Ye Man fortune-telling

Why do you call some ladies gentlemen?

From ancient times, the ancient gentleman not only refers to men, but also includes the meaning of learning from others, that is, the first to arrive is the teacher.

In China, Mr. Wang called his wife from the late Qing Dynasty to the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC). Due to the popularity of "new culture" and "women's rights", westernization and gender equality began to be pursued. Therefore, both men and women can be addressed as gentlemen, of course, for people with more knowledge or identity. Nowadays, women are no longer called Mr., but some people, such as Mr. Jiang Yang, are still used.

This is the unique name of modern China for some women who have made outstanding achievements and exerted great influence in a certain field (mainly literature, politics and other special fields). Such as Mr Soong Ching Ling (mother of the country), Mr He Xiangning (wife of Mr Liao), Mr Bing Xin, Mr Wang and so on.

Extended data:

The History and Evolution of "Mr"

The word "Mr" is not actually a modern Chinese vocabulary. Instead, it comes from the old saying, which means "born earlier than yourself and older than yourself".

As early as the Analects of Confucius, there was a sentence that "there is wine and food, and gentlemen eat well." Of course, here, "sir" means "father and brother". There is a saying in Mencius that "a gentleman can say it in a word." Here, "Mr." refers to an elderly and learned person.

. During the Warring States period, the national policy said, "Sir, please sit down. Why not?" The same is to address virtuous elders.

In Han dynasty, the word "old" was added before "Mr", which was called "old gentleman".

As for why "Mr" has evolved into a synonym for "adult man", it is because "Mr" has the meaning of "teacher" in the old saying, and most teachers in ancient times are male, which has gradually evolved into the usage in modern Chinese.

But in fact, the word "sir" was not the exclusive word of "adult man" at first.

The specific usage of Mr.:

1, teachers and other educators. In ancient times, learned men and women could be called this way, so "Ms. Jiang Yang" will be called "Mr. Jiang Yang".

2. honorifics for intellectuals and adult men with certain status.

3. Call someone else's husband or the opposite person your husband.

In the old society, people engaged in accounting, storytelling, physiognomy, divination and geomantic omen were also called "gentlemen".

Anyone who is highly respected can be called "sir" to show respect, not necessarily referring to men. For example, Soong Ching Ling, Jiang Yang, Bing Xin, Ding Ling, Ye Man and Xu Guangping can all be called Mr. ..

6. Now all men can be called "sir". This is the most commonly used usage in our modern Chinese.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-sir