The surnames, surnames, given names, characters, and numbers of the ancients
Usually when we meet a stranger, if we want to communicate with him, we always ask, "What is your surname?" What's your last name? "Our country holds major meetings and announces personnel arrangements. When there are multiple people holding the same position, or on other occasions, such as when there are multiple editors or authors of a book, the order is often "in order of strokes of the last name." So what is a surname? Are the surnames and surnames the same or different? What happened to the name? When we read ancient books, classical dramas, we often encounter situations where the same person has a nickname and a nickname in addition to his name. Sometimes there is more than one nickname, and he is called differently on different occasions. What's going on?
1. Surname
Volume 24 "Female Part" of Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi": "Surname is what a person is born from, from a girl, to a child, and to a child. "Volume 9 of Ban Gu's "White Tiger Tongde Lun" says: "The surname is born, and the person is born because of the weather." "Zuo Zhuan·Yin Gong Eighth Years" "The emperor builds virtue and is given the surname because of his birth." This all shows that the original meaning of "surname" is "生". Therefore, it is generally believed that the surname was originally a racial title that represented the same blood, ancestry, and blood relationship, referred to as a clan name. As a clan name, it is not the title of an individual person or an individual family, but the title of the entire clan tribe. According to literature, our ancestors originally used surnames for the purpose of "differentiating marriages," "Ming lineage," and "differentiating races." It was produced around the time of the clan commune in primitive society.
Where did the last name come from? People speculate that the origin of the surname is related to the totem worship of the ancestors. In the primitive Mengmei era, each tribe and clan had its own totem worship objects. For example, ears of wheat, bears, snakes, etc. were all the totems of our ancestors, and this kind of totem worship objects became the symbol of the tribe. Later, it became the code name for all members of the tribe, that is, "surname". Since the number of ancient clans and tribes is limited and countable after all, there are very few pure surnames left from ancient times.
The "ancient surnames" sorted out by later generations according to "Spring and Autumn" include: Gui (now Guishui in Zhuolu, Hebei), Si, Zi, Ji, (surnames of the Zhou royal family), Feng, Ying (Qin) Surnames), Ji, Ren, Ji, Qian, Cao, Qi, Ju, Jiang, Dong, Yan, Gui, Man, Mi (Chu surname), Wei (original surname of northern ethnic minorities), Qi (hidden), Yun, etc. 22 Personal name. Nearly half of these surnames have a female character next to them. Therefore, people speculate that the surname may have originated in a matrilineal clan society. Mr. Zhang Taiyan and other scholars compiled dozens of ancient surnames (about 59, Zhang Taiyan got 52, and others from bronze inscriptions) from older documents such as "Shuowen", "Shan Hai Jing", oracle bone inscriptions, and bronze inscriptions. Lei and 7 others), including the original ones, there are only about 80. It is conceivable that these are only part of the surnames that actually existed in ancient times, and the original surnames must be more than these. The others have been lost. But one thing is certain, the surnames at that time were definitely not as numerous as the "surnames" we talk about today. Here we can list a few representative numbers about surnames from ancient times to the present.
