On December 26, 2021, historian and Yale University Emeritus Professor Shi Jingqian passed away.
Shi Jingqian. Source/Screenshot of the interview program Shi Jingqian: My Studies in China
At first glance, many people may think that Shi Jingqian is a Chinese, but in fact, this is a western name with quite oriental meaning.
Shi Jingqian's original name was "Jonathan Spencer". History, Jing, Qian - Historians admire Sima Qian, Jing Qian is not only a transliteration of his real name "Jonathan", but also depicts the pursuit and vision of this Chinese historical researcher. Many years ago, the teacher Fang Zhaoyao gave him this name.
Many overseas scholars who study Chinese history have very confusing names Chinese, and Fairbank, Kong Feili, Shi Jianya, and Chen Shunchen think at first glance that they are Chinese.
In fact, giving yourself an authentic Chinese name may be the long tradition of these people. So, how do learned foreigners name themselves Chinese?
Coming from afar, entering the countryside with the sound is also with the customs
To exaggerate, the first batch of foreigners who entered China took great pains to cross the ocean and set foot on Chinese soil, and in the end they may not be able to grasp their own naming rights.
This was already experienced by the Tang envoy Abe Nakamaru. In 717 AD, this Japanese nobleman who was bent on studying in the Tang Dynasty traveled far and wide through the ocean and finally stepped into Chang'an as he wished. During his studies at Chang'an Taixue, he obtained his first Chinese name, Zhongman. In the biographical novel written by Takamigi Kato, Nakaman's second name, Chao Heng, is not only given by Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji, but also has an unusual meaning.
"'Chao' has 'day', 'chao' and 'chao' are connected, well, the word 'chao' is good. The last name gives you a 'Japanese' word for 'Day'. The Western Han Dynasty had a chaotic mistake, you know? It is this chaotic 'chao'. What about the name, the word 'heng'? Balanced balance, your personality balanced and middle way. There are fish in Heng, and there are more than one year in a row, and there is no worry about eating and wearing. ”
The plot is somewhat literary processing, but it also explains the connotation of the word "Chao Heng" clearly. Chao Heng did not live up to this oriental name, and spent the rest of his life in the Tang Dynasty that he admired as an official, won the trust of Xuanzong, and formed a deep friendship with Wang Wei, Li Bai and others. Many years later, Chao Heng returned to the east, the road encountered a storm, Chang'an's former friend thought that he had been killed, grief-stricken, Li Bai also wrote a poem "Crying Chao Heng Qing" with a sad heart, with a sentence "The bright moon does not return to the blue sea, the white clouds are full of sorrow", telling the thoughts and condolences of this Japanese friend.
The image of Abe Nakamaru (Chao Heng) in the film. Source/Stills from the movie "The Legend of the Demon Cat"
Compared with Chao Heng's poetic romance, foreigners who came to China in the later period had more other considerations when taking names.
Beginning in the 16th century, the first Jesuits entered China with the approval and patronage of the King of Portugal. Thousands of miles have come, and their purpose is simple, to spread Western teachings in the Eastern world. However, in order to successfully preach, the first thing that stands in the way of the missionaries is the cultural barrier.
Integrating into Chinese society as quickly as possible has become the most urgent task for missionaries.
Changing the name became a good idea. The famous missionary Matteo Ricci once pondered this method. The Jesuit, born into the Italian nobility, whose full name was Matteo Ricci and whose Chinese name was Matteo Ricci, came from a transliteration of the first syllable of his original name, Ri, and a syllable of his name Matteo. According to the researchers, the name "Matteo Ricci" has little to do with Chinese culture or poetry, but Leach chose a shortcut for "cultural adaptation" - "entering the countryside with the sound", rewriting the real name, and getting a Chinese name that makes everyone easy to understand and remember.
Ricci. Source: Network
Not only Matteo Ricci, but also many missionaries who entered China during the same period played "entering the countryside and following the music" very smoothly. For example, the Spanish Diego de Pantoja translates the first syllable of the surname "pan" as Pang, and Diego translates it as "Di I", which becomes "Pandi I"; The Italian Alfonso Vagnoni incarnated as "Wang Fengsu".
This was all expedient, and gradually the missionaries had a new quest. In other words, to take a Chinese name, not only to translate, but also to translate Xindaya, and to weave the Chinese culture that you feel and understand. Let's say —
Giacomo Rho, an Italian national, named himself "Roya Valley";
The German Jesuit Johann Schreck, stunned, translated the Johann John, who was full of Western atmosphere, into "Jade Letter", Deng Yuhan, who could have imagined that this was a friend from Germany?
Compared with these two, the leader who studies the Chinese name into the Taste of China must be Nan Huairen.
Nan Huairen. Source: Network
This Belgian missionary born in Brussels, whose original name was "Ferdinand Verbiest", unlike other missionaries, his Chinese name is not closely related to his real name, but uses a "Ren" character to deeply embed oriental aesthetics into his business card.
In 1659, under the influence of the Italian priest Wei Kuangguo, Nan Huairen gave up the original idea of going to South America as a missionary and traveled east to China. After preaching in Shaanxi, Nan Huairen was summoned to Beijing and served in Qin Tianjian. Huai ren Huai Ren, this Chinese name accompanied him through the imperial court and handled affairs for others. In the third year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1664), Yang Guangxian, who was supported by Aobai and opposed to Western studies, was accused of fabricating charges, and Nan Huairen and Tang Ruowang were falsely imprisoned together. At that time, John Tang was nearly a twilight and his speech was not clear, and Nan Huairen insisted on defending him, and even gave up the opportunity to get out of prison until he finished the aftermath for John Tang. Shiren remembered his benevolence and righteousness, and particularly praised: "Tang Mafa has been prepared for capital crimes, and others will avoid it, but Huai Ren defends it and is sincerely loyal to his friends." ”
Later, Nan Huairen became the emperor of Kangxi. He studied astronomy and geography, wrote numerous works, and in 1674, he created six large astronomical instruments including the ecliptic theodolite and the equatorial theodolite. He also re-told the Qing Dynasty what the world was with a translation of the Kunyu Quantu.
