When was writing invented in China?

People born after the 20th century have relatively simple names. On the premise of adhering to the surname of the ancestors, taking one or two characters as the first name is enough. For them, "name" is a simple word whose meaning cannot be divided. However, for ancient Chinese people, a name is a name and a character is a character. Each has its own independent meaning and cannot be confused together. Here we focus on the "words" of the ancients.

Since the Zhou Dynasty, people have also given other names to their names. "Book of Rites·Tan ??Gong" says: "The name of the child is the crown character." The explanation of this sentence is: "The name is added after the first three months of birth, so it is said that the name of the child is; at the age of twenty, there is a way to be a father, and friends and the like cannot be replaced. When calling his name, add the word "the way to be a father at the age of twenty", of course, it refers to a man; for a woman, it is "given a hairpin and the word", when it is time to get married. (15 years old) Add "zi". People are given names as soon as they are born, in order to distinguish each other, otherwise they will not be able to enter the existing social order system with an independent identity. There is no scruple in calling a child by his or her first name, but it does not seem to be respectful enough to an adult. The name is chosen to solve this problem. Therefore, the names of the ancients were mainly used to refer to themselves; the characters of the ancients were mainly used to refer to others. Of course, this does not mean that it is necessary to address people by their names in all cases. This depends on the mutual status of the two parties in the conversation. Those of equal status should respectfully address others by their names instead of their names, and humbly address themselves by their names instead of their names. Elders can also address their juniors, teachers to their students, and superiors to their subordinates by their names, which makes them appear more cordial. If the purpose of naming is to distinguish each other, then the choice of words is to indicate superiority and inferiority. This is the basic difference between the functions of names and words.

The word is independent of the name, but it is closely related to the name. According to ancient philology, "character" has the meaning of breeding. Therefore, we can also understand that the characters of the ancients are derived from names. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people's names and characters generally had special meanings. Wang Yinzhi, an exegesis scholar of the Qing Dynasty, summarized and revealed the five types of relationships between names and characters in the Spring and Autumn Period, which was comprehensive and accurate. Now add examples, listed below:

Tynonymous and mutual training. Fan Xu, a student of Confucius, also had the courtesy name Zichi. Xu and Chi both mean waiting. Min Sun, courtesy name Ziqian. Loss and Qian both mean loss. Yan Hui, courtesy name Ziyuan. According to "Shuowen Jiezi", "Yuan means Huishui. Hui means Yuanshui."

Antonym and relative meaning. Duanmuci, a native of Wei, named Zigong. The reward given by the superior to the subordinate is called "ci", and the offering from the inferior to the superior is called "tribute", which has exactly the opposite meaning. Tang Mei, the general of Chu, had the courtesy name Ziming. Ambiguity means darkness, which is the opposite of light.

Inference by analogy. Nangong Kuo, a disciple of Confucius, also named Zirong. "Kuo" means including; inferring "bearance" means tolerance. Chu Chen Zhonggui, named Zijia. From returning home to returning home, it is a matter of course.

According to the meaning, it means the truth. Qi Gongzi Gu, named Zicheng. From the meaning of solidity, it refers to the tall and real city wall. A native of Lu, Ran Geng, named Boniu. From the meaning of farming, it refers to the specific farming cattle.

Distinguish objects into categories. Sui Yuan, a native of Wei, had the courtesy name Boyu; Chen Guan, a native of Qi, had the courtesy name Ziyu. Yuan and Guan are both types of jade. Kong Li, son of Confucius, was given the courtesy name Boyu; Prince Li of Chu was given the courtesy name Ziyu. Carp and bream are both types of fish.

The "characters" of the people listed above all consist of two characters, but the first character has no real meaning. For example, the "zi" of Zi Chi and Zigong was a good name for men in ancient times. The "Bo" in Bo Niu and Bo Yu is the first among the characters Bo, Zhong, Shu and Ji. Therefore, this type of two-character "zi" is actually one word "zi". This is also one of the characteristics of early life characters.

After the Qin and Han Dynasties, the two-character "zi" gradually increased and became the mainstream. Moreover, the order in which words and names are used together also changes. In the pre-Qin period, people were given names first and then names. For example, the Chu general Baili Meng Mingshi, Baili was his surname, Mengming was his character, and Shi was his name. After the Han Dynasty, it was changed to give names first and then words. For example, when Cao Pi discussed the "Seven Sons of Jian'an" in "Dianlun Wen", he called Kong Rong Wenju, Chen Lin, Kong Zhang, Wang Can and Zhongxuan...here Kong Rong and Chen Lin and Wang Can are their names, and Wenju, Kong Zhang and Zhongxuan are their characters respectively. In addition, in terms of the way of selecting characters, it not only inherits the traditional practices of the pre-Qin period such as synonyms, relative antonyms, categorical inferences, distinguishing objects and categories, and using rankings and good names to enter characters, but also has some new ones. development.