① In the feudal society after the Northern Song Dynasty, "Hundred Family Surnames" (edited by Anonymous Qiantang in the Northern Song Dynasty), which has long been used as a children's literacy book, has a collection of 502 surnames (including 342 single surnames and 60 compound surnames. At the beginning) Said: "Zhao Qian Sun Li, Zhou Wu King Zheng, Feng Chen Chuwei, Jiang Chen Han Yang...") ② According to Zheng Qiao's "Tongzhi·Summary of Surnames" in the Song Dynasty, there are 1,745 ancient surnames. ③Wu Shen, editor of the Hanlin Academy in the Ming Dynasty, and others compiled the "Emperor Ming Qian Family Surnames" based on the household registers kept by the Ministry of Household Affairs at that time, and collected 1,968 surnames. (The beginning says: "Zhu Feng Tianyun, rich in all directions, the holy god of civil and military affairs, Tao and Tao Tang...") ④ Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty personally approved the "Imperial Control of Hundred Family Surnames", (the beginning says: "Kong Shique Party, Meng Xi Qi Liang, Gaoshan Zhan Yang, Zou Lu Rongchang, Ran Jizongzheng, You Xia Wen...") ⑤ Zhang Shu of the Qing Dynasty stated in "Looking for the Origin of Surnames" and "Distinguishing Misunderstandings of Surnames" that there were 5,129 ancient surnames. ⑥After the founding of the People's Republic of China, mainland scholars Yan Fuqing and others edited and published the "Compilation of Chinese Surnames", which included 5,730 surnames. Among them, there are 3,470 single surnames, 2,085 two-character surnames, 163 three-character surnames, and 12 four- and five-character surnames. Taiwan Province also published "Chinese Surname Symbols", which collected 6,363 surnames, but there were duplicates of variant characters. ⑦According to a 1984 sample survey by the Chinese Characters Division of the Chinese Language and Character Reform Working Committee and estimates by relevant experts, there are more than 3,000 surnames still in use today.
(The Meteorological Press published "One Hundred Contemporary Surnames" edited by Wang Daliang in January 2001. According to the 1982 national census data, there are currently about 400 commonly used surnames in my country. Based on the population at that time, the top 100 surnames are: Li Wang Zhang Liu Chen Yang Zhao Huang Zhou Wu Xu Sun Hu Zhu Gaolin He Guo Maluo Liang Song Zheng Xie Han Tang Feng Yu Dong Xiao Cheng Cao Yuan Deng Xu Fu Shen Zeng Peng Lu Sulu Jiang Cai Jia Ding Wei Xue Ye Yan Yu Pan Du Dai, Xia Zhong, Wang Tian, ??Ren Jiang, Fan Fangshi, Yao Tan, Liao Zhou, Xiong Jinlu, Hao Kongbai, Cui Kang, Wang Qiu, Qin Jiangshi, Gu Houlang, Menglong, Wan Duanlei Qiantang, Yin Li, Changwu, Qiao Helai and Gongwen. These 100 surnames account for more than 87% of the total population of the country. There are more than 300 million people with the surnames Wang, Zhang, Liu and Chen. Li 87 million, Wang 80 million, Zhang 8 million, Liu 60 million, and Chen 50 million. The situation of common surnames in various cities across the country is also different, such as the top 10 surnames in Shanghai. They are: Zhang Wang, Chen Li, Xu Zhu, Zhou Wu, Liu Chen.) This number is too far away from the so-called pure "surnames" that existed in ancient times. So what about the other characters that are also called surnames? Those characters are the main component of modern surnames, "Shi". Let's introduce "Shi" below.
2. "Shi"
Due to the proliferation of the population, the original tribes have divided into several new tribes. In order to distinguish themselves from each other and express their own specificity, these tribes have named themselves Each sub-tribe has its own unique code name, which is "shi". Of course, some small tribes do not do this and still use the surname of the old tribe. Some tribes continue to use their old surnames while having their own "clan". These small tribes later divided into more small tribes, and they determined surnames for themselves. In this way, there were more and more surnames, even far exceeding the original surname size.
In terms of time, this is already a matter of patriarchal clan society, and clans bear the mark of this era. Therefore, "surname" can be said to be a branch of the surname. "Tongxuan·Waiji" says: "The surname is the place where the ancestors came from, and the surname is where the descendants are." This can explain the relationship between the two. "Surname" is constant, and "surname" is variable. Gu Yanwu also said that "surnames can change as soon as they are passed down, but surnames remain unchanged for thousands of years." Before the Qin and Han Dynasties, surnames and surnames were used on different occasions. There were strict regulations on who had surnames and who used surnames. After the Han Dynasty, surnames were not added. Distinction, surnames are combined into one, collectively referred to as surnames. The most obvious sign is "Historical Records". Based on the existing surnames, inferring their origins or the reasons why they were originally identified as surnames, there are roughly the following aspects:
(1) As mentioned earlier, Surnames with the word "female" next to them, such as "娰, Ji, Jiang, Gui, Ying", etc., are a reflection of the worship of women in matrilineal clan society. Some are directly the names and titles of the matriarch.
