2. Why are you still overjoyed after being beaten - Talk about the naming ceremony
In Lanping County in the northwest of Yunnan Province, there lives a real "minority" ethnic group - the Pumi people .
Every year on the early morning of the fifth day of July, some young women of the Pumi tribe often hold their children in one hand and a wooden stick in the other, hiding on the roadside or under the bridge, waiting for the first person to pass by. The elderly or adult men and women, taking advantage of the situation, suddenly jumped out and hit the person with a stick.
What’s interesting is that the one who beats someone is not ashamed; the one who is beaten does not get angry even though he is frightened. Instead, he smiles and is overjoyed.
What is going on?
It turns out that the Pumi people believe that when children are born, they are often young and ignorant, weak and prone to illness. Therefore, it is necessary to give a Chinese name to avoid disasters. Their "naming" ceremony was held on the fifth day of July. On this day, the mother of the child led her child to hide at the entrance of the village, on the roadside, and under the bridge early in the morning.
When a passer-by is beaten, the child’s mother will immediately say: “You don’t care about the child anymore? Why don’t you give the child a name?”
No matter who the person is being beaten, , when encountering such a scene, you must give your child an auspicious name. Otherwise, you won't be able to escape anyway. Therefore, on the fifth day of July every year, people without certain knowledge dare not get up early and walk alone without permission. However, if Mr. Fang in "Fortress Besieged" lived here, he would definitely not be able to sleep the first night.
This is the Pumi people's beating ceremony.
Today, grand naming ceremonies are a rare and extinct old custom except for some ethnic minorities and closed and backward areas where ancient customs still exist. However, as an important aspect of onomastics, it still has certain research value.
Naming ceremonies have existed in ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad.
1. Naming Ceremony of ***
Since ancient times, people have regarded names as extremely mysterious. It is believed that people's names are closely connected with the body and soul of Chinese people. Therefore, the ancients believed that in all blessings and curses, the name is the key. A person's name is mysteriously connected with his person or soul and must be carefully protected.
Since the name is so important, at the beginning of naming, people have to hold a grand ceremony and choose a good name carefully. This is the same as today when people hold weddings, ribbon-cutting and other ceremonies.
In ancient my country, only princes, generals, ministers, dignitaries and prominent families had names. Therefore, only the upper echelons of these societies have the manpower and material resources to hold grand naming ceremonies. If a prince is born, a "name divination" ceremony will be held, and a melody will be played to determine the name. "Da Dai Li Ji Bao Fu" records: The prince cried when he was born, and the grand master blew the copper and said: There is a certain rhythm in the sound. Dazai said: "This is a delicious dish." Then divine the name.
This means that the prince cried non-stop as soon as he was born. At this time, the grand master standing aside took out a copper instrument and played it, and wanted to play a certain tune that was in harmony with the prince's cry. After hearing this, I thought it was OK, so I started to use the beautiful rhythm in the voice to divine the prince's name. Probably the names of the ancients were mostly used for calling, so the sound must be loud and catchy when called, so the name was determined based on the sound. As for the glyph and meaning of the name, I don’t take it seriously.
From ancient times to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the naming of *** was particularly ceremonial. But there was only one type of ceremony: "divination of names." People at that time had not yet tasted the development of high technology. They did not dare to fight with the sky or the earth, and passively adapted to nature. The naming ceremony is an example. The method of divination is based on the burning turtle as a sign of harmony. For example, in the opening chapter of his masterpiece "Li Sao", the great poet Qu Yuan mentioned his name and surname based on his direct descendants and birth date. The poem goes:
"After Emperor Gaoyang's descendants, my emperor Kao called Boyong, took pictures of Ti Zhen in Meng Zouxi, but Geng Yinwu came down. Huanglan Kuiyu came to Xixi for the first time, and Zhao bestowed Yu Yijia. His name is Zhengzexi, and his courtesy name is Lingjun. Fenwu has this kind of talent, and he also focuses on cultivating his abilities."
The poet said in his poem that he was a descendant of Zhuan Xu. He came into the world on the very auspicious day of the Yin month and the Yin day of the year. On the day he was born, his father burned a tortoise for divination, and he was named "Zhao". Zhao and Zhao were common in ancient times. Its name comes from the hexagram.
The poet added in the "Death Chapter" of "Nine Songs":
"The omen is called Zhengzexi, and the hexagram is called Lingjun."
