Courtesy name
| Courtesy name (Zi) | |
 | |
| Chinese name | |
|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | (表) 字 |
| Hanyu Pinyin | (biǎo) zì |
| Wade–Giles | (piao)-tzu |
| Vietnamese name | |
| Vietnamese | tên chữ (tự) |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 자 |
| Hanja | 字 |
| Revised Romanization | ja |
| McCune–Reischauer | cha |
| Japanese name | |
| Kanji | 字 |
| Hiragana | あざな |
| Revised Hepburn | azana |
A courtesy name (Chinese: 字, zi), also known as a style name,[1] is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name.[2] This practice is a tradition in East Asian cultures, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.[3]
Formerly in China, the zi would replace a male's given name when he turned twenty, as a symbol of adulthood and respect. It could be given either by the parents or by the first personal teacher on the first day of family school.
Females might substitute their given name for a zi upon marriage.
One also may adopt a self-chosen courtesy name.
In China the popularity of the custom has declined to some extent since the May Fourth Movement in 1919.
A courtesy name is not to be confused with an art name (hào, Chinese: 號, Korean: 호), another frequently mentioned term for an alternative name in Asian culture-based context. An art name is usually associated with art and is more of a literary name or a pseudonym that is more spontaneous, compared to a courtesy name.
Usage
The zì, sometimes called the biǎozì or "courtesy name", is a name traditionally given to Chinese males at the age of 20, marking their coming of age. It was sometimes given to females upon marriage. The practice is no longer common in modern Chinese society. According to the Book of Rites, after a man reaches adulthood, it is disrespectful for others of the same generation to address him by his given name, or míng. Thus, the given name was reserved for oneself and one's elders, while the zì would be used by adults of the same generation to refer to one another on formal occasions or in writing; hence the term "courtesy name".
The zì is mostly disyllabic (consists of two Chinese characters) and is usually based on the meaning of the míng or given name. Yan Zhitui of the Northern Qi dynasty believed that while the purpose of the míng was to distinguish one person from another, he asserted that the zì should express the bearer's moral integrity.
The relation which often exists between a person's zì and míng may be seen in the case of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), whose ming was Zhōngzhèng (中正，Romanized as Chung-cheng) and zi was Jieshi（介石，Romanized as Kai-shek）. Thus he was also called 蒋中正（Chiang Chung-cheng）in some context.
Another way to form a zì is to use the homophonic character zǐ (子) – a respectful title for a male – as the first character of the disyllabic zì. Thus, for example, Gongsun Qiao's zì was Zǐchǎn (子產), and Du Fu's: Zǐměi (子美).
It is also common to construct a zì by using as the first character one which expresses the bearer's birth order among male siblings in his family. Thus Confucius, whose name was Kǒng Qiū (孔丘), was given the zì Zhòngní (仲尼), where the first character zhòng indicates that he was the second son born into his family. The characters commonly used are bó (伯) for the first, zhòng (仲) for the second, shū (叔) for the third, and jì (季) typically for the youngest, if the family consists of more than three sons. General Sun Jian's four sons, for instance, were Sun Ce (伯符, Bófú), Sun Quan (仲謀, Zhòngmóu), Sun Yi (叔弼, Shūbì) and Sun Kuang (季佐, Jìzuǒ).
The use of zì began during the Shang dynasty, and slowly developed into a system which became most widespread during the succeeding Zhou dynasty. During this period, women were also given zì. The zì given to a woman was generally composed of a character indicating her birth order among female siblings and her surname. For example, Mèng Jiāng (孟姜) was the eldest daughter in the Jiāng family.
Prior to the twentieth century, sinicized Koreans, Vietnamese, and Japanese were also referred to by their zì. The practice was also adopted by Manchus after the Qing conquest of China.
