Chinese take names, and have always paid attention to family ranking. The genealogy of almost every family has a record of the rank of the class, and this tradition has been passed down for thousands of years. Naming names by generation has always been a serious matter. But it seems that overnight, such a tradition seems to be less important, but why?
What is generational division
Generational traditions derive from the unique social structure of China's thousands of years of agrarian society, and are deeply influenced by Confucian culture. Confucian culture especially emphasizes "etiquette", whether it is "filial piety" from the perspective of blood relatives or "loyalty" from the perspective of status and inferiority, Confucian culture attaches special importance to the theory of class.
The concept of generational division is deeply rooted in the hearts of the Chinese people. Ranking is a big deal. With itself as the center, there are high ancestors, great-grandfathers, grandfathers, and fathers on the top, and children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-grandchildren on the bottom, which are the nine generations. These nine generations, coupled with the collateral blood relationship and in-law relationship, is an extremely large kinship system.
In such a huge kinship system, the generations must not be unknown, otherwise jokes will inevitably be made. For example, when I was a child, I didn't understand, the little uncle who watched the distant room was younger, called him a "younger brother", even if my father had to call him "uncle".
Generations, for a person, are already determined at birth. The generational divisions between the same clan must be strictly observed, and the title must be accurate. In life, the younger generation needs to give way to the elders, make way, and pay special attention to the number of seats, otherwise it will be chaotic.
Due to the objective existence of generations, coupled with people's special attention to generations, the habit of nameing names according to generations has gradually formed, and over time, it has become a tradition.
Name by word
Naming according to generation is actually naming according to the generation.
Characters are generally the second word in the name, such as "Mao Zedong", "Mao Zemin", "Mao Zeqin", and this "Ze" character is the character generation. However, there are also some people's characters, which are the third word in the name, such as "Zhou Shuren", "Zhou Zuoren", "Zhou Jianren", and this "ren" character is the character generation.
A person's surname is fixed, and if you name it according to the generation, then his generation is also fixed. Therefore, people who name names by generation only need to start with the third word. Such a way of naming is simple and rude, not laborious, no brains, even in the eyes of people who do not know how to fight in big characters, it is not difficult to name.
The tradition of naming names according to the generations should have appeared after the Tang Dynasty. Before the Tang Dynasty, most people gave names, but they were still single-character names. Read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where most of the names are single names. In the Sui Dynasty, there were still many single names, Yang Jian, Yang Yong, Yang Guang, Yang Su and so on.
The brothers of Tang Taizong, although not a single name, do not reflect the characters. When Emperor Zhongzong of Tang reached Li Xian, his four sons were named Li Chongrun, Li Chongfu, Li Chongjun, and Li Chongmao, which first saw the beginning of the characters. However, since Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Li Longji, the emperors of the Tang Dynasty who followed him all took single names.
By the time of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the 8 brothers of Emperor Zhuangzong of later Tang Dynasty, Li Cunmao, were all of the "Cun" characters, and the Min Taizu King Zhizhi had 12 sons, all of whom were also "Ting" characters. The name of the characters was probably also in this period, forming a traditional norm.
The meaning of the name of the word
The name of the character is actually a very practical and excellent traditional culture.
First, we can distinguish by a person's name, is it the same lineage? Is it the same branch? Peers? Senior or junior?
To use an analogy: as the bloodline continues to pass on, after a few generations, perhaps the age of the eldest nephew and the younger uncle is almost the same. At this time, if they are all named by the generation, just by looking at the name, you can distinguish who is the uncle and who is the nephew, and it will not be chaotic.
Second, we can avoid the same name or generation with our ancestors, and there will be no great disrespect for our ancestors.
With the flourishing of a family, the number of people will increase, if not named after the generation, perhaps within a few generations will not be wrong, but over time, it is naturally difficult to avoid the embarrassment of repeating the generation or even the same name.
Third, the name of the word generation focuses on the class theory, and the class theory is a preventive mechanism for the incest taboo.
Two bare-buttocked children who grew up together, green plum bamboo horses, may have secret feelings when they reach the age of the beginning of their love sinuses, which is actually a very normal thing. But what if this is an aunt or nephew? If there is no concept of generational division, it will be a human catastrophe. Although most of the concept of generations comes from the teachings of relatives, the name of the generation also has its own binding force.
Why are the names of the characters gradually decreasing
In many places today, it is still traditional to take names. But we can't deny that the way in which characters are given names is constantly decreasing. The reasons for this are nothing more than the following:
First, it is believed that the name of the characters is feudal superstition.
In today's society, which pursues individual independence and freedom of thought, the concept of family and clan consciousness are gradually weakening. Many people believe that taking names according to their ancestors is a kind of stereotype and backward feudal thinking.
Second, the conflict between the name of the character and modernization.
Institutional modernization, life modernization, cultural modernization, in such a big environment, the tradition of taking names from generations is inevitably criticized and denied, so that it is "slashed" and thrown into the trash can.
Third, the convenience and heavy connotation of modern naming.
In ancient times, and even in many places today, they paid attention to the "birthday eight characters" and "name feng shui", and it was inevitable to find a fortune teller. Nowadays, the network is developed, and there are many various types of word measurement websites, and it is particularly convenient to name them.
At the same time, more and more people pursue the deeper connotation of the name, if you take the name according to the generation, you can only choose one word, the name is inevitably tasteless to read, it is difficult to reflect the connotation of the mood, and it is difficult to express the expectations of parents.
Taking names from generation to generation or not taking names according to generations can be said to be a conflict between tradition and trend, and traditions are gradually being broken. However, it is undeniable that the names of the characters carry the excellent traditional culture of China and the spirit of our clan inheritance of seeking our roots and asking our ancestors.
Is it no longer important to take a name by word? The author can not comment, the benevolent see the benevolent, the wise see the wise.