These two sentences make it even more obvious. The fact that the names of the hexagrams are recorded in the poem shows that people at that time attached great importance to the naming ceremony.
After using the divination method to generate names and the burning turtle observing omens, there are other methods. For example, the tea sage Lu Yu's surname and first name were obtained through divination. According to legend, he was an illegitimate son of unknown origin who drifted by the waterside. He was acquired by Zen Master Zhiji of Jingling and was educated as a disciple. When he grew up, Lu Yu was ashamed of his experience of cutting off his hair and becoming a monk, so he read the Book of Changes and used divination to seek names, and he got the word "Jian" for "Jian": Hong Jian came to Lu, and his feathers could be used as rituals. So he took Lu as his surname, and his given name was Yu with the courtesy name Ziyi. Later, Mr. Qian Zhongshu gave the name "Hongjian" to the protagonist of the masterpiece "The Besieged City".
Han people’s names have a unique feature, that is, they not only have a name but also a character, and the name and the character complement each other. This phenomenon can be found in the "Book of Rites" written more than 2,000 years ago. "Book of Rites" says: "Young name, crown character, fifty-year-old brother, death posthumous title, Zhou Dao." Crown character is one of Zhou Dao. "Add a name in the first three months of life" means that the child should be named after three months of birth. At the same time of naming, the baby's hair should be cut into a bun for both men and women. The father holds the baby's right hand and coughs the name. . After the name is given, the man's name is twenty crown, and the woman's name is Xu's hairpin. According to research, in ancient times, when aristocratic men turned 20 years old, a grand crowning ceremony was held in the ancestral temple. Choosing a name for them was one of the important contents of the crowning ceremony. "Twenty is the way to be a father." The crowning ceremony is a major ceremony to gain meaning in life. Obtaining the second name "zi" after adulthood in this ceremony also symbolizes the beginning of a troubled life.
Divination of names and crowns are ancient customs. With the development of history and the change of dynasties, they gradually became less important to later generations. However, the unified naming ceremony of naming characters has been abandoned, and some new naming ceremonies have spawned in areas with relatively similar cultures and customs. This is reflected in the Han personal name system, mainly in the Jiangnan area, that is, Wuyue. Nomenclature rituals such as catching weeks, putting on the scale, sending names, stealing names, bumping names, etc. are all from the Jiangnan water town.
Zhuzhou, also called Shier. On the child's first birthday, various toys and daily necessities are displayed in front of the child, allowing the child to choose. The person who catches the child is thought to be able to predict the child's temperament and interests throughout his life. If you catch a copper coin, it indicates that the child will make a lot of money in the future; if you hold on to the brush, it indicates that the child will be brilliant and talented. Of course, if a boy reaches out and grabs a handful of flowers and puts them down, people around him will laugh at him for being a "flower pole" when he grows up. For example, Jia Baoyu, the second son of the Jia family in "A Dream of Red Mansions", when arresting Zhou, "stretched out his hand and only grabbed some hairpins and hairpins. Father Zheng became furious and said: In the future, there will be no one who shows off sex!" So he was very unhappy. " Jia Baoyu did indeed hang out among girls all day long, and often enjoyed eating rouge.
Regarding the capture of the Zhou Dynasty, Yan Zhitui of the Northern Qi Dynasty has a description in "Yan's Family Instructions and Customs": "It is a custom in the south of the Yangtze River that when a child is born, he will make new clothes and decorate them. Men will use bows, arrows, paper and pens Then the woman uses a knife, ruler and needle to carve out food, drink, treasures, clothes and toys, and places them in front of the child to watch what he takes in order to test his greed, honesty, stupidity and wisdom, and calls him a tester."
< p> In addition to "predicting" the child's future, Zhuazhou also has another important mission: naming. Zhou Zhou naming is not only popular among the Han people, but also among many ethnic minorities. The ceremony is as mentioned above. If you hold a bow and arrow, you can name your child Longbow, Jinya and other names related to bows and arrows. If you are holding a book, it is usually named Zhongshu, Xishu, etc. For example, Mr. Qian Zhongshu, a literary master, got his name from Zhuzhou.The custom of putting a basket on a scale also originated from Jiangnan. When a baby is born, the packaged baby is weighed on a scale together with a wishful mascot, and the baby is named after how many pounds it weighs. The mascot is decided by the baby's parents. Some include the father's boots or the mother's hair, in the hope that the child will become an official or get rich in the future; some include books or copper locks, hoping that the child will be talented, virtuous, wealthy and long-lived. The mascot should not be too heavy, but the higher the baby's weight, the better. There is a "nine-pound old lady" in Lu Xun's novels. Her favorite saying is "One generation is not as good as the other." The reason was that he had a grandson named Qijin, and later his grandson’s daughter was only six kilograms.
In Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province, the old custom of sending children’s names to gods and Buddhas still remains. Most of the people who adopt this naming ceremony belong to wealthy families, because the children of wealthy families are often spoiled since childhood and are weak and unable to withstand diseases.
In order to ensure that the child is strong and healthy, the father asks his wife to sew a bag with red cloth, write down the year, month, day and time of the child's birth, and put it in the bag, which is called a "passing bag". After the bag is sewn, go to the temple, burn incense, kowtow in greeting, and then ask the monks in the temple to give the child a name. If the deity and Buddha holding the bag are named Jin, the child will be called "Jinsheng", "Jinshou", etc. When the children come to the temple to burn incense, they will call "Ji Ye" to the deity and Buddha hanging the bag.
After the formality of sending names is over, at the end of each year of the lunar calendar, the monks in the temple will check the "posting bags" hanging on each Buddha, remember the names and addresses, make some coarse rice and vegetarian dishes, follow the pictures and send them to In each of the homes of the host children, the host children must serve it as a New Year's Eve dinner. His father, while thanking the monks for their kindness, will also give some copper coins to the monks. This pattern lasts for three years. After the child grows up and gets married, the last procedure has to be completed, that is, "pulling out the bag". The child has to go to the temple to take out the bag. At this point, the "sacred ritual" of naming gods and Buddhas is finally over. However, the name must be retained for a lifetime.
It is said that stealing names and bumping names are also naming customs in Jiangnan. To steal a name, one must take certain risks. The old people pursue having more children and more happiness. Whoever has a prosperous family will be admired by his neighbors. While admiring him, he can't help but think a lot. So how can we catch up with the "population density" of others? This is why we steal the name. One of the laws. When a child is given a name, someone is asked to steal a pair of chopsticks and a rice bowl from a prosperous home, and then name the child "Wan'er" or "Chopsticks". The name-stealer is done. When Kailuo returns, the mother of the child will hold her child in her arms and stand at the door to receive the guests. When the person who steals the name sees the child, he opens his mouth and calls out, "Chopsticks!" or "Wan'er!" The mother of the child has to answer "Hey! Hey!" on behalf of the child who cannot speak. They think that after stealing the name, they will kill themselves. This child is free from illness and disaster. However, this method can be painful for those families with many people. There are not enough bowls and chopsticks in the first place. If the Zhang family comes to steal and the Li family comes to steal, feeding the family becomes a problem. However, with this trend, people with a prosperous population can't help but steal. It is unclear whether the method of "stealing names for a fee" was adopted later.
The ritual of name-checking is similar to that of beating someone up to claim their name. After the child is born, he is not in a hurry to name the child. Instead, he asks Mr. Yin and Yang to choose an auspicious day. When the day comes, the whole family goes out to the bank of the road, carrying fruits and food, burning incense and candles, lighting paper money, and then sits quietly. Stand on the side of the road and wait for pedestrians. When the first person passing by comes over, everyone holds the food and swarms up to them, asking the passerby to enjoy the food and to be a parent to their children. Passers-by are not allowed to refuse. They must admit that they are godfather or godmother, and give the child their own surname as a surname and a different name as a name. It is said that some lumpen proletarians often collude with Mr. Yin Yang in order to enjoy free food and be godfathers and godmothers who do not have to bear the responsibility of raising children. As for the name, just pick one at random. When you see a flower, it's a flower, when you see a grass, it's a grass. When you see a donkey, you call it donkey. It can be seen that in the wide world, there are people of all kinds.
To deal with scoundrels, name seekers have invented another way to "cannot afford to offend but can afford to hide", that is, to name themselves. The method is similar to this, that is, "praying on the road with three-nature incense candles, burning paper money, and throwing food to satisfy the evil spirits of the past." Then he names his children "Lu Yang", "Lu Di", "Ru De" and so on. . As soon as this method came out, the scoundrels not only changed their names from "godparents" to "ghost names", but they still enjoyed the good fortune of food.
Whether it is a collision of names or sending a name, the methods are different, but the purpose is similar. It is nothing more than for the children to live safely and grow up healthily, so as not to suffer unexpected disasters and add sorrow. However, in addition to getting some psychological comfort, what kind of help can this kind of approach do for an individual's future? I'm afraid the materialists should laugh with laughter again if they know this.
