Wang Yingkui, a Qing Dynasty man, once said: "The ancients used names to correct the body and words to express virtue." It means that there is a difference between a name and a word. A name is used to distinguish each other, and a word is used to express virtue.
They have different properties and uses. Generally speaking, in ancient times, name was a kind of phased title. When I was a child, I called my nickname, but when I grew up, I called my name. With words, the name becomes something that should be avoided. If it is commensurate, it can only be called words, not names.
In most cases, a name and a word * * * together constitute a person's code name. Although the uses are different, there is still a connection between them. The ancients chose words mostly because of their names, and it was almost impossible to see the relationship between names and the content of words.
In addition to names and words, the ancients also used numbers instead of names. No. is a fixed alias, also known as "alias". As early as the Zhou Dynasty, people began to take numbers. In this regard, "Zhou Li" explained that number means "it is more beautiful to respect its name", which means that number is a kind of honorific title or a good title other than name and character. In terms of words, fetching numbers is different from naming and writing, and most of them are not limited by the number of words.
Because ancient people chose numbers at will, they didn't have to avoid them, which stimulated the Ming and Qing people who suffered from literary inquisition and taboo to some extent, prompting them to choose other names to express themselves. At that time, most people took a nickname, but some people had several.
Extended data
In history books or ancient books, we can often see that the ancients had characters besides names. The ancients had "names" and "characters", and "names" were also called "real names". The old saying goes that an ancient baby was named by his father three months after birth (of course, some people said that they could take a name after birth);
The word "Zi", also called "Biao Zi", is a name associated with the real name. Men take the characters when they are crowned at the age of 20 (however, in the troubled times of the Three Kingdoms, their thoughts are rebellious, and both Cao Chong and Sun Liang may not follow them before they die), while women 15 take the characters when they are crowned.
Names existed before the Xia Dynasty, and word selection is said to have started from the Shang Dynasty. For example, the overthrown Shang Tang, formerly known as Lu, was also known as Tianyi and the word Tang. Also, there is a difference between a name and a character. The ancients often claimed their own names to show humility, called people's words to show respect, and the combination of surnames and words was also a kind of respect.
Names and words are related, related. Some meanings are related, some are complementary, and some are opposite. In addition, the names and characters of the ancients are often taken from classic ancient books.
Baidu Encyclopedia: Name