Title of Right-handed Works (Ancient)

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 eight images cry, don't cry, don't laugh, don't laugh, meaning "in 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.