(2) Surnames based on animals, plants or other natural objects. Such as horse, cow, sheep, pig, snake, dragon, willow, plum, plum, peach, flower, leaf, grain, wheat, mulberry, hemp, millet, mountain, water, forest, wood, wind, cloud, river, river , gold, stone, steel, iron, jade, etc., a large part of which are tribal totems.
(3) The surname is based on the country, fief, official position or title. Such as Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, Qin, Lu, Cai, Zheng, Chen, Song, and Ruan; Situ, Sima, Sikong, Lezheng, Zai, Shangguan, Taishi, Shaozheng, Wang, Hou, Gongsun , Bozi, etc., due to the many names of ancient nobility officials, there are many such surnames.
(4) The surname is based on the place of birth, residence or occupation, such as Yao (Yu Shun was born in Yaoxu), Dongfang (Fuxi’s residence), Ximen, Dongmen (the place where the descendants of Luzhuang Gongzi settled), Dongguo, Nan, Baili, Ouyang (King Goujian of Yue was granted the title of Ouyang Pavilion in Wucheng), Tao, witchcraft, divination, medicine, etc.
(5) Use the family name and posthumous name of the ancestor as the surname. Such as Tang, Yu, Xia, Shang, Zhou, Yin, Wen, Wu, Zhao, Mu, Kang, Zhuang, Xuan, Ping, Cheng, etc.
(6) Others (there are several variants and mutations in the surname):
A. The surname was given by the emperor. For example, Liu Bang gave Xiang Bo the surname Liu. Li Yu gave Xi Tinggui (Mo Wu Guan) the surname Li.
B. Change your surname to avoid disaster. For example, after Wu Zixu was killed in Wu, his descendants fled to Qi and changed their surname to Wangsun; Chen Wan, the son of Chen Li, fled to Qi and became a doctor after the civil strife in Chen, and changed his surname to Tian.
C. Change the surname to avoid being tabooed by the emperor or saint. For example, Xun changed to Sun, Zhuang changed to Yan, Qiu changed to Qiu, etc.
D. I thought the original surname was complicated and had too many characters, so I changed my surname. For example, Sima Jian's surname is Si, Ma or Feng, and Ouyang Jian's surname is Ou.
E. Ethnic minorities took the initiative to adopt Han surnames.
For example, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty stipulated that the Xianbei people should use Han surnames such as Lu, Mu, He, Yu, etc. The royal family took the lead and changed the original surname Tuoba to Yuan.
F. In addition, Tuoba, Shanyu, Yuwen, Changsun, Huyan, Yuchi, Yelu, Wanyan, Aixinjueluo, etc. are all Chinese transliterations of minority surnames. After some ethnic minority surnames were translated into Chinese, they were simplified because they thought the characters were too long. For example, Aixinjueluo was changed to Luo or Jin. As can be seen from the above, people with the same surname do not necessarily belong to the same family.
The surnames in "noble surname", "respected surname" and "in order of the strokes of the surname" in public and social situations today actually include the two aspects of ancient surnames and surnames.
In addition, there are several points worth noting about ancient surnames:
① Before the Warring States Period, only nobles had surnames. Noble men were called surnames, and women were called surnames. Because "the surname distinguishes marriage", "the family name distinguishes the noble from the humble", "the noble ones have surnames, and the humble ones have names but no surnames" ("Tongzhi·Clan Preface") Gu Yanwu said in "Rizhilu": "Teaching it In the "Biography", during the two hundred and fifty-five years, there were no men who were called by their surnames?"
So what are the men called? 1. The noble ones are called surnames; 2. The humble ones are summarized by their occupations. Such professional names as Yiqiu, Paoding, Jiangshi, Yihe, and Youmeng later became surnames. It was a common name at that time.