2. Naming ceremony of ethnic minorities.
The naming ceremony of ethnic minorities is different from that of the Han people. Affected by the early and late cultural development, their rituals often still remain under the influence of the concept of "name fetishism", and the naming ceremony has a very primitive religious color. In addition, some rituals not only appear in history books, but are still popular and popular even today with the development of society.
In addition to their real names, the Jinuo people who live in Jinuo Mountain, Jinghong County, Yunnan Province also had a "Dinghun name" when they were children. The naming ceremony is quite charming: nine days after the child is born, the parents will kill a pair of red chickens and entertain relatives, friends and village elders. Then a red velvet knot is tied on the child's hat for good luck, and the child is named by the wizard who presides over the "Asam" (soul-fixing) ceremony.
For example, if the wizard calls "Bu La Pao", "Bu La" will be used as the initial pronunciation of the child's soul name. Such as not pulling yesterday, not pulling Xin, not pulling, etc. However, the name of the soul is only used by boys and is not passed down. It is just a symbolic name recognized by society.
The Naxi people mainly live in Lijiang and Yongning areas. The Naxi people in Lijiang area hold a family dinner when their children are one month old, and brainstorm ideas to name the babies at this time. The Mosuo people, a branch of the Naxi ethnic group in Yongning area, value naming much more than the former. On the day or the next day when the baby is born, they will ask Daba or Sima to hold a weight-reducing naming ceremony for the baby. First, chicken, pork, rice balls, etc. are offered in front of the Kitchen God to worship the ancestors, and then a divination is performed. Based on the mother's age, zodiac sign, and the year, month, day, and hour of the child's birth, one can deduce which position on the Bagua it belongs to, and then the divination is performed. Hang one or two characters on the names of gods and Buddhas in the same direction of the child as the child's name to pray for the blessings of the gods and Buddhas.
The baby naming ceremony of the Hani people is the most unique and interesting. After giving birth to the baby, the mother-in-law will light a fire in the courtyard to burn the afterbirth. The burned afterbirth should be put into a small bamboo tube and stored. At the same time, another old man picked up the baby in the house, prayed a blessing, tapped the baby's forehead with his index finger, and said what he was thinking at the same time. baby's nickname.
There is also a ceremony for announcing the baby name, which takes place on the morning of the third day after the child is born. When the time comes, the baby's father has to make a series of preparations. First, he had to make a lot of fist-sized glutinous rice balls, add battered old milk beans and a small strip of chicken wing meat, and pile them into a tower shape on the bamboo table. If the child was a boy, he would also have to invite a child. A boy is required to carry a bamboo tube of glutinous rice, wear overalls, and carry a small hoe; if it is a girl, ask a girl to carry a tube of glutinous rice, carry a coir raincoat, and carry a machete. After everything was ready, the baby's father announced the baby's nickname to everyone. If the child is called "Kuimo" and is a male, the boy in overalls will be asked to hoe the field outside the owner's yard at this time, which means that the baby will be able to plow the land when he grows up; if the child is a girl named "Chu Jiao", The girl wearing a raincoat and a frame must shake the machete in her hand three times in front of the baby's mother and daughter, indicating that her daughter will be able to chop wood for cooking when she grows up.
This is how the millions of Hani compatriots living in the Ailao Mountains and Tianliang Mountains of Yunnan choose nicknames for their next generation.
Some ethnic minorities also practice naming ceremonies that are simple, easy to perform, yet interesting and unique. The Long people living in our central and southwestern areas are a representative example. On the day the child was born, the father went out to find a name for his son. The first thing he encountered was the child's name. It is said that this was mainly used to distinguish the same name. For example, if a Yao woman named Pan gives birth to a third daughter, she is usually named Pan Sanmei. In order to distinguish Pan Sanmei from other Pan Sanmei, he had to go out to find a name. If he saw a swallow as soon as he went out, the child would be called Yanzi Sanmei. If you meet someone driving sheep up the mountain, you call her Yang Sanmei. I don’t know if you have ever encountered someone who has trouble choosing a toilet. If so, it is not elegant to call her a toilet girl. It is said that there is a living Yao named Fangmaide Shitou Yigong. The name "Stone" was given to him by the first stone his father saw when he went out.
