When someone asks your name, what should you answer?

Nowadays, when people speak at the beginning, they usually involve the most basic point, that is, the surname of others. In society, men are called gentlemen and women are called ladies. Then write your last names. For example, if you are a female surname, the other party will politely call you "Miss Fang", which was "Miss Fang" in ancient times. Therefore, whether it is ancient or modern, the first sentence before two people meet is "May I have your name, please?" The other party will generally answer that the first two words are "free". What exactly do you mean by "your last name" and "free"? Why is it related to personal surnames?

To say that China is, after all, one of the four ancient civilizations, the seemingly simple question and answer can be traced back to the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties three thousand years ago. Today, surnames have gradually evolved, taking Xia, Shang and Zhou as a stage, which is another big stage after the Qin Dynasty. The development of surnames in each stage has changed, and its rules have also changed. Before Qin dynasty, people had surnames and surnames, which represented different meanings. The surname is the representative of the root, that is, to distinguish the ancestors. The role of surnames is mainly used by the younger generation, that is to say, surnames are passed down from generation to generation, and surnames are equivalent to a branch that is slowly diverted.

In A Brief History of Clans, it is clearly recorded that "noble people have surnames, while lowly people have no surnames", and "anonymous people" is a general term for people with low social status in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, because not everyone has surnames, and ordinary people only have a code name, which is convenient to address. There were similar regulations in the Yuan Dynasty, when ordinary people only had surnames and first names. In Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, only dignitaries had surnames, such as Xiong Tong of Chu Wuwang in the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. His last name is Mi Xiong Xiong. Later, he went to live in Quyi, his fief, and his descendants took the famous land songs as their surnames. Qu Xian and Qu Yuan are descendants of Mi surname. Men are called by their first names, while women are called by their first names.