What does Confucius mean by Zhong Ni?

The surname and font size of the ancients in China

The names of ancient people in China, like modern people, are symbols used by people to represent individuals in social communication. Surname is the name used by a certain group of people (clan, family); A first name is a surname used by a person alone.

The surnames of people in ancient legends in China, such as Xiong, Niu and Qingyun, may all be clan surnames today. In ancient times, clans used natural objects as clan symbols, so most of these names were related to biological and natural phenomena. These family names may later evolve into surnames (such as bears, cows, clouds, etc. ). In ancient times, people often used place names (for example, the "fu" here is a place name), professional names (for example, Wu Xian, who was engaged in divination) and ancestral names (for example, Zhong You, a descendant of Xizhong) to address them. This kind of address is fixed as "surname" Such as Lu, Han and Song. Take the place name as the surname; Dongguo, Ximen, Chi, Liu, etc. Take the geographical location and scenery of their place of residence as their surnames; Teachers, wishes, history, etc. Take the occupation as the surname; Shangguan, Sima, Stuart, etc. Take the official position as the surname; Sun and Wang firstly mean that their ancestors were men or kings; Mu, Zhuang and other surnames are posthumous title of their ancestors. From the appellations of some people in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, we can also see traces of the formation of some surnames, such as Liu Xiahui, Luban, Gongsun Yang, Wei Yang and Shang Yang. In addition, some surnames, such as Hu Yan, Murong, and Wei Chi, also appeared in the communication between various ethnic groups in China.

The formation of surnames has different historical processes, and the same surname is not necessarily an origin. Such as He, some simplified the original surname Helan or Hedun to He, and some changed the original surname Qing to He to avoid the emperor's taboo. Surnames also change due to political, geographical and ethnic reasons. For example, in the Five Dynasties, the surname "Liu" of Wu Yueguo was changed to "Jin" because it was taboo ("Liu" was homophonic with the Wu name "Qian Liu"); After Jingnan (②) in the Ming Dynasty, Huang Zicheng's descendants changed their surnames to Tian, while Ma, an eunuch who made great contributions to Jingnan, changed his surname to Zheng (Zheng He, who was famous for his eunuch's voyage to the West). Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty changed Tuoba's surname to Yuan in order to promote Sinicization. Another example is that after the surname "Ge" of counties and counties in Han Dynasty (now Shandong) was moved to (now Henan), it was called Zhuge in order to distinguish it from the local surname, while Tian of Qi moved abroad and changed his surname to "first" and "second", ranking second (for example, the famous minister of Eastern Han Dynasty "Wu Lun"). It can be seen that the surname is a symbol, not as mysterious and sacred as the defenders of the feudal patriarchal clan system advertised.