Examples
| Chinese | Family name | Given name | Courtesy name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laozi 老子 | Li 李 | Er 耳 | Boyang 伯陽 |
| Kongzi (Confucius) 孔子 | Kong 孔 | Qiu 丘 | Zhongni 仲尼 |
| Sunzi (Sun Tzu) 孫子 | Sun 孫 | Wu 武 | Changqing 長卿 |
| Cao Cao 曹操 | Cao 曹 | Cao 操 | Mengde 孟德 |
| Liu Bei 劉備 | Liu 劉 | Bei 備 | Xuande 玄德 |
| Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 | Zhuge 諸葛 | Liang 亮 | Kongming 孔明 |
| Li Bai 李白 | Li 李 | Bai 白 | Taibai 太白 |
| Su Dongpo 蘇東坡 | Su 蘇 | Shi 軾 | Zizhan 子瞻 |
| Yue Fei 岳飛 | Yue 岳 | Fei 飛 | Pengju 鵬舉 |
| Liu Ji 劉基 | Liu 劉 | Ji 基 | Bowen 伯溫 |
| Tang Yin 唐寅 | Tang 唐 | Yin 寅 | Bohu 伯虎 |
| Mao Zedong 毛泽东 | Mao 毛 | Zedong 泽东 | Runzhi 润之 |
| Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石 | Jiang 蔣 | Zhongzheng 中正 | Jieshi 介石 |
| Vietnamese | Family name | Given name | Courtesy name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sĩ Tiếp (士燮) | Sĩ (士) | Tiếp (燮) | Uy Ngạn (威彥) |
| 2 | Mai Hắc Đế (梅黑帝) | Mai (梅) | Phượng (鳳) | Thúc Loan (叔鸞) |
| 3 | Khương Công Phụ (姜公輔) | Khương Công (姜公) | Phụ (輔) | Đức Văn (德文) |
| 4 | Phùng Hưng (馮興) | Phùng (馮) | Hưng (興) | Công Phấn (功奮) |
| 5 | Lý Thái Tổ (李太祖) | Lý (李) | Công Uẩn (公蘊) | Triệu Diên (兆衍) |
| 6 | Đỗ Anh Vũ (杜英武) | Đỗ (杜) | Anh Vũ (英武) | Quan Thế (冠世) |
| 7 | Lê Tắc (黎崱) | Lê (黎) | Tắc (崱) | Cảnh Cao (景高) |
| 8 | Trương Hán Siêu (張漢超) | Trương (張) | Hán Siêu (漢超) | Thăng Phủ (升甫) |
| 9 | Trần Dụ Tông (陳裕宗) | Trần (陳) | Hạo (暭) | Nhật Khũy (日煃) |
| 10 | Lê Quát (黎括) | Lê (黎) | Quát (括) | Bá Quát (伯适) |
| 11 | Phạm Sư Mạnh (范師孟) | Phạm (范) | Sư Mạnh (師孟) | Nghĩa Phu (義夫) |
| 12 | Hồ Quý Ly (胡季犛) | Lê (黎) | Quý Ly (季犛) | Lý Nguyên (理元) |
| 13 | Hồ Nguyên Trừng (胡元澄) | Lê (黎) | Trừng (澄) | Mạnh Nguyên (孟源) |
| 14 | Lê Thánh Tông (黎聖宗) | Lê (黎) | Hạo (灝) | Tư Thành (思誠) |
| 15 | Nguyễn Nghiêu Tư (阮堯咨) | Nguyễn (阮) | Nghiêu Tư (堯咨) | Quân Trù (軍廚) |
| 16 | Giáp Hải (甲海) | Giáp (甲) | Hải (海) | Tiềm Phu (潛夫) |
| 17 | Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm (阮秉謙) | Nguyễn (阮) | Bỉnh Khiêm (秉謙) | Hanh Phủ (亨甫) |
| 18 | Phùng Khắc Khoan (馮克寬) | Phùng Khắc (馮克) | Khoan (寬) | Hoằng Phu (弘夫) |
| 19 | Giang Văn Minh (江文明) | Giang Văn (江文) | Minh (明) | Quốc Hoa (國華) |
| 20 | Nguyễn Quý Đức (阮貴德) | Nguyễn Quý (阮貴) | Đức (德) | Bản Nhân (体仁) |
| 21 | Nguyễn Huy Oánh (阮輝瑩) | Nguyễn Huy (阮輝) | Oánh (瑩) | Kinh Hoa (經華) |
| 22 | Ninh Tốn (寧遜) | Ninh (寧) | Tốn (遜) | Khiêm Như (謙如) |
| 23 | Ngô Thì Sĩ (吳時仕) | Ngô Thì (吳時) | Sĩ (仕) | Thế Lộc (世祿) |
| 24 | Bùi Dương Lịch (裴楊瓑) | Bùi (裴) | Dương Lịch (楊瓑) | Tồn Thành (存成) |