First of all, in terms of inheriting tradition, for example:

Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, whose courtesy name was Kongming; Tao Yuanming, a poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, whose courtesy name was Yuanliang; Sikong Shu, one of the "Ten Talents of Dali" in the Tang Dynasty, Word civilization. (Mutual training)

Luo Yin, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, whose courtesy name was Zhaojian; Han Yu, the first of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties", whose courtesy name was Tuizhi; Zhu Xi, a great scholar of the Song Dynasty, whose courtesy name was Yuanhui; a phonological exegesis expert of the Qing Dynasty Wang Niansun's nickname was Huaizu; Tongcheng School writer Guan Tong had a different nickname. (Antonyms and opposites)

Northern Song Dynasty writer Huang Buzhi, the courtesy name is Wujiu; Southern Song poet You Mao, the courtesy name is Yanzhi; Southern Song poet Liu Guo, the courtesy name is changed to it; Qing Dynasty historian Zhang Xuecheng, the courtesy name is Shizhai . (Continuous analogy)

The general of Soochow, Zhou Yu, was given the name Gongjin; Zhuge Liang’s elder brother, Zhuge Jin, was given the name Ziyu. (Distinguish the categories of things)

The Eastern Han Dynasty writer Cai Yong, whose courtesy name was Bo Zhe; the Tang Dynasty poet Qian Qi, whose courtesy name was Zhongwen; the Northern Song poet Yan Jidao, whose courtesy name was Shuyuan; the Ming Dynasty writer Wang Siren, whose courtesy name was Jizhong . (Words are entered with ranking)

Secondly, in terms of new developments, the main ones are:

Added beautiful words. In addition to the honorific words such as son and father in the pre-Qin era, there are a large number of words with rich meanings, such as Gong, Weng, Qing, Qian, Yan, Wei, Xiu, Dao, Xiao... which have become popular choices for word selection. For example: Dou Rong, a minister of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was given the courtesy name Zhou Gong; Huang Gai, a general of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, was given the courtesy name Gongfu; Guo Xie, a powerful figure in the Western Han Dynasty, was given the courtesy name Weng Bo; Kong Chaofu, an official in the Tang Dynasty, was given the courtesy name Weng Bo. Those who use beautiful terms of address include Su Wu, the envoy of the Western Han Dynasty, whose courtesy name is Ziqing; and general Wei Qing, whose courtesy name is Zhongqing. Those who use status as a beautiful term include the Western Han Dynasty writer Dongfang Shuo, whose courtesy name is Manqian; Cao Pi's grandson and Wei Emperor Cao Mao, whose courtesy name is Yanshi. To use descriptive words, Xu Qian, one of the "Seven Sons of Jian'an", had the courtesy name Wei Chang; Ying Xu, a litterateur in the Wei Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms, had the courtesy name Xiulian. The person who used the beautiful words of virtue was Yin Zhen, a scholar of the Eastern Han Dynasty, whose courtesy name was Daozhen. Liu Bei's counselor Fazheng was named Xiaozhi.

Collect classics. Pick out the meanings of wonderful famous sayings and aphorisms in classics and use them as expressions with elegant meaning. Cao Cao's courtesy name is Mengde, and his words come from "Xunzi Encouraging Learning": "Those who learn must stick to the same learning. ... Therefore, power cannot be dumped, the masses cannot be moved, and the world cannot be shaken. Life depends on this, and death must Therefore, this is what is called moral conduct. "Shangshu Dayu Mo" states that "fullness brings harm, modesty benefits." From this, Qian Qianyi, a scholar in the late Ming Dynasty, was named Shouzhi; Wang Xianqian, a gentry in the late Qing Dynasty, was named Yi. I.

Express admiration. Expressing admiration for the sages and sages of the past is one of the important ideas of the ancients in naming and choosing characters. Yan Zhitui, a writer in the Northern Qi Dynasty, admired the integrity of Jie Zitui, a Jin person in the Spring and Autumn Period, so he was named after him and his surname as his surname. Gu Yewang, a literary exegesis expert in the Southern Dynasties, admired Feng Yewang, a doctor in the Western Han Dynasty. He not only copied his name, but also gave it the courtesy name Xifeng. Gu Zuyu, a novice in the late Ming and Qing Dynasties, admired Fan Zuyu, a historian in the Song Dynasty and known as "Tang Jiangong", so he was named after him, and he also had the courtesy name Jingfan.

Send feelings. Lu You said in "Notes of Laoxue'an": "Words represent a person's virtue." Just as words are the voice of the heart, words are also a means for people to express their feelings. Kang Youwei, the leader of the modern reform movement, had the nickname Guangsha, which was intended to express his broad mind of fighting for an enlightened and free existence "Guangsha" for the people under the dark dictatorship. Huang Yanpei, a famous modern democrat named Renzhi, himself explained the meaning of "Renzhi": "One is to resolutely and bravely shoulder the responsibilities that one should do and the responsibilities that the country and society should bear, and let it go; The second is to ignore insignificant things, boring rumors, etc., let them go, and let them go."

Analysis of Famous Essays. There is a close connection between names and names. This connection can be either in a literary sense or in a text structure. The poet Xie Ao of the Southern Song Dynasty, whose courtesy name was Gaoyu; the traitor Qin Hui, whose courtesy name was Huizhi; the "Jingling School" literati Liu Tong of the Ming Dynasty, whose courtesy name was Tongren; and the Qing writer Mao Qiling, whose courtesy name was Dake.

The use of both names and characters is one of the unique traditions of Chinese name culture, and this was still the case until the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Take celebrities as an example:

Lu Xun, whose original name was Zhou Shuren, was given the courtesy name Hencai.

Li Dazhao, courtesy name Shouchang.

Hu Shi, also known as Shizhi.

Mao Dun, whose original name was Shen Dehong, also had the courtesy name Yan Bing.

Zhu Ziqing, courtesy name Peixian.

Chen Yi, courtesy name Zhonghong.

The Revolution of 1911 overthrew the autocratic monarchy that had existed for thousands of years. Later, after the impact of the May 4th New Culture Movement, the traditional order of superiority and inferiority was completely negated. Therefore, the character with the main function of clarifying superiority and inferiority was , thus losing the basic basis for existence.

With the development of the times, the pace of life has accelerated, interpersonal interactions have become more and more frequent, and the system of complex titles and stacked names and characters is obviously no longer necessary and possible to restore. But with a little knowledge in this area, you can at least avoid jokes like Yang Liulang calling himself "Yang Jing Yang Yanzhao" in front of the emperor in the storytelling "Yang Family General".