② Those with the same surname but different surnames can be married; those with the same surname but different surnames cannot be married. "It is a courtesy not to marry with the same surname", "If parents have the same surname, they will not be married" ("Zuo Zhuan"), "If you don't marry with the same surname, you will not reproduce if you have the same surname". ("Guoyu") Some people think that it contains simple eugenics.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, Lu Zhaogong married a Wu girl as his wife. Both of them were named Ji, but he changed his wife's surname to Meng and called her Wu Mencius.
③Because "surname" plays the role of "differentiating marriages", and aristocratic men do not use surnames, it is particularly important for women to use surnames. In order to distinguish between women with the same surname who are about to marry or are already married, a surname was formed. It is a special name for a woman, adding prefixes and suffixes before and after the surname.
A. Prefix ranking: Meng, Bo, Zhong, Shu, Ji. Such as Meng Jiang, Bo Ji, Shu Wei,
B. Prefixed by the fiefdom and posthumous title of the husband's family: such as Jin Ji, Wu Jiang, Wen Ying.
C. Suffixes such as Jia's, Nu, Mu, Ji, Lao, Lao, etc., such as Zhang's, Shang's daughter, Meng's mother, Wu Ji, Zhao's wife, etc.
3. Name Name is everyone’s code name. The surname is public, and the given name is personal. The naming habits of past dynasties reflect the social ideology of a certain period. Due to the differences in people's nationalities, societies, histories, religious beliefs, moral traditions and cultural accomplishments, their naming habits are also very different.
The emergence of "name" was also in the clan society period, and it was also the inevitable result of the gradual awakening of people's individual consciousness. "Shuowen" explains the name this way: "Name is self-named. It comes from the mouth, and the person named Xi is Ming. The Ming does not meet each other, so it is named by the mouth." It means that after dusk, it is dark and we cannot recognize each other, so we call each other by codes. This is where the name comes from. This is somewhat legendary. People discovered the convenience of using "name", and it gradually became popular, making everyone have a name, and they became particular about naming "name". In fact, the emergence of names is an inevitable product after the emergence of private ownership economy. In ancient times, the world was a commonwealth, and each tribe had its own name. Huangdi, Yandi, Jianggong, and Chiyou were all tribal names.
According to "Book of Rites of the Zhou Dynasty" "A baby is given a name after three months of marriage", the baby was named by his father three months after birth. The earliest names we see now are the names of people from the Shang Dynasty. The custom at that time was to advocate the naming of heavenly stems. They are also often named after their birthday stems, mainly named after the heavenly stems, A, B, Bing, Ding, Wuji, Geng, Xinrengui (ten heavenly stems). Such as Taiyi, Chengtang (Tianyi), Taiding, Pangeng, Emperor Xin (Zhou), Waibing, Zhongren, Taijia... Wuding (Pangeng's great-grandson). Chen Mengjia's "A Review of Shang Dynasty Oracles" believes that: Taikang (i.e. Dageng), Zhongkang (Zhonggeng), Shaokang (Shaogeng) and so on. After the Zhou Dynasty, there was some emphasis on naming. In the sixth year of Duke Huan of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period (705), when Duke Huan of Lu asked about the etiquette that should be observed in naming, the official Shen proposed five items ("Five Rules"): "faithfulness", "righteousness", "image", "falseness" and "kind". During the Warring States Period, many nobles used divination to name their sons, such as Qu Yuan (the emperor brought Kuiyu to Xi for the first time, and Zhaoxi Yu named him after him). With the rise of Confucianism, the emphasis on naming has become more and more complicated. The "Book of Rites of Zhou", written during the Warring States Period, stipulates "six no's" in addition to the five main points of attention mentioned above. That is (1) not as a country (2) not as an official (3) not as a mountain and river (4) not as a hidden disease (5) not as an animal (6) not as a currency.