Names are personal symbols used in society. Some names left over from Xia and Shang Dynasties, such as Kong Jia, Pan Geng, Wu Ding, etc., are related to the official branch and may be related to the date of birth. Some names in the Spring and Autumn Period, such as "black buttock" and "black arm", should be named according to physiological characteristics. Zheng Zhuanggong's famous work Life is a documentary recording his mother's dystocia. It can be seen that some names were relatively simple. But at that time, the words used in some names also had specific meanings, which were more clear through the simultaneous appearance of "words". The word "Zi" is often the explanation and supplement of "Ming", also called "Biao Zi". Qu Yuan said in Li Sao: "The name is right and the word is clever"; "Constant" means "flat" and "spiritual average" means "original". His names "Ping", "Yuan", "Ming" and "Zi" have a meaningful connection. The relationship between "name" and "character" of the ancients has the same meaning, such as: Zhang Heng, who invented the seismograph in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Mi Fei, a writer who beat drums and cursed Cao, were all upright, and the "balance" in their names and characters was "ping"; The word "Shaoyou" written by Qin Guan in Song Dynasty and the word "Wu" written by Lu You are synonymous in terms of names and words. Another example is Chu Suiliang, a calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, and Ceng Gong, a writer in the Song Dynasty. Its name and the words "good", "good", "public" and "solid" in the text are also synonymous. "Name" and "symbol" are meaningful complements. For example, Liang Hongzi, a writer who thought it was an example in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Hong and Luan were both famous birds. Lu Ji, a writer in the Western Jin Dynasty, was named Shi Heng. Ji Heheng is two stars in the Beidou. Bai Juyi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, was named Lotte, so he was able to "live easily" because of "Lotte". Chao, a writer in the Song Dynasty, has no blame for his words (blame is negligence), and only "editing" can "blame". "Fishing" (fishing) and "firewood" (chopping firewood) are often lovers. Zheng Qiao, a historian of Song Dynasty and editor of Tongzhi, was a fisherman. "Fisherman" often wears "Dai Li", a writer named Li Yu in Qing Dynasty. The meanings of "name" and "character" are opposite, such as Zhu, a philosopher in Song Dynasty, Zi Ang, a painter in Yuan Dynasty, and Guan Tong, a writer in Qing Dynasty. Their names and characters are Ming, Dark, Bow, Ang and Tong respectively. The names and characters of the ancients are often taken from the classics of ancient books, such as: Xu Gan, one of the "seven sons of Jian 'an" at the end of the Han Dynasty, has a long word, and Confucius has a saying that "if you don't think, you will lose your mind"; Cao Cao's word Meng De, "Xunzi" has a saying that "the husband is a moral fuck". Qiyoun Siriyu of the Three Kingdoms, from the Book of Changes, "Clouds follow dragons and winds follow tigers"; The word hung-chien used by Lu Yu, a writer in the Tang Dynasty (who wrote the Book of Tea and was later honored as the "Tea God") was also taken from the Book of Changes. Gao Ming, a dramatist at the end of Yuan Dynasty, was sincere, which came from The Book of Rites. Yu Qian, a strategist in the Ming Dynasty, and Qian, a beginner in the Qing Dynasty, both used the allusion of "modesty and benefit" in Shangshu.

The "name" and "word" of the ancients are also commonly used to represent generations in the family. In the pre-Qin period, Jia Bo (Meng) and Ji Cousins were often added before the first name and surname, such as Bo Yi and Shu Qi, with Bo as the elder brother and Shu as the younger brother. The word "Zhong" is the second child; Meng Jiangnv is Jiang's eldest daughter. After the Han Dynasty, the same word or radical was gradually used in "name" or "word" to express the reciprocal relationship. For example, the famous soldier who fought against An Lushan in the Tang Dynasty, his younger brothers Yan Yaoqing and Yan * * * used the word "Qing", and their cousin Yan Zhenqing (whose calligraphy was handed down from generation to generation) also used the word "Qing". Su Shi, a litterateur in Song Dynasty, and Su Zhe's brother * * * used the radical "car" to represent their peers. His sons (Ming Guangzong), Zhu, Zhu, etc. , the second word * * uses "Chang" and the third word * * uses "Ju"; Zhu Youjian, Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, hanged himself in Jingshan, his brother Zhu Youxiao (Xi of the Ming Dynasty), and his cousins Zhu Youlang (Li Yong of Nanming) and Zhu Yousong (Hong Guang of Nanming) used the word "you", and the third word was "you". In this case, the first word in the name is the surname used by father and grandfather, half of the second and third words are the generation names used by brothers and others, and only half of the words are specific to individuals.

In addition to names and words, some ancient people also had numbers. "Hao" is a fixed alias, also known as another name. In feudal society, the middle and upper classes (especially literati) often took their own names (including fasting names and house names) based on their residence and interests. For example, Li Bai's Qinglian layman in the Tang Dynasty, Du Fu's Shaoling Yelao, Su Shi's Dongpo layman in the Song Dynasty, Liu Ruju layman in Tang Yin in the Ming Dynasty, Banqiao in Zheng Xie in the Qing Dynasty, and Bailu in Zhu Yongchun are all well known to future generations. Some nicknames (such as Su Dongpo, Zheng Banqiao, Zhu Bailu, etc. ) even more than their real names. Nicknames are created by users themselves, unlike names that are limited by family and generation, so you can express or flaunt some emotions of users more freely. Common nicknames such as "layman" and "mountain man" are intended to show that users despise Li Lu's interest. In the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu's nickname in his later years was "Six-One Jushi". According to a thousands of books, a thousand volumes of ancient inscriptions, a piano, a chess game, a pot of wine and an old man himself, there were six ones. Lu You, a patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, was worried about the country and the people and was filled with indignation. Laughed at by dignitaries for not keeping etiquette, they called themselves "letting the birds fly" to show their contempt. Zhu Da, a painter in the late Ming Dynasty, took the nickname "Badashanren" after his death in the Ming Dynasty (the Eighth National Congress was written like "crying" instead of "laughing" or "laughing", meaning "in distress and distress") to express his grief and indignation at missing his motherland. Of course, more bureaucratic gentry and feudal literati take all kinds of nice nicknames, but they are just pretences of being arty and chasing after fame.