| 25 | Phạm Đình Hổ (范廷琥) | Phạm Đình (范廷) | Hổ (琥) | Tùng Niên (松年) |
| 26 | Nguyễn Thế Tổ (阮世祖) | Nguyễn Phước (阮福) | Ánh (暎) | Gia Long (嘉隆) |
| 27 | Lý Văn Phức (李文馥) | Lý Văn (李文) | Phức (馥) | Lân Chi (鄰芝) |
| 28 | Nguyễn Công Trứ (阮公著) | Nguyễn (阮) | Công Trứ (公著) | Tồn Chất (存質) |
| 29 | Nguyễn Văn Siêu (阮文超) | Nguyễn Văn (阮文) | Siêu (超) | Tốn Ban (遜班) |
| 30 | Phan Thanh Giản (潘清簡) | Phan Thanh (潘清) | Giản (簡) | Tĩnh Bá (靖伯) |
| 31 | Princess Mai Am (梅庵公主) | Nguyễn Phước (阮福) | Trinh Thận (貞慎) | Thúc Khanh (叔卿) |
| 32 | Nguyễn Trung Trực (阮忠直) | Nguyễn (阮) | Chơn (真) | Trung Trực (忠直) |
| 33 | Nguyễn Quang Bích (阮光碧) | Ngô (吳) | Quang Bích (光碧) | Hàm Huy (咸徽) |
| 34 | Hoàng Diệu (黃耀) | Hoàng (黃) | Diệu (耀) | Quang Viễn (光遠) |
| 35 | Hoàng Kế Viêm (黃繼炎) | Hoàng (黃) | Tá Viêm (佐炎) | Nhật Trường (日長) |
| 36 | Nguyễn Cảnh Tông (阮景宗) | Nguyễn Phước (阮福) | Biện (昪) | Ưng Kỷ (膺祺) |
| 37 | Sương Nguyệt Anh (湯月英) | Nguyễn Thị (阮氏) | Khuê (奎) | Nguyệt Anh (月英) |
| 38 | Phan Bội Châu (潘佩珠) | Phan Văn (潘文) | San (珊) | Hải Thu (海秋) |
| 39 | Phan Kế Bính (潘繼柄) | Phan (潘) | Kế Bính (繼柄) | Bưu Văn (郵文) |
| 40 | Phạm Duy Tốn (范維遜) | Phạm Duy (范維) | Tốn (遜) | Thọ An (受安) |
| 41 | Nguyễn Văn Ngọc (阮文玉) | Nguyễn Văn (阮文) | Ngọc (玉) | Ôn Như (溫如) |
| 42 | Lý Đông A (李東阿) | Nguyễn Hữu (阮有) | Thanh (清) | Thái Dịch (太易) |
| 43 | Hoàng Vân Nội (黃雲內) | Hoàng (黃) | Vân Nội (雲內) | Nhàn Hạc (閒鹤) |
| 44 | Trần Trọng Dương (陳仲洋) | Trần (陳) | Trọng Dương (仲洋) | Chuyết Chuyết (拙拙) |
| 45 | Lê Tiến Đạt (黎進達) | Lê (黎) | Tiến Đạt (進達) | Minh Thành (明成) |
| 46 | Trần Quang Đức (陳光德) | Trần (陳) | Quang Đức (光德) | Thí Phổ (施普) |
| 47 | Nguyễn Hữu Sử (阮有史) | Nguyễn Hữu (阮有) | Sử (史) | Tiếu Chi (笑之) |
| 48 | Lê Phương Duy (阮有史) | Lê (黎) | Phương Duy (芳維) | Thiên Duy (天維) |
| 49 | Nguyễn Thụy Đan (阮瑞丹) | Nguyễn (阮) | Thụy Đan (瑞丹) | Tử Hạ (仔賀) |
| 50 | Nguyễn Minh Hiệu (阮明顥) | Nguyễn (阮) | Minh Hiệu (明顥) | Bá Hiểu (播曉) |
References
- ↑ Tianjun Liu, Xiao Mei Qiang (2013). Chinese Medical Qigong. p. 590. ISBN 1848190964.
Mencius (371—289 BCE), born in Zou county (Shandong province), first name Ke, style name Zi Yu, was a famous philosopher, educator, politician, and expert on the Qigong life nurturing of Confucius in the Zhanguo Period.
- ↑ Origins of Chinese Names. 2007. p. 142. ISBN 9812294627.
In ancient times, besides having a surname and a given name, one would have a courtesy name "Zì" as well. The courtesy name was the proper form of address for an adult. On reaching 20 years of age, young men would "put on the hat" as ...
- ↑ Names of Persons and Titles of Rulers