In the process of transliterating it, Xu Shou suddenly Did you find that the characters created by the royal family of the Ming Dynasty did not meet the requirements?
Then I tried it again and found that it seemed to work, so I used it.
So let’s not say that the high coincidence rate between the chemical periodic table and the name of the Ming Dynasty prince is actually a coincidence, but it is not. It can be said that the original Xu Shou was based on the naming rules of Lao Zhu's family in the Ming Dynasty. Of course, the coincidence rate is high.