Chapter 25 Section 2 Calling Human Characters

In order to avoid taboo, we call characters, so the ancients always called people by their characters in communication.Calling people by their names means respecting their names.However, in the feudal era, there were strict levels and complicated etiquette. Even when calling a person, one had to look at the person. Not everyone could just "respect their name". Among relatives and friends, anyone who is of the same generation can be called a surname in principle.Confucius' disciples all called each other characters.For example, in "The Analects of Confucius Zi Zhang", it is recorded that Master Zhuan Sun, Bu Shang and Yan Yan all call each other with characters.Ruyan Yan commented on Bu Shang's disciples and said: "Zi Xia's disciple is a boy, you should sweep and sweep to deal with advances and retreats." Bu Shang heard this and said: "Words are too much!" Bu Shang's disciples once asked Master Zhuan Sun for advice. On the way to make friends, Master Zhuan-sun first asked: "What about Zixia?" When Yan Yan commented on Master Zhuan-sun, he said: "My friend Zhang Ye is difficult, but he is not benevolent." And it is benevolent." Bu Shang's character is Zi Xia, Yan Yan's character is Zi You, and Master Zhuan Sun's character is Zi Zhang, all of them are known here.Another example is "Three Kingdoms · Wu Zhi · Lu Su Biography" records that when Lu Su met Zhuge Liang for the first time, he said: "I am also a friend of Ziyu." Ziyu is the character of Zhuge Liang's brother Zhuge Jin.Also, "Biography of Lu Meng" records that after talking with Lu Meng, Lu Su greatly appreciated Lu Meng's courage and talent.

It is a traditional etiquette principle not to call friends by their first names.Unless the other party has no words.Many literary and artistic works with historical themes often ignore this point. It is really inappropriate for the ancients to call their friends by their names at gatherings. Brothers are also referred to by words, brother to brother, symmetrical or descriptive; brother to brother, generally only used for descriptive terms.When talking about Cao Zhi in the "Book of Dali with Zhong", Cao Pi of the Wei Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms said: "It is because of Xun Zhongmao that the disciples of the house were built, and they were calm and humble." Cao Zhi's word is Zijian.This is to call others one's brother, not by name, but by word.The older brother can call the younger brother directly, as described in "Shishuoxinyu · Grief for the Death" after Wang Huizhi heard that his younger brother Wang Xianzhi died of illness:

Then Suo Yu came to the funeral without crying.Zijing was a good qin, so he went to sit on the coffin, took Zijing to play, the strings were out of tune, and he threw the floor, saying: "Zijing! Zijing! Everyone's qin is dead." Because of mourning for a long time.Yue Yu also died. A person with a high status can address someone with a low status, and an older person can address the younger person by their first name as a way of showing respect.This was the case as early as the pre-Qin period.For example, after the death of Confucius, Duke Ai of Lu called him "Father Ni" in his mourning for Confucius.In the early days of feudal society, the hierarchical system was not as strict as it was later, and it was very common for the monarch to call his subjects.For example, in "Historical Records Gaozu Benji", Gaozu commented on the meritorious deeds of the officials and said: "In the curtain of the husband's strategy, the decisive victory is worse than thousands of miles away. I am not as good as Zifang." Zifang is Zhang Liang's character.Also in "Wei Qiwu Anhou Biography", Emperor Han Jing persuaded Dou Ying to say: "Wang Sun Ning can give up?" Dou Ying's word is Wang Sun. "Three Kingdoms·Wu Zhi·Zhou Yu Biography" quotes "Jiang Biao Biography" has such a passage:

Quan Fu said on his back: "Gongjin, what you said so far is very lonely. Zibu and Wenbiao are all concerned about their wives and hold their own concerns. They are deeply disappointed. Duqing and Zijing are the same as Gu, this day Both Yiqing and Gu also praise Gu Ye." The Lord of Wu, Sun Quan, addressed all his ministers by word.Here Gongjin is Zhou Yu's character, Zibu is Zhang Zhao's character, Wen Biao is Qin Song's character, and Zijing is Lu Su's character. The monarch called the minister's character, which was still popular in the Six Dynasties.In the future, with the improvement of the monarchy, it is not advisable to call the ministers by their names.