After the Qin and Han Dynasties, with the strengthening of feudal autocracy, in terms of naming, in addition to being equally particular about the "five categories" and "six no's", some words with the meaning of kings and hegemons such as dragon, sky, The use of words such as king, king, emperor, shang, sage and emperor is prohibited. Some dynasties couldn't help it.
After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the style of study and ideological trends from generation to generation can be seen from the naming alone.
For example, people in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties thought they were noble, metaphysics was prevalent, and they paid attention to elegance in naming. For example, it is popular to name them with "Zhi", such as Wang Xi's son Xianzhi, Sun Jingzhi, and Zhenzhi. The painter Gu Kaizhi, the general Liu Laozhi, the scientist Zu Chongzhi, the historian Pei Songzhi, the writers Yan Yanzhi, Yang Xianzhi and so on.
Buddhism became popular in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it became fashionable to take names from Buddhist monks. For a time, the names of Sengyou, Senghu, Sengzhi, Brahma boy and Maha were everywhere. According to official history, there were 122 people in the Southern and Northern Dynasties with names bearing the character monk, 39 with the name Tan, and 24 with the name Buddha.
In the Tang and Song Dynasties, Taoism was very popular and monks were very popular. It has become fashionable to name the five elements after metal, wood, water, fire and earth. For example, Zhu Xi (fire), his father's name is Song (wood), his son's name is (earth), his grandchildren are named Ju, Gou, Jian, and Duo (gold), and his great-grandchildren are named Yuan, Ling, Qian, Ji, Jun, and Cheng (water), which happen to be the five elements. A cycle.
There are more single names than double names in Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties.
Some double names are also single names, such as Jin Jie Zhi Tui, Yu Gong Zhi Qi, Zheng Zhu Zhi Wu, and Yi Zhi Hu. They are empty characters and do not count. There is also the word "no", Han Shen does not harm, Chu Xiao does not doubt, Zhao Guozhao does not tire, Han Dynasty Cheng does not know, no danger, no confusion, etc. are all like this.
In addition, Han Chinese names: (1) Heroic, vigorous and vigorous. Words like Sheng, Wu, Yong, Chao, Meng, Gu, Biao, Ju, etc. are commonly used.
(2) See the wise and admire the saints. For example, Zhang Yu, Zhao Yu, Deng Yu, Tao Tang, Zhang Tang, Zhao Tang, Zhou Chang, Wang Chang, Zhang Yao, Huang Shun, etc. embody this characteristic.
(3) Seeking longevity. Names such as Wannian, Yanshou, Shouwang, Qianqiu, Qubing, Quji, Pengzu, Pengsheng are common.
In the reign of Wang Mang, he "ordered China not to have two names", "Spring and Autumn" "sneered at two names", and "Gongyang Zhuan" said "two names are disrespectful", which may be the reason why there are more single names than double names. There are 15 emperors of the Western Han Dynasty, two of whom have the same name; all 13 emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty have single names.
From the Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were 54 emperors, 4 compound names, and 94% were single names. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, especially in the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism and Taoism became popular. For a time, Buddhist names were popular: King Kong, Hercules, Manjusri, Mulian, etc. Medicine King, Prajna, and Three Jewels can be found everywhere to carry the Buddha energy. Sang, Buddha, Mo, Brahma, Tan, there are many names that directly take the name of Buddha.
After the Tang and Song Dynasties, compound names became more common, except for emperors, because single names were easy to avoid taboos.
In addition, people in the Tang Dynasty pursued elegance, and it was very popular to name them with the words Wen, De, Confucianism, Yuan, Ya, and Shi.
During the Five Dynasties, "Shang Shu Taijia 1" had "Pan Qiu Junyan" and "Pseudo Confucius" had "Beautiful Scholar Said Yan". Therefore, according to official history, 87 people in the Five Dynasties were named with the character "Yan". People in the Yuan Dynasty made Mongolian names fashionable.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng's original name was Jiusi. The name "Shicheng" was given by a scholar to make fun of him. He didn't know it yet, so he cited "Mencius": "A scholar is a sincere villain." sentence.
