(1) Name: In ancient times, babies were named by their fathers three months after birth, and the earliest name we see now is the name of the Shang Dynasty. At that time, people used to name tiangan, or name it after birthday stem, mainly after Tiangan. By the time of the Warring States period, many nobles used divination to name their sons. With the rise of Confucianism, naming became more and more complex.
The Zhou Li, written during the Warring States period, stipulates the "five rules" (faith, righteousness, elephant, falsehood, and class) and "six noes" (that is, "not to the state, not to the official, not to the mountains, not to hide diseases, not to live with animals, and not to use utensils").
(2) Characters, table characters: Names given by people in the old days other than the original name to indicate virtue or the meaning of the original name. The pronoun of the "word" that is only called this person is "line of words". For example: the name Yu Ri Zheng Ze Xi, the word Yu Lingjun. ("Departure")
(3) Number, alias: refers to the self-designation of ancient Chinese people outside the name. Nicknames are mostly made for oneself, but also by others. It is not related to the first name or word. In the ancient titles, aliases were also often used as titles. For example, unconsciously, the word "old cripple" has become an individual number. ("The Journey of the Old Crippled")
1. Title: The system began in the Western Zhou Dynasty for deceased emperors, ministers, nobles (including other high-ranking people) who were evaluated according to their life deeds and given titles of praise or derogation or sympathy. The Heavenly Sons of the Zhou Dynasty, the princes of various countries, the Qing Masters and their wives were qualified; The Han Dynasty stipulated that only those who had been enfeoffed before their death had the qualifications to be honored; the Tang Dynasty stipulated that the officials of the ministry had the qualifications to be honored; and the titles of ordinary literati or hermits were added by their relatives, friends, protégés, or former officials, which were called private titles, which was different from those granted by the imperial court.
Nicknames are broadly divided into the following categories:
(1) Shangyu, that is, the name of the praise class. For example, if Emperor Wu's great talent is great, he does not change the courtesy and frugality of Wenjing to The People of Zi Simin, although the Book of Poetry says, how can there be a jiayan! (Book of Han and The Chronicle of Emperor Wu)
(2) Inferiority, that is, the name of the criticism category. For example: Wen Hou ten years, Zhou Youwang has no way, and Inuyasha kills YuWang. "History of the Jin Dynasty")
(3) The evil of the next
For example, if King Li does not listen, he will take Rong Gong as his secretary and use things. (History of Zhou Benji)
(4) Zhongyu is mostly a sympathetic nickname.
For example, the mourning emperor was first established, the practice was simple, the province was reduced, the political affairs were out of their own, and the imperial court was suddenly cured. (Zizhi Tongjian)
(5) After the death of a famous scholar or scholar, a title agreed upon by his relatives, protégés, and former officials. For example, if Yanagisha dies, the doorman will talk about it. ("The Tale of the Daughters of Yanagishita")
2. Temple number
The name given to the emperor when he was enshrined in the temple originated from the Shang Dynasty, which attached great importance to sacrifice and worship. Due to the expansion of the number of words of the emperor in later generations, and almost as long as the descendants of the emperor who succeed to the throne will give the father and grandfather a beautiful title, the title can not actually show the emperor's evaluation, and the temple number replaces the title to play the role of covering the coffin. Such as: twenty-two years old, buried Xingping Mausoleum, temple number Sutra. (Book of Jin * Chronicle of the Emperor Cheng)
3. Year number
Year number, a name used by the Chinese feudal dynasty to chronicle the year (can also be used as the title of the emperor to indicate the year); It was generally initiated by the emperor. From the pre-Qin to the early Han Dynasty, there was no era name, and the first era name was created after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took the throne. The founding era name was "Yuan Hunt", and the previous era name was "Jianyuan", "Yuanguang" and "Yuanshuo". Since then, the system has been formed. Emperors of previous dynasties generally had to change their era names when they encountered major events and important events such as heavenly blessings or internal and external troubles. An emperor uses as few as one year number and as many as a dozen.
Such as: Yonghe nine years, the age in the decoction ugly. (Orchid Pavilion Collection)
4. Change the yuan
Changing the Yuan: Refers to the change of the era name during the reign of the emperor during the feudal period of China, and the year number promulgated when the new emperor took the throne became Jianyuan. The year in which each year number begins is called the first year.
For example: it is the fifth day of the summer of the year, change the yuan Jingyan. ((Post-Introduction to the Guide))
5. Honorific title, emblem
Honorific titles and emblems: refers to the titles added during the emperor and his concubines' lifetimes to express reverence and praise.
For example, the subject died on the honorific title, and the king was "Emperor Tai". "History of The First Emperor of Qin"