In ancient China, the concepts of names, characters, and harmonies were significantly different from those of modern times. They are not just simple identifiers, they are expressions of culture, identity and individuality.
In ancient times, a name usually referred to a person's name or a single name. This was named by parents when they were young and was mainly used for elder calling. Men take the character at the coronation ceremony at the age of 20, and women take the character at the age of 15 to show respect for the person or to be addressed by friends. This tradition reflects the importance that ancient societies attached to adulthood and marriage, as well as the importance of names and characters in social interactions.
In ancient times, the concept of "character" was mainly limited to people with status. It is recorded in the Book of Rites and Qu Li: "Men have 20 crowns and characters" and "Women have 15 crowns and characters", emphasizing that both men and women can only take characters when they reach adulthood. The purpose of taking words is to make people respectful and for others to call them. This rule reflects the emphasis on respect for others in ancient societies, and also shows the importance of the character as a status symbol.
There are many ways for the ancients to pronounce words, such as the repetition of righteousness, the relative of antisense, and the inference of conjunction. For example, Qu Yuan's name is Ping, the word Yuan, and Guangping is Yuan, which is synonymous and repeated;Jin Dafu Zhao decayed the word Ziyu, Tang Wang's words were useless, which is the opposite of antisense;Zhao Yun's word Zilong, Su Shi's word Zizhan, this is Lianyi's speculation. These examples show the ingenuity and deep meaning of the ancients when choosing words.
In addition, the "number" is also unique in ancient times, it is also called another name, another word, and another name. "Zhou Li, Chunguan, Dazhu" recorded: "The number is more beautiful to respect its name." The difference between the number and the name and the word is that the name and the word are taken by the elder, while the number is originally taken by the self, called the self-name;Later, there were titles given by others, such as honorific titles, elegant titles, etc.
The origin of the number is very early, but it was not popular until the period of the Six Dynasties, Ge Hong and Tao Qian had a number, but most people did not have it at that time. However, in the Tang and Song dynasties, due to the strengthening of ethics and morality and the development of literature, literati paid attention to elegance and elegance, and the horn began to prevail. For example, Tao Qian's self-proclaimed Mr. Wuliu, Li Bai's self-proclaimed Qinglian Jushi, and Su Shi's self-proclaimed Dongpo Jushi, all of which are self-proclaimed based on the environment of their place of residence;Du Fu called himself Shaoling Ye Lao, "61 Layman" was Ouyang Xiu's self-name in his later years, and He Zhizhang called himself Siming Maniac, all of which were self-named with interests and ambitions.
Xin Qiji's self-proclaimed sixty-one master, Zhao Mengfu Jiayin was born in the year, and he called himself Jiayin;Yuan Zheng Yuan's right self-named Shang Zuosheng, Ming Dynasty Zhu Yunming self-named Zhu Zhi Zhisheng, and later evolved into Zhu Zhishan in the folk. Some people also call themselves by their age of birth, literary conception, physical characteristics, and even amazing words. These ingenious trumpets embody the personality and innovative spirit of the ancients.
In general, the names, characters and numbers of the ancients all contain profound cultural connotations and individual expressions. They are not just simple identifiers, but also a symbol of cultural tradition and personal identity. Together, these elements make up the richness and complexity of the ancient Chinese name system. Through the in-depth study of the names, characters and numbers of the ancients, we can better understand the social culture of ancient China, as well as people's values and ideological concepts. At the same time, it is also a kind of respect and inheritance of ancient history and culture. Creative Inspiration Center