Among relatives and friends, it is relatively common for the elders to call the younger generation, but it is rare for the father and grandson to call the children and grandchildren. In "Shi Shuo Xin Yu · Virtue", Chen Zhonggong once called the two sons' words, which are the famous two sentences "Yuan Fang Nan is a brother, Ji Fang Nan is a brother".But this is narrative, and symmetry is rare, especially in the middle and late feudal society.Uncles and uncles are different from fathers and grandfathers; especially uncles, some are often not far from the same age as nephews, and some nephews are even older than uncles, so there are many names for nephews, and Ruan Ji uses words for Ruan Xian.

In the pre-Qin period, there were those who called Zunchang, such as Confucius' disciples called Confucius, and some called "Zhongni". "The Analects of Confucius Zizhang" records that Zi Gong refutes his uncle Sun Wushu and said: "Zhongni can't be destroyed. The sages of others, even the hills, can still be surpassed; Zhongni, the sun and the moon, can't be surpassed." According to legend. It is "The Doctrine of the Mean" written by Kong Ji (Zi Si), the grandson of Confucius, in which there are words "Zhongni Patriarch Describes Yao and Shun".In the book "Kong Congzi", the eighth grandson of Confucius, Kong Yu, called all his ancestors, such as Confucius as Zhongni, Kong Ji as Zisi, Kong Bai as Zishang, Kong Chuan as Zigao, Kong Chuan as Zigao, and Kong Chuan as Zigao. Be careful for Zishun.This was criticized in the middle and late feudal society.The names of the father and grandfather cannot be spoken, and the name of the word is gradually becoming unworkable.After having an alias, it is often called the alias of the father and grandfather.

The emperor's name cannot be called. "Three Kingdoms · Shu Zhi · Ma Chao Biography" notes "Shanyang Gongzai Ji" said: Chao because of seeing the thickness of the preparation, and the preparation words, often call the preparation word.Guan Yu is angry, please kill him. Although this record does not conform to historical facts, for example, when Ma Chao surrendered, Guan Yu was staying in Jingzhou, not in Shuzhong.But here is an important message: in the Three Kingdoms era, the hierarchical system was already stricter, and there were further requirements for taboos, so it could no longer be called a monarch.Ma Chao is a warrior who doesn't understand etiquette, and he forgets about it as soon as he has a place to live.Although Liu Bei had not yet become king at that time, since he committed himself to serve others, he would have the status of a monarch and minister. How could it be seen that Liu Bei treated each other very well, so he called Liu Bei as a friend?Today, many TV dramas adapted from classic classics let the characters in the drama directly call their monarchs by their names, which is really lacking in historical and cultural common sense.

In short, the name is called by oneself, and the character is called by others.Call yourself a name, call a person a character.In front of others, it is disrespectful to call their fathers, ancestors or monarchs by their names, and it is a violation of basic etiquette.And claiming to be a Chinese character is not regarded as madness, that is, it is regarded as ignorance, both of which were not taken by the ancients.You can't call your father's name yourself; since the Middle Ages, the father and grandfather's characters can't be called by younger generations, and they are often called by other names.It may have individual exceptions, which are not sufficient for the law.

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Notes: Mrs. Wang called Jia Zheng a master, and Mrs. An called An Xuehai a master. "Talking against the Confucians," Kong Ming said when he ridiculed Yu Fan that it was really wrong to persuade Wang Lang to surrender to Sun Ce.It is impolite to call the Lord's name directly in front of the ministers of Eastern Wu.In the TV series "Please Ge Liang", Lu Su explained to Zhuge Liang: "Da Qiao is the wife of General Sun Ce".It is even more inappropriate to use the name of the Lord as a minister.Zhang Zhao called Liu Bei directly in front of Zhuge Liang, just like Kong Ming called Sun Ce to Yu Fan in the TV series, which is not in line with the etiquette of the host and guest.If you are faithful to the novel, there should be no such loss.