An epithet refers to a name other than the original name that expresses virtue or the meaning of the original name. In ancient times, when a man was 20 years old and a woman was 15 years old, it was inconvenient to call them by their first names. Therefore, another alias related to the meaning of the original name was chosen and called a word to express its virtue. When people call each other respectfully, they must call them virtuous words. The latter word is called table word.
It originated in the Shang Dynasty, became popular in the Zhou Dynasty, and later formed a system. Until modern times, it was still used by many people in the intellectual and cultural circles, such as Hu Shi's courtesy name Shizhi, Sun Wenzai's courtesy name, and Mao Zedong's courtesy name Runzhi. In modern times, except for people in the intellectual and cultural circles who still use it, few ordinary people use it anymore. However, China has a population of 1.3 billion, and the incidence of the same name and surname is too high. The cultural circle now intends to restore the system of table names, and some people like history. There are many people with cousin names, such as Li Haoran, Zi Tan, Zhou Qixing, Cheng Qi, and Zhang Ce, Zhu Hao.
Extended information
The reasons why the ancients chose the word
1. The word means entering adulthood, marrying a man to a woman, getting married and having children.
2. The wording is chosen out of respect.
3. The wording is chosen to avoid taboos. If the name is taboo, the ancients would avoid using the name and refer to it by the given name.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Table of Characters
People's Daily Online - The ancients had a lot of knowledge in their "characters"