After the Song Dynasty, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the character generation genealogy nomenclature was the most popular. This phenomenon can be seen in rural genealogy to this day. The characters are of course those that imply auspiciousness, such as Wenwu, Fugui, Zhaoqing, Dexiang, Dragon and Phoenix, Prosperity, etc. The Ming and Qing Dynasties were characterized by genealogical naming, which had a great influence.
In 1744, Qianlong designated thirty characters for the descendants of Confucius:
Xiyan Gongyan Chenghongwen Zhenshangyan
Xingyu Chuan succeeded Guangzhao Xianqing Fanxiang
Ling De Chuiweiyou Qin Shaonian Xian Yang
In 1920, Kong Lingtie followed up these 30 words with 20 words: Build roads and promote stability. , Mao Xiu Zhao Yi Chang. Yuwen Huanjingrui, Yongxi Shixuchang.
The Qing and Manchu nobles liked to name their houses with auspicious characters such as An, Fu, Yong, Tai, Baoquan, Changrong, Guixiang, etc.
There are about the following folk naming habits:
① Seasonal law: flowers are named after the season of their birth, such as spring flowers, plums, peaches, plums, summer rain, and autumn fruits. , autumn rain, autumn beauty, winter dawn, winter plum, wintersweet, etc.
② Place name method: commemorating the child’s birthplace, such as Hangsheng, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Yusheng, and Hangning.
③The law of looking forward to wealth: Tathagata Di, Gen Di, Ling Di, Zhao Di, Yan Di, Lai Bao, Lai Fa.
④Animal law: A cow, a mouse, a small fish, a puppy, a dragon, a dragon, a horse (horse), a phoenix, and a phoenix.
⑤Weight method: Nine-pound old lady, nine-pound girl (plus the weight of the amulet).
⑥Sexual reform method: women should be raised by men, such as sub-boys, crown boys, family lords, and family heroes; men should be raised by girls, such as Xinmei, Baoji, Qiuyue, etc.
⑦Ranking method: Danniu, Erniu, Sanxiao, Xiaoniu, Danan, Ernan, Sannan; Genda, Genliang (two), Genshan (three); Zhang Yi (one) ) Zhang Er (2) Zhang Shan San (3) and so on.
⑧Five Elements Method: As mentioned above, Zhu Xi’s family has five generations of ancestors.
⑨ Comprehensive, such as moistening the soil (seasonal plus five elements).
During the Republic of China, there were many foreign names: Mary, Helen, Peter, John, and Tom.
During the Cultural Revolution, the words "red", "jian", "wei", "zhong" and "qing" were used.
Current trends: hazy, foreign names, and multi-character names.
In ancient times, women had no surnames. They only had nicknames and nicknames at home, and were called so-and-so to others.
4. Zi
“Zi” was only limited to people with status in ancient times.
"Book of Rites·Quli" says: "A man's twenty-year haircut is the first word", "A woman's fifteenth hairpin is the first name", which means that regardless of male or female, only when they reach adulthood are they given the first name. The purpose is to make people respect him and for others to call him. Most people, especially peers and subordinates, are only allowed to address their elders by their names and not by their first names.
The main basis for ancient people’s life-character methods are as follows:
①Tautology. For example, Qu Yuan's name is Ping, his courtesy name is Yuan, and Guangping is Yuan. Confucius’s students Zaiyu, also known as Ziwo, Ji Lu, Ziyou, Yan Hui, Ziyuan, Zhuge Liang, Kongming, Tao Yuanming, Yuanliang, Zhou Yu, Gongjin, Zhugejin, Ziyu, and Wen Tianxiang, Jingrui, all fall into this category. .