There are also "nicknames", which are recognized by others and are descriptions and descriptions of people. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Prissy was demoted to Chu, and Qin Mugong redeemed Qin Xiang with five skins (Yingu, referring to the black ram). He is called "Dr. Wu", which is an ancient nickname. Li Yifu, a traitor in the Tang Dynasty, was called "the knife in laughter" (the origin of the idiom "the knife in laughter"), also known as "the cat"; In the Song Dynasty, Wang Jue was the prime minister for more than ten years, and did nothing but "take orders, take orders and send orders". At that time, the nickname was "Three Orders". These derogatory nicknames vividly outline the faces of feudal bureaucrats. In Water Margin, 108 in Liangshan has nicknames, and most of them accurately describe the characters' personalities, specialties or physiological characteristics. These nicknames are well-known names.

In addition to the words and numbers mentioned above, names are often used instead of names in history:

1. Place names (including place of birth, place of residence and place of employment, etc. For example, Kong Rong in the Eastern Han Dynasty was called Kong Beihai, Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty was called Han Changli, Liu Zongyuan was called Liu Liuzhou, and Su Zhe in the Song Dynasty was called Su Yuncheng. In feudal times, naming people after their names was a sign of respect, and it was called "looking to the ground". But at the end of the Qing Dynasty, someone made a couplet: "Hefei, the prime minister, is thin in the world, and Changshu, the farmer, is barren in the world." The first part refers to Li Hongzhang (a native of Hefei), a former minister of Beiyang (prime minister), and the second part refers to Weng Tonghe (a native of Changshu), a former minister of agriculture, but satirizes the greed and luxury of feudal bureaucrats with the pun of "sighing at the ground".

2 official titles (including titles and titles, etc.). ). For example, Ma in the Eastern Han Dynasty (once a general), Ban Chao in the army called Ban Dingyuan (once named Ding), Cai Yong called Cai Zhonglang (once a corps commander), Ji Kang in the Three Kingdoms called Ji Zhongsan (once a doctor in three provinces), and Du Fu in the Tang Dynasty called Du Fu and Du Fu (once a work-study program).

3. The honorifics given by disciples or descendants. For example, Zhou Dunyi in the Song Dynasty called Mr. Lian Chuan, Lv Benzhong in the Northern Song Dynasty and Lv Zuqian in the Southern Song Dynasty successively called Mr. Donglai, Gui Youguang in the Ming Dynasty called Mr. Zhenchuan, and Wang Fuzhi called Mr. Chuanshan. There are also honorifics ("private overflow") given by the master and later generations after death, such as Wang Tong's essays in Sui Dynasty and Jing Festival in Jin Dynasty.

Four, posthumous title, that is, the honor awarded after the death of the emperor. For example, Bao Zheng in Song Dynasty called Bao and Yue Fei, Xu Guangqi in Ming Dynasty called Xu, and Ji Yun in Qing Dynasty called Ji Wenda.

Fifth, add adjectives before surnames to refer to specific people with the same surnames. For example, Da Daihe refers to the scholars of Han Dynasty and Dai Sheng's uncle (the Book of Rites written by them is also called Da Daihe Li), while the writers of Jin Dynasty, Ruan Ji and Ruan Xian, are also called Da Ruan and Xiao Ruan respectively ("Da Ruan" and "Xiao Ruan" are synonyms for "uncle" and "nephew"), and writers of Southern Dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, Lao Du (also called Dadu) specifically refers to Du Fu, while Xiao Du specifically refers to Du Mu. Lao Su, Da Su and Xiao Su refer to Su Xun, Su Shi and Su Zhe in Song Dynasty.

