What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
When we read books about the great women of modern times, or watch films of these characters, we often find a rare and interesting phenomenon: the use of the word "sir" to refer to a small number of great women. For example, the mother of the country, Song Qingling, is like this, almost everyone calls her "sir", why is this?
The deep meaning of the word sir
In traditional Chinese culture, "sir" is a word that contains respect, in addition to respect, there is also the meaning of praise, so not anyone can be called Mr. Women, on the other hand, were called gentlemen in modern times, and were hardly heard of in the feudal dynastic era. However, even in modern times, the phenomenon of calling women sirs is rare.
Call Mr. Three Loves
As far as the semantics of modern Chinese are concerned, there are generally three kinds of emotions that can be called mr. The most common of these is to address a woman's husband, which has no special meaning, but is just a habit; the second case is to call the teacher, and generally to call the knowledgeable teacher; the third case is to call the elderly of high moral standing.
When we look up the Cihai, we find that the categories of people who can be called gentlemen are mainly those who are excellent in knowledge and moral character, those who have made greater contributions in a certain field in a certain aspect, those who are learned and old, those who have patriotic sentiments, and outstanding women who have achieved great achievements and great influence.
The reason why the Mother of the Nation is revered as a gentleman
She devoted herself to the revolution from her youth, followed Sun Yat-sen in her struggle for the nation, was an outstanding patriot, and she dedicated everything to the cause of the independence and liberation of the Chinese nation. Mother Guo's deep patriotic feelings, as well as her knowledge and character, are all loved and admired by Chinese, and she also has a lofty prestige in the world!
Therefore, the Chinese people respect the outstanding woman Song Qingling, the mother of the country, as "Sir". Including the great founding leader and prime minister, when he saw the mother of the country, he respectfully called him "Mr. Song". Of course, for this honor, the mother of the country is also well-deserved.
In addition to the mother of the country, the outstanding women who are often called "Mr." in modern times mainly include Mr. Qiu Jin, a woman who sacrificed her life for the country, Mr. He Xiangning, a great patriot, and Mr. Bingxin, who is respected.