Fortune-teller's wife _ Fortune-teller said I was the fate of the official wife.

By the way, friends who like history should have brushed costume dramas and ancient novels, right? In these TV dramas and novels, loving couples often call each other nicknames, while women call their husbands "xianggong" and men call their beloved wives "madam". All kinds of fancy shows of love really give a lot of single dog all the dog food.

Stop, we are used to all kinds of names because we are indoctrinated by film and television dramas. However, when it comes to the words "madam" and "xianggong", is the usage really correct?

If you still think there is nothing wrong, you have been cheated for many years!

In other words, the words "madam" and "xianggong" do exist, but not all people in any era will call their wives and husbands that way, and sometimes they even have special intentions.

First, let's look at the word "lady".

"Peirang apologized to Zan earlier, and sneered at Zan in the crowd:" That's strange. The old horse is ten years old and is still called a pony. My wife is obedient and called a lady. " "

"My sister Yang said,' Madam, why should we work more? If the crown prince supervises the country, my sisters and I will die! " "

These two ancient essays are from Biography of Northern Qi and Guang Ji of Taiping respectively, and are set in Northern Qi and Tang Dynasty.

Look at the first paragraph, "obedient" means 60 years old. Pei made it laugh at Zuzan's wife, who is already 60 years old and even called "madam". In the second paragraph, the speaker is actually Yang. He actually calls Yang's sister, that is, his sister is a "lady".

It can be seen that the word "madam" is not used to address a wife. So, what does this mean?

In fact, the word "lady" was originally a popular title to describe a young lady, referring to a girl or a young woman. Now it means "girl, miss". And the ancient "miss" refers to prostitutes. That's why Pei Rangzhi laughed at a 60-year-old woman being called "madam". And Yang's address to his sister "Lady" is also the address to young women.

So, why did the word "madam" become his wife's address?

Began in the Tang Dynasty.

There is a passage in the biography of Yang Guifei in the Old Tang Dynasty: "The palace is called' madam', but the etiquette is actually the same as that of the queen." In other words, Yang Guifei was honored as a "lady" in the imperial palace at that time, not only because she was young, but also as a title for the emperor's wife. Later, she gradually became a folk wife.

Look at this passage again:

"Cai tomorrow said to his master,' I can cure your wife's illness.' The host was very surprised, thank you very much. "

This passage is from the ninth volume of the Record of Falling Fields, and the time is the Yuan Dynasty.

Let me see, the lady mentioned here is the speaker's own wife? Obviously not! The lady here should refer to the "master's" wife, who can cure the master's wife's illness, so the master will be very surprised.

Great, how can he call someone else's wife "lady"?

In fact, it is normal, because in the Yuan Dynasty, the word "Niangzi" was used more widely, and all married women could be called "Niangzi", so there is no problem with such a title. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, storytelling drama was very popular, and the title "madam" was used to describe his wife.

Madam, let's look at the word "xianggong" again.

If this word is put in some ancient dynasties, it is not a name that can be called casually.

The name "xianggong" originated from Cao Cao in the Three Kingdoms period. As we all know, Cao Cao was the prime minister of the Great Han Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms period, and Xianggong was the title of prime minister. For example, RoyceWong wrote in "From the Military": "The public and the right to levy are furious." This sentence is a compliment to Cao Cao, and the "xianggong" in it refers to Cao Cao.

In fact, before the Tang Dynasty, all the people who could be called "xianggong" were prominent people who held power and held high positions, and only three were recorded in the history books: Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Song and Yu Wentai.

Later, in the Song Dynasty, the scope of the word "xianggong" was much wider. Not only the prime minister, but also some officials, such as Wang Anshi, Sima Guang and General Han Shizhong, are called "xianggong".

Then how did this name become her husband's nickname?

As a woman, who doesn't want her husband to be successful in official career and gain both fame and fortune? Because the word "xianggong" represents power and status, all wives simply call their husbands "xianggong". This situation was particularly common in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Many zaju writers frequently use the word "xianggong" in their plays, and later it gradually replaced the previous meaning of "xianggong".

In addition, we can also learn from some scripts that the word "xianggong" can also be used to describe later literati. For example, "Officialdom in the Present" said: "It is said that Zhao Xianggong took the senior high school entrance examination." Xianggong here refers to intellectuals.

What about this explanation? Did you find yourself cheated again?

Many times, our understanding of some ancient appellations is not in place and our usage is incorrect, which is not only reflected in the appellations such as "xianggong" and "madam". Rigidity is the most important attitude in studying history. For those appellations that we are not familiar with or understand wrongly, we should look for the truth in historical records, not make mistakes, and use them only by feeling.