6. Use several surnames to address specific people. For example, "Louis" refers to Shang Yi Yin and Zhou; "Ban Ma" (or "Ban Ma") refers to Sima Qian (author of Historical Records) and Ban Gu (author of Hanshu); Among the poets in the Tang Dynasty, "Du Li" was Li Bai and Du Fu, and "Bai Yuan" was Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi. Liu Han is Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan. There is also the aforementioned big thank Xiao Xie collectively called "two thanks", and another poet in the Southern Dynasties, Xie Tiao collectively called "three thanks"; "Er Cheng" refers to the brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, scholars of the Song Dynasty. Su Xun, Su Shi and Su Zhe are also called "Three Sus".

7. In the Tang Dynasty, people were often called by their names and official positions. Wang Weiyou's poem "Send Yuan Er to the Temple" ("Advise you to have a glass of wine, and leave Yangguan for no reason" is one of the famous sentences), as well as many poems in the Tang Dynasty, such as answering Wang XII, giving a suggestion to his friend Liu, getting drunk with Li XI, remembering Yuan Jiu, sending Pei Eighteen South, and sending 22 autumn members. , is the first person. For example, Li Bai is Li 12, Han Yu is Han 18, Liu Zongyuan is Liu 8, and Yuan Zhen is Yuan 9. The first line can also be combined with the name and official position, such as Pei Tunan called Pei Eighteen Tunan, Du Fu said Bai Juyi called Bai Twenty-two Sheren. There was also this custom in the Song Dynasty, such as Qin Guan's name, Ouyang Xiu's name was Ou Jiu, and Huang Tingjian's name was Huang Jiu.

The names of feudal society and shops mentioned above are all part of feudal patriarchal clan system and ethics. Today, we just use the name as the code name of the ancients, and we don't need these things anymore. However, because they exist for a long time in history and are widely used, we cannot completely avoid them. For example, the author of "Song Zhengqi" has a delicate and good writing style, and is also named Song Rui (three words are synonymous with auspiciousness, goodness and auspiciousness). Throughout the ages, he was often called "Wenshan" (self-titled), "Wen Prime Minister" (official position) and "Wen" (title), and his works were also called "Wenshan Collection" and "Wen Prime Minister". For another example, there are more than 50 kinds of works named after the word "Wang" in Sikuquanshu, most of which are named by font size or other names, such as Ji (Tang), Ji (Ming Wang's name), Wang Yangming's collection (Shou Ren's respectful name), Gong Quanshu and many anthologies of wang xing people, with no names at all, such as Linchuan Collection (An's ancestral home Linchuan) and ". If we don't know anything about the names and shapes of the ancients, we can't identify them at all. Therefore, if you want to read ancient books and study the thoughts and styles of the ancients, you still need to know something.

(1) the ancient historians of the world called this clan symbol (which is also the object of clan worship) "totem".

(2) Judy, the prince of the Ming Dynasty, became famous for his crusade against Huang Zi, rose up to attack Ning, overthrew Emperor Jianwen, and became emperor on her own (that is, became the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty). It was called Jingnan at that time.

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On the font size of the ancients

Text /Que Hang Wei

In addition to their real names, most ancient people had other characters, which became common during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. "Book of Rites Qu Lishang" said: "Men are twenty, and it is a word in the crown ... Women are allowed to marry, and their mouths are full of words." Aristocratic children at the age of 20 (adulthood) can take the crown instrument and the word. When a woman marries (becomes an adult), she can send a hairpin to get the word. Therefore, it was later called a woman's promise to marry as a "word", such as: waiting for a word, a word person and so on. It seems that this rule of taking Chinese characters was initially confined to the upper-class circles, and then gradually broke the boundaries, and ordinary people also took more Chinese characters and became accustomed to it.