In this "world map", Nan Huairen not only adopts the longitude and latitude theory method to identify the north, south, east, and west points of the five continents, but also explains the natural weather with a large paragraph of annotation text, and specially allows the prime meridian to pass through Suncheon Province, satisfying the imagination and vision of the Qing Dynasty that "China is the center of the world".
(Qing) Minami Kaijin draws a full map of Kunyu Kobe City Museum Collection
Chinese and foreign, with a Han name to visit China
The wheel of history passes, the smoke clouds stirred up are dispersed, the fallen dynasties are annihilated, and a new chapter is opened.
With the process of modernization, the door of exchange between the East and the West has gradually opened. At this time, missionary work was no longer the only purpose of Westerners coming to China. On the contrary, more and more Westerners are attracted by China's thick history and profound culture, and the eastward journey that has begun has also given them different characteristics of Chinese names.
"The combination of East and West" is a favorite naming law of Chinese sinologists at this stage. For example, the Japanese sinologist Torajiro once changed his name to Naito Hunan because he admired the water and soil of Hunan, which cultivated talents such as Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang.
There is also another way to combine it, which is to choose a surname with Chinese characteristics for yourself. It is said that the German geographer Richthofen, who has visited China seven times and traveled throughout most of China, was influenced by "Li Hongzhang" to transliterate his surname as "Li", and it was this "Li" scholar who first proposed the concept of "Silk Road" after investigating the transportation of goods in China.
In 1937, under the influence of Dr. Lu Guizhen, a student at Cambridge in China, Joseph Needham, who had made little achievements in the field of biochemistry, resolutely gave up his profession and turned to Chinese scientific culture, learning Chinese word by word, and after half a century of hard work, he wrote the world-renowned "History of Chinese Science and Technology", and drew a thick and long-standing oriental scientific and technological civilization to the world map with conclusive evidence.
Interestingly, the cover of almost every of his masterpieces is painted with Taoist figures such as Liu Tianjun and Marshal Wen. People are puzzled, Joseph Men'erqing - in his view, the creation and invention of ancient Chinese science and The Taoist philosophical thought, the cultivation experiments of the warlocks are closely related, and the so-called "Taoist Fangshi - Taoism - Warlocks" thoughts and practices may precipitate the most primitive appearance and connotation of Oriental science and technology. Because of this, he especially appreciated the natural science ideas in the chapter of Lao Tzu, and also followed the Chinese name "Needham", and also let himself use "Dan Yao" as the word "Ten Paths".
British sinologist Joseph Needham and his wife Lu Guizhen. Source/Screenshot of Sanduotang video
At the end of the 20th century, a Frenchman also came to China twice. The first time he came to China, he stayed for four years, translated the "History", and compiled the "Stone Carvings of the Two Han Dynasties of China"; The second time he came to China, which lasted nearly a year, he braved the wind and sand to cross the mountains and deep mountains, footprints all over the northeast and north China, and took a large number of precious photos. In the first year of Xuan reunification, these painstakingly obtained materials were compiled into the "Archaeological Atlas of North China", and for the first time, the photos of the Yungang Grottoes and the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang were published to the Western academic community, and the amazing charm of oriental grotto art was exposed to the world for the first time. These precious photos, when the Longmen Grottoes later experienced the vicissitudes of weathering, became an important basis for academic research and cultural relics recovery. His name was Edward Shapi.
In Chinese, 畹 originally means farmland in the shape of a small basin, and in ancient times thirty acres of land was called Yiqi. With sand and sand, so it seems that this name is tailor-made.
Connect things and write stories into names
There are also some sinologists who, in addition to making up words and sentences, also hide other things in their Chinese names.
Let's say, camaraderie.
American historian and Chinese scholar John King Fairbank, Chinese name Fairbank, the Chinese name Isbank, the three characters correspond to his own surname, first name and middle name /this name. This is a gift from the Chinese architect Liang Sicheng. Zhengqing, which means integrity and incorruptibility, when giving the name, Liang Sicheng told a friend: "Using such a Chinese name, you can really be regarded as a Chinese." ”
Interestingly, the Chinese name of Fei Zhengqing's wife Fei Weimei is also from Liang Sicheng's hand. The couple not only formed a deep friendship with Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin, but also immersed themselves in China's architectural history under their influence, rubbing and writing books, so that China's architectural aesthetics entered the vision of American academic circles.
Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin took a group photo with Fei Weimei, the wife of Fei Zhengqing. Source/Guiyang Evening News
Another example is hope and expectation.
Born in England, Jonathan Spencer has spent half his life in the study of Chinese history and has completed 14 works on Chinese history. During his phD in history at Yale University, Fang Zhaoyao, a predecessor of Chinese historiography, gave him a Chinese name, Shi Jingqian, which means "admiring Sima Qian".
Perhaps also following the context of historians, Shi Jingqian insisted on writing in the way of "storytelling", with vivid writing and eloquence.
In fact, giving yourself a Chinese name with rich meaning seems to be the standard of every overseas sinologist. In recent years, more educated foreigners have attached importance to giving themselves an authentic Chinese name, you know which ones, please leave a message to tell us.