②Antonyms and opposites. Jin Dynasty official Zhao Shuai (meaning to decrease) was named Ziyu (meaning to increase). Zeng Dian (Xiao Hei) has clear characters and white color. Wang Ji of the Tang Dynasty had the courtesy name Wugong, Zhu Xi (Huoliang) had the courtesy name Yuanhui, Yuan Zhao Meng\ (Fu) had the courtesy name Ziang, and Yan Shu had the courtesy name Tongshu.
③Lian Yi speculates. Zhao Yun's courtesy name was Zilong (Yun Conglong); Chao Buzhi's courtesy name was Wujiu; Su Shi's courtesy name was Zizhan ("Zuo Zhuan Xi 28th Year": "Jun Feng Shi came to observe it"); Yue Fei's courtesy name was Pengju.
It can be seen from the above three categories that characters and names are closely related. Characters are often supplements or explanations of names. This is called "name correspondence" and they are mutually exclusive, so characters are also called "expressions". Character". These three are the main ones. In addition, there are also the characters based on the five elements of the stems and branches, the characters for ranking, or the character line plus the ranking, and the character "father" (Fu) added after the character, which is generally included in the scope of the character.
Like naming, the numerology has the flavor of the times. A general trend is to beautify words and respect aging, especially in respect of aging.
After the Tang and Song Dynasties, due to the strengthening of Neo-Confucianism, there were more and more red tapes, and scholars also made a fuss about titles. The title was to show respect, but as time went by, it gradually became more and more complicated. The word "gan" was not respectful enough, so there was another word that was more respectful than the word.
5. Number
The number is also called another name, another word, and another number. "Zhou Li·Chun Guan·Da Zhu" states: "It is more beautiful to be called as one who respects his name." The name and title are chosen by the elders, but the title is different. At first, the title was chosen by oneself, and it was called one's own title. Later, there were titles given by others, such as honorific title, elegant title, etc.
The Hao originated very early, but it was not popular until the Six Dynasties period. Ge Hong and Tao Qian had Hao, but most people at that time did not. It became particularly popular during the Tang and Song Dynasties, for two reasons: 1. Strengthening of ethics and morals, 2. Development of literature, and literati paying attention to elegance. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the expansion of the scope of literati and the promotion of emperors and emperors, it became even more popular. Looking at the characteristics of ancient people's fate numbers, we can also summarize them into a few.
Self-titles generally have meanings.
1. Or call yourself Mr. Wuliu based on the environment of your residence: For example, Tao Qian calls himself Mr. Wuliu. Li Bai lived in Qinglian Township, Sichuan since he was a child, so he called himself Qinglian layman. Su Shi, who called himself Dongpo Jushi. Lu You, named Guitang. Xin Qiji was known as Jiaxuan layman. Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, called himself Jintang Old Man, Zhu Houcong, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, called himself Diaosou Tianchi, and Zhu Yi, Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, called himself Yuzhai. In his later years, Qianlong called himself the Shiquan Old Man and the Ancient Emperor. Xianfeng (Yi) calls himself a Taoist.
2. Or he calls himself Du Fu based on his ambition and purpose: Du Fu, who calls himself Shaoling Yelao, "Ten thousand volumes of books, a thousand volumes of ancient epigraphy and inscriptions, a piano, a game of chess, a pot of wine, a "Old Man" - "Sixty-One Lay Master" is Ouyang Xiu's self-title in his later years.
He Zhizhang, who called himself Siming Kuangke; Jin Xinnong, who called himself a monk, porridge rice monk, both reflected his personal interests.
3. Some people also name themselves by their birth date, age, literary artistic conception, physical features, and even shocking words.
It evolved into Zhuzhishan among the people. Zhu Zun, who called himself the Sunset Fragrant Grass Village, and Tang Yin, who called himself the most talented man in the south of the Yangtze River, was the person in charge of the marriage case in Pujiu Temple. Xu Shupi, a Taoist who calls himself Buried Alive.
