First of all, Queen Lu's name is not recorded in official histories such as "Historical Records" and "Zizhi Tongjian". "Historical Records: The Chronicles of Empress Dowager Lu" only says:
"Zizhi Tongjian" also does not introduce Empress Lu's maiden name. Therefore, the reliability of the statement "Lu Pheasant" is questionable.
Secondly, if Queen Lu’s real name is Lu Pheasant, it wouldn’t be so unpleasant. "The Book of Songs" contains phrases such as "The male pheasant is flying, letting go of its feathers", "The pheasant is flying towards the bird, still looking for its female" and so on. Military commanders on the stage often use "pheasant tail" as decoration. In "Water Margin", the military uniforms of Song Jiang, Zhang Qing, Guo Sheng and others were also decorated with pheasant tails, and even the general of the Liao Kingdom, Arich, also had a pheasant tail on his crown. In "A Dream of Red Mansions", there is also a line about "a screen lined with pheasant tail fans" during the Yuan Chun Festival. Obviously, this is a common decoration among high-ranking officials and dignitaries.
Basically, the term "pheasant" had no special meaning in ancient times. Perhaps it was only in the late Qing Dynasty that it was given a special meaning. For example, "The Biography of Flowers on the Sea" says that "a pheasant flew over and hooked Shifu's soul." This clearly refers to prostitutes.
Going further, even if "pheasant" is not a good word, it was normal for it to be used as a name in that era. The name at that time was really just a code name, and it didn't mean anything like "good wishes" or "ideal sustenance".
Don’t believe it? Duke Zhuang of Zheng, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, was born with difficulty, so his name was "Wensheng" - which means dystocia;
Duke Huai of Jin was the former king of Duke Wen of Jin , is also the nephew of Duke Wen of Jin. Duke Huai's name was "圉", and his twin sister's name was "Concubine". Why such a name? Before they were born, they asked someone to tell their fortunes, and they were told that "a boy and a girl will be born soon." "The men will be other people's slaves, and the women will be other people's slaves." So they took the names "圉" (meaning slave) and "concubine" (meaning "concubine"). At that time, the little wife was regarded as a slave, but the word slave was not limited to the little wife) as a name;
Duke Huai of Jin had a cousin who was the son of Duke Wen of Jin, known as Jincheng in history. male. The name of this guy is even more interesting, just called "Black Butt". There is no record in the historical data why he was given such a name. It is probably because he had a large black birthmark on his butt when he was born - we don’t know if it faded as he grew up, because no one can see it;
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che, was originally named Liu She, which means pig. When we are affectionate with our children, we may call them "Piggy" or "Dog". He is a prince, and he is actually given such a name.
Compared with these names, the name "Lu Pheasant" is not too bad, right?