3. Naming Ceremony for Foreign Friends
When it comes to foreign naming ceremonies, people probably think of “Christian names” and “Dharma names” first. Because religion often has more power than political power abroad, its influence affects almost every major event of every member of every family. Naming a baby will undoubtedly have religious overtones.
In the West, the Christian name is also called the baptismal name, which is the name given by church clergy when baptizing children. In Asia, Christian names are given by Brahmins. Regardless of the East or the West, the ceremony of choosing a Christian name is very grand. For example, in Nepal, a Brahmin must hold a ceremony to name a child, perform various rituals according to Hindu scriptures, and recite relevant scriptures repeatedly before finally determining a formal name, the Christian name. For Cambodians to choose a Dharma name, they usually have to practice as a monk for more than three months. After receiving the Dharma title, even his parents are not allowed to call him by his common name, but must honor the Dharma title.
Each country has its own naming ceremony. Like Nepal, 89% are Hindus, and its naming ceremony is undoubtedly dominated by Hinduism. There, the naming ceremony of a child is usually held at the end of the "unclean period", that is, on the 11th day after birth. The scale and grandness of the ceremony depend on the social status and economic status of the individual, but whether rich or poor, there are rituals. As the saying goes, "there is a way for fish, and there is a way for shrimps."
For example, King Birendra of Nepal was born on December 28, 1945, and his naming ceremony was held in January 1946 as required. On the day of naming, guests gathered, and all the famous Brahmins in the country were invited to the palace. At a predetermined hour, the Brahmins would gather in a carefully arranged courtyard to carefully calculate the constellation position of Birendra's birth, and then Perform various rituals according to Hindu scriptures. They recited the relevant scriptures repeatedly, and finally announced the word "B" in a solemn atmosphere, which means that naming with "B" as the beginning is the most auspicious. So the good name used today was given to Birendra: Birendra.
Ordinary people cannot be as rich and powerful as kings. They only invite two or three or even one Brahmin to their homes to hold the naming ceremony. When the ceremony is held, the fathers of children born out of wedlock are required to be present, because children born out of wedlock without their father present will be included in the ranks of those who cannot be contacted. I don’t know if there are many children born out of wedlock in Nepal. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a special provision for this.
The naming ceremony of Afghans is similar to that of Nepal, except that Brahman is replaced by Mullah or Imam. However, the naming ceremonies of some ethnic minorities in Afghanistan are quite special. For example, some tribes in the Nuristan area light a fire when naming. The whole family sits around the fire, and one member of the family throws wheat grains into the fire. The father of the child sits aside and reads the names of himself, his father, and his grandfather. Name, if a grain of wheat happens to be thrown into the fire when a certain name is pronounced, then this name will be named as the child's name.
Burmese people are also keen on choosing an auspicious day to hold a naming ceremony for their children within one to four weeks after the baby is born. The ceremony is usually presided over by a person of high moral character, and eminent monks are invited. After reading the relevant scriptures, the host said some auspicious words and washed the baby's hair with prepared soap locust water. The invited participants also symbolically applied some shampoo on the baby's head, and then shaved the baby's head. Fetal hair, put on new white clothes, wine and perfume. The host then gives the child a suitable name. After that, give the child a mirror to let him admire himself, and grab some knives, needles, pens and the like for him to grab for signs. Finally, someone has to hold the child, ask him to put his feet on the ground, as if walking, and squat seven times to express the hope that he will grow up soon.
Russians believe that water is a symbol of life, so when a baby falls, the parents hold the baby and invite other tribesmen to go to the water's edge with them. The sorcerer bathes the baby, then chants sutras to ward off evil spirits and predicts the future for the baby. Afterwards, the child's parents choose to name their child after an ancestor or hero. After the victory of the October Revolution, baby naming ceremonies in rural areas were held in village Soviet halls or clubs, with the chairman of the Soviet being the host. Cities have special "baby palaces" for naming ceremonies for newborn babies.
Abroad, whether in Asia or Europe, naming ceremonies are often mixed with a very strong religious atmosphere. In China, whether it is Han Chinese or ethnic minorities, the superstitious color of naming ceremonies is also quite strong. Fundamentally speaking, the naming ceremony itself is an old custom with feudal overtones. Therefore, with the development of science and technology and the progress of culture, this ritual is increasingly abandoned by people. So far, in addition to religious restrictions, naming ceremonies with other meanings are rare and are only scattered in remote areas. I imagine that future naming ceremonies will eventually be consigned to the scrapheap of history along with the demise of religion. Paginated navigation