So, what is the relationship between words and names? "Yan Jia Xun Feng Cao" said: "Ancient people have a correct name, and words are used to express virtue." Broadly speaking, a word may be an explanation of the meaning of a name or a display of its connotation. For example, Zhuge Liang's word Kongming, Guan Yu's word Yunchang, Bao Zhao's word Mingyuan, Tao Qian's word Yuanming, Bai Juyi's word Lotte and so on all have different meanings and complement each other. Su Shi, the word Zizhan, if we know that the ancient meaning of the word "scholar" refers to the crossbar in front of the car for people to lean on, and the word "zi" is claimed by the owner, then it is logical to call it "Zhan" next to the railing. His other ideographic word "He Zhong" is rarely used. "Zhong" means two, and Su Shi ranks second. Adding the word "harmony" means auspiciousness. If you understand the original meaning of these words and look at the ideographic characters, the meaning will be clear. Yuan Haowen, a writer in the Jin Dynasty, was very careful with his words. He was "good at asking questions" and learned to be "careful with his words", which was really wonderful. Li Yu, a dramatist in the Qing Dynasty, used the word "Li Weng", which can be described as a vulgar word. Others simply break the name into characters, which is easy to remember. For example, in the Qing Dynasty, the poet Shu Wei was the founder and You Dong was a colleague. And some people like to remember many words over and over again. The multi-word champion among literati is probably Mao Qiling (works) in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou in the early Qing Dynasty. He was born with two words, big, neat, present, Chu Qing, yat sen villa, Lao Qing, Qiu Qing, late spring, Chunzhuang, Mi Monk, Kai Monk and so on.

For scholars, it is also an indispensable and elegant thing to take another name besides their own names and words, and this number is often more mysterious or even untraceable than learning the word, but most of them still have rules to follow. Many people like to use the names of places where they once lived or stayed as numbers. For example, Tao Yuanming's Biography of Mr. Wuliu said, "There are Wuliu near my home, because I think there are several." At the age of five, Li Bai moved with his father to Qinglian Township, Zhangming County, Mianzhou (now Jiangyou County, Sichuan Province), and later called himself "Qinglian layman"; After Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou (now Huanggang County, Hubei Province), "The old man with Tian started from Xishan and built a room in Dongpo, calling himself Dongpo Jushi." Su Shi admired Bai Juyi in the name of Dongpo. Because Bai Juyi had planted flowers in Dongpo Mansion in Zhongzhou (now Zhongxian County, Sichuan Province) to amuse himself, his poems tasted "Dongpo" in several words, which had an effect after being admired by Su Mu, so he thought it was a name. Su Shi's posthumous title is the most widely spread in the literary and art circles and among the people. There are more than 30 other posthumous title, some of which are called by ranking and place of origin, such as: Dasu (different from his brother Su Zhe), Mr. Emei and Meishan Gong; Some people are famous for their official positions, such as Su, Su Xianliang and the director of the West Lake. There are also people who call themselves or are called because of their personality and poetic style, and there are also people who aim at nourishing their hearts, such as breaking immortals, descending immortals and madly assisting them. From his many names, we can also see that the ancients took a wide range of numbers without restrictions, and many numbers were used to it. Many scholars also get this title because of anecdotes or good sentences. For example, in the late Tang Dynasty, Wen took an exam when he was young, saying that "the official rhyme was fu, and all eight rhymes became eight" and the title was "Wen Bajiao", which was close to a kind of posthumous title or banter. Zhang Xi 'an, a poet in Song Dynasty, was called "Zhang Sanying" because of his three quatrains about "shadow". At the end of Yuan Dynasty, Yuan Kai was famous for reciting Bai Yan's poems, and people called him "Yuan Baiyan". In the early Qing Dynasty, Wang Shizhen wrote "Shu Yu Ci" with the phrase "Lang is like a tung flower, concubine is like a tung flower phoenix", which was called "Wang Tonghua" for a while. These are all examples of famous poets. It is also a common practice for scholars to name their official residence and study. Yuan Mei, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, settled in Xiaocang Mountain, Jiangning (now Nanjing), because of his name as "the old man with a garden"; The library of Qian Ceng, a bibliophile in the Qing Dynasty, is called Yiyuan, and its nickname is Yiweng.

In modern times, there are two literati with dozens of names, Su and Yao Min 'ai. Someone played a joke on them with a doggerel: "One person is a hundred, and the prince can't catch it from now on." After advocating vernacular Chinese, some people jokingly translated their names into styles in newspapers, such as calling Dan Weng "the red old man" and Junbo "gambling emperor", which made people laugh.