Interesting facts about ancient fonts

People in ancient times believed that the names chosen by their parents were spiritual and should not be called randomly. What do others call you? Just pick another code name. This is the "zi". Because it is used by outsiders, it is called "biaozi".

Biaozi is only available after adulthood. Minors are also called "weizi", and women are called "waizi guizhong". If a man is twenty, he should be named after his crown; if a woman is fifteen, she should be given a hairpin. "Crown" and "hairpin" are coming-of-age rites.

Because it is used as a title, it is given a more beautiful meaning when choosing words, but most of them are related to "name". For example, Zhuge Liang, also known as Kong Ming. "Kong Ming" is a big bright; for example, Sun Quan not only wants power, but also considerable strategy, "Zhongmou". There are also exactly the same: Li Bai, the character is too white, but still white; there are also completely opposite: Han Yu, the character is retreated, the name must be transcended, the character is retreated.

There is a previous article that talked about surnames and first names in detail. I will simply skip the "zi". Those who are interested can pay attention to it. Our answer mainly talks about "number".

Number is another "name". But there are many kinds of "Hao": "Self Hao", "He Hao", "Posthumous Hao", "Private posthumous name", "nickname" and so on.

We know that names and nicknames are given by parents and elders. Self-titles are aliases given to express certain interests, such as "Qinglian Jushi", "Dongpo Jushi", " Mr. Wuliu". The number is the same as the word. Show more respect when others address you. The number is also very useful, not only for addressing, but also for signing articles, so it is not a bad idea to think of it as a pen name for literati. As for the meaning of the account, it is just like the Internet nicknames we use. They are varied and you can call them whatever you want. Moreover, one person can have several accounts at the same time, and no identity verification is required.

"Congratulations" means that among the people, everyone respects a person very much and recommends a better "number" to a person with high moral character. This is a kind of recognition and praise from the people. But now this behavior is less common.

"Posthumous title" emerged in the Zhou Dynasty. It is a title given to the emperor, concubines, princes and ministers after their death. It uses one or two words to reflect the evaluation of the deceased. These posthumous titles were decided by the emperor by his ministers, and the ministers were given by the emperor, so they can basically be regarded as a summary of a lifetime. For example, Zhou Wen and King Wu must be civilized and martial arts, while Zhou Li and King You must be cruel and stupid.

For example, Su Shi was posthumously named "Wenzhong", but if a TV series about Dongpo were filmed today and he was called "Wen Zhonggong" in it, it would be a joke. The posthumous title of Wang Anshi at the same time was rather strange, with only one character "文". The highest posthumous title in the Song Dynasty was "Wenzheng", so what does this posthumous title mean? Some people say that it is a compliment, which goes beyond "Wen Zheng", while some people think that it is an overt praise and a covert derogation, thinking that he is "incorrect", or at least politically incorrect. Therefore, there are many doorways here.

"Private posthumous title". If a person has no official status but has status, there will be a "private posthumous title" among the people. For example, Tao Yuanming, whose surname is Tao, given name Qian, and given name Yuanming, calls himself Mr. Wuliu, and has a private nickname of Jingjie. What we are most familiar with is his cousin. Mr. Wuliu was the name he chose himself to express his noble ambition to live in seclusion. After his death, his relatives and friends privately nicknamed him Jingjie, which was a summary of his life's quality and integrity.

So, when you call yourself by your first name, he calls you by your cousin. If you are more respectful, use your title. If the other person has an official position, then the official position can also be a nickname, such as "Wang Jiangning" or "Du Gongbu" , these are all honorific titles.

As for the "nickname", it is our current "nickname". There is nothing to talk about. Who didn't have one when they were in elementary school?