Why did the ancients often like to add some aliases such as "word * *" or "number * *" after their names?

What's the name of so-and-so that we often talk about today? In ancient times, the word "name" included three parts: surname, first name and word. Each part has its own performance and function, and it is an independent and interdependent whole.

Ancient people had names soon after they were born, and they had to take characters when they grew up. The two men linked together and abused each other. Regarding the role of the two, Wang Yingkui, a Qing Dynasty man, once said: "The ancients were righteous in their names and virtuous in their words." It means that names are used to distinguish each other, while words are used to express virtue. They have different properties and uses. Generally speaking, in ancient times, name was a kind of phased title. When I was a child, I called my nickname, but when I grew up, I called my name. With words, the name becomes something that should be avoided. If it is commensurate, it can only be called words, not names.

In most cases, a name and a word * * * together constitute a person's code name. Although the uses are different, there is still a connection between them. The ancients chose words mostly because of their names, and it was almost impossible to see the relationship between names and the content of words. For example, Zhang Fei, a famous soldier of the Three Kingdoms, and Zi Yide, in this name,

"Fei" is a name, and "Yide" is an explanation of "Fei" because

"Flying" is "the virtue of wings" (the merit created by flapping wings). Another example is Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, whose word is happiness. There is also a connection between names and words, that is, "music" is the cause and "music" is the result. Only by living in peace can we know that life is happy.

There are many kinds of ancient names, and words have different uses. At first, people's choice of words was very simple, and there was often only one word, which was associated with words such as character, bo, bell and symbol. For example, Yan Hui, a disciple of Confucius, used the word Zi Yuan, Ran Geng used the word Bo Niu, and ran yong used the word Zhong Gong. Yuan, Niu and Gong in these names are their words. Of course, some people simply use one word when choosing words, without adding other words, such as Chen Sheng's words and Xiang Yu's words. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, the choice of names and words became more and more exquisite, and the situation became more and more complicated. When people become famous, they often regard the choice of words as very important. Some people pay attention to imitating the ancients when choosing words, such as "the rule of scholars", "saints" and "teachers are wise" Some people have high hopes for the parties and choose words such as "gentleness" (long life) and "eternal safety". These are of far-reaching significance.

In addition to names and words, the ancients also used numbers instead of names. No. is a fixed alias, also known as "alias". As early as the Zhou Dynasty, people began to take numbers. In this regard, "Zhou Li" explained that number means "it is more beautiful to respect its name", which means that number is a kind of honorific title or a good title other than name and character. The early trumpet has this feature, and most of them are sages and scholars. For example, Lao Zi's nickname is Guang, and Fan Li's nickname is Li Yizipi. In the pre-Qin period, there were not many famous people. By the time of Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were still not many people taking numbers. The only historical records are Mr. Wu (alias Mr. Wu Liu) and Ge Hong (alias Bao Puzi). However, in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the prosperity of feudal countries and the highly developed culture, more and more people took names other than words and names. For example, Li Bai's Qinglian layman, Du Fu's Shaoling Yelao, and Bai Juyi's Xiangshan layman all belong to this category. In the Song Dynasty, the wind of taking numbers further developed. The well-known "Water Margin" 108 will have nicknames, representing the social atmosphere at that time. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people regarded numbering as a fashion, and almost everyone from the emperor to the common people had a number. As Chao Ling recorded in the book Shao Li Bian, at that time, "there were many people in the village, and there were many illiterate people, both mediocre people and crazy people, all of whom were arrogant. It's ridiculous to be a mountain for brothers, a water for brothers, a pine for men and a bamboo for men. Recently, women also have it, and people call it' an old man with curly hair like me', which is a pity. "Even some thieves who become outlaws have nicknames. For example, an example of a county magistrate handling a case in the above book is very telling. This example is about a county magistrate who accused the prisoner of excusing himself when trying a theft case. The prisoner suddenly said, "Don't be silly." The county magistrate didn't understand its meaning. After asking about it, I realized that the prisoner was calling himself another name.

In terms of words, fetching numbers is different from naming and writing, and most of them are not limited by the number of words. According to the known posthumous title, there are posthumous title No.2, posthumous title No.3, posthumous title No.4, and even posthumous title with more than 10 and more than 20 characters. For example, posthumous title of Zheng Banqiao, a painter in Qing Dynasty, is 12, that is, "Emperor Kangxi, scholar, Yongzheng, was awarded the title of Qianlong Jinshi". As for a religious mage named Shi Chengguo, there are as many as 28 posthumous title, that is, "Little Foshan, a monk in Wan Li, is in charge of the affairs of the world's famous mountains and rivers, and is also in charge of the wages of cranes." A person's nickname actually uses nearly 30 words, which is really a must in ancient and modern times.

Because ancient people chose numbers at will, they didn't have to avoid them, which stimulated the Ming and Qing people who suffered from literary inquisition and taboo to some extent, prompting them to choose other names to express themselves. At that time, most people took a nickname, but some people had several nicknames. For example, Shi Tao, a painter in the early Qing Dynasty, was called Hongji and had four aliases: Qing Xiang Taoist, Bitter Melon Monk, Di Zi Master and Blind Zun.

To sum up, the appellation of ancient people in China is far more complicated than that of modern people. They have names, characters and numbers. This coexistence of name and font size not only meets the needs of parties of different ages and occasions, but also adds new content to the name culture of China.