There are three main situations in which others donate accounts:
1. Use their anecdotal characteristics as the account. For example, Li Bai was known as the Immortal. In the Song Dynasty, He Zhu wrote a good line about "The smoke of willows in the river, the plums in yellow and the rain", so he was known as He Meizi. Zhang Xian is known as "Zhang Sanying" because he wrote three good poems with the word "shadow": "The clouds break through the moon and the flowers make shadows", "The shadows of the mountains are seen where the duckweed breaks", and "The shadows of the swings pass through the partition wall". Another similar example is:
The mountain is covered with faint clouds, and the Qin Bachelor - Qin Guan's "Man Ting Fang" poem "The mountain is covered with faint clouds, and the sky is covered with decaying grass"
The dew flowers reflect the willows Tuntian - Liu Yong, there is a sentence "reflection of dew flowers" in the poem "Po Zhenzi".
Zhang Guyan - Zhang Yan's "Jie Lianlian·Guyan"
Hongxing Shangshu - Song Qi (Minister of Industry) "Magnolia" "The green poplar smoke is dawning in the cold spring, The red apricot branches are full of spring."
The pen names and stage names of modern and contemporary writers can also be included in the category of accounts. Some are self-authored accounts, and some are gifted accounts.
Guo Moruo (pen name) was originally named Kaizhen. Ba Jin, Xia Yan, and Bing Xin were all pen names (self-titles), not their original names.
Art number (gift number):
Zhang Yingjie - Gai Jingtian, Niu Junguo - Niu Decao, Xun Huisheng - Bai Mudan, Li Huimin - Bai Yushuang, Mao Childish yellow - Mao Sanshou.
2. Use official position, office or place of birth as the number. Wang Anshi was called Wang Linchuan; Du Gongbu (Du Fu), Jia Changsha (Jia Yi); Wang Youjun (Wang Xizhi); Tang Xianzu was called Tang Linchuan; Kang Youwei, a native of Nanhai, Guangdong, was called Kang Nanhai; Kong Rong, who was the governor of Beihai, was called Kong Beihai; Gu Yanwu, A native of Tinglin Town, Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, he is known as Gu Tinglin. The Qing Dynasty folk song "Prime Minister Hefei Tian Xia Shou" refers to Li Hongzhang (a native of Hefei), and "Si Nong Changshu Shi Shi Shi Wu" refers to Weng Tonghe, who was a Changshu native and served as the Minister of Household Affairs at that time.
3. Use titles and posthumous titles as titles
Zhuge Liang was granted the title of Marquis of Wuxiang and was known as Wuhou; Sima Guang was granted the title of Wen Guogong, and Yue Fei was granted the posthumous title of Wu Mu.
After the Song Dynasty, literati mostly referred to each other by nicknames, which resulted in a situation where many nicknames were used and their names were ignored. Su Shi had 38 names in 14 categories throughout his life. Mr. Lu Xun was 57 years old in his life (1881-1936). *** used more than 140 names (mainly pen names).
Lu Xun’s original name was Zhou Zhangshu and his courtesy name was Hencai. He changed his name to Shuren. In 1898, he used the pseudonym Jia Jiansheng and Shuren for the first time. In 1818, when "Diary of a Madman" was published, he began to use the pseudonym Lu Xun. There were more after the 1930s, with the highest number being 26 in 1933 and 41 in 1934. These two years were also the peak of his creation and the period when he produced the most works.
Because the number can be picked up and given as a gift, it is free and changeable. As a result, many literati have many nicknames, and the number can reach dozens or hundreds. "Too many nicknames will cause confusion" (Zheng Banqiao's collection of paintings. Jin Qiu's paintings on the four ropes). Therefore, after modern times, especially after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Since then, the use of pseudonyms by literati has greatly diminished. Many people publish their works using their real names instead of pen names. A few literati have nicknames, most of whom were famous before the 1930s and 1940s. For example, Lu Xun once called his study, Green Forest Study Room, and Jie Pavilion; Wang Li called himself Long Chong and Diao Zhai; Yao Xueyin, Wu Zhijing Zhai; Ye Shengtao never tired of living there, and Yu Pingbai Guhuai Study House, this can be said to be a legacy.