by Lady Wu » Wed Mar 23, 2005 12:53 am
Appendix A: Meanings of certain names and styles
Style names in the Three Kingdoms era usually consist of two Chinese characters. Usually, one of them (the first character) is a decorative, and the other one meaningful. The decorative character is frequently an indication of the rank of the named person in the family:
Bo/Meng = Eldest
Zhong = 2nd
Shu = 3rd
Ji = 4th or youngest
You = youngest
Sima Yi, styled Zhong-da, is the second oldest boy of the family. His older brother, the first child of the family, Sima Lang, is styled Bo-da. Ma Liang, styled Ji-chang, has a younger brother, Ma Su, styled You-chang. Sun Jian's four sons by Lady Wu all have their styles formed this way: The eldest, Sun Ce, is styled Bo-fu; Sun Quan, the second son, is styled Zhong-mou; Sun Yi, the third, is styled Shu-bi; and finally, Sun Kuang is styled Ji-zuo.
Other popular decorative characters include gong "lord", as in Xu Huang, styled Gong-ming, and Liu Shan, styled Gong-si; jun "lord, master", as in Zhu Zhi, styled Jun-li, and Liu Yan, styled Jun-lang; zi "gentleman", as in Cao Ren, styled Zi-xiao, and Lu Su, styled Zi-jing; and wen "literary, cultured", as in Kong Rong, styled Wen-ju. and Cao Xiu, styled Wen-lie.
The contentful part of a style name can be picked in three main ways. As mentioned at the beginning of the main text, the style name should be related in meaning to the given name. Very often, the two appellatives are synonyms or refer to similar items. For example, Zhuge Liang's name, liang, means "light", is synonymous with the ming in his style, Kong-ming; the ce in Sun Ce's name and the fu in his style, Bo-fu, both refer to insignia or tallies used by officials to identify their rank or power. Styles may also relate to the given name by a common saying or a line in a classical text. Zhao Yun's name means "cloud", and his style, Zi-long, contains long, which means "dragon". This is in reference to a line in the Book of Changes (I-ching): "clouds follow the coming of a dragon". Wen Qin's name means "to respect solemnly", and the contentful part of his style, Wen-ruo, literally means "as, similar to". This derives from a line in the Book of History (Shu Jing): "... to respect as august Heaven". With the Han government's emphasis on Confucian values, a new trend was seen during the Eastern Han, in which the style name refers to some trait or virtue praised by the Confucian school of thought. Liu Bei's style, Xuan-de, literally means "deep virtue", which has nothing to do with his given name, which means "to be ready". Guo Jia's style, Feng-xiao, means "to uphold filial piety".
Of course, there are ones that don't fit in the mould. Lü Meng's style, Zi-ming, meaning "clear, bright" (from here on I omit the decorative component in style names in the translation), which is the opposite of his name, meng "to be covered, blind". Sometimes a style would be based on some literature or event too obscure to be traced, and sometimes a given name or a style would be changed later on in life for some reason, and the original link between the names would be broken. The above is only meant to be a general guide.
Here are some name/style translations for the more popular officers of the Three Kingdoms era:
Wei
Cao Cao (Mengde): Cao = 'virtuous conduct', De = 'virtue'
Cao Pi (Zihuan): Pi = 'greatness'; Huan = 'supremacy'
Cao Zhi (Zijian): Zhi = 'to plant, establish', Jian = 'to build'
Xiahou Yuan (Miaocai): Yuan ='deep ravine', Miaocai = 'wonderful talent'
Xiahou Dun (Yuanrang): Dun = 'sincere', Rang = 'to yield, for the reason of propriety'
Cao Ren (Zixiao): Ren = 'humane', Xiao = 'filial'
Xun Yu (Wenruo): Yu = 'having literary flair', Ruo = 'as'
Jia Xu (Wenhe): Xu = 'to speak with wit, to brag', He = 'harmony'
Guo Jia (Fengxiao): Jia = 'to praise', Fengxiao = 'to uphold filial piety'
Sima Yi (Zhongda): Yi = 'virtuous', Da = 'to arrive (at understanding)'
Zhang Liao (Wenyuan): Liao = 'distant' , Yuan = 'far'
Xu Huang (Gongming): Huang = 'bright', Ming = 'bright'
Yu Jin (Wenze): Jin = 'regulation, to forbid', Ze = 'guidelines'
Yue Jin (Wenqian): Jin = 'to enter, to advance, to promote", Qian = "to be humble, to withdraw"
Shu
Liu Bei (Xuande): Bei = 'prepared', Xuande = 'deep virtue'
Liu Shan (Gongsi): Shan = 'an imperial ceremony', Si = 'to be heir'
Zhuge Liang (Kongming): Liang = 'bright', Ming = 'bright'
Pang Tong (Shiyuan): Tong = 'unity', Yuan = 'first, one'
Fa Zheng (Xiaozhi): Zheng = "upright, straight", Xiaozhi = 'filial-straight'
Guan Yu (Yunchang): Yu = 'feather', Yunchang = 'cloud-long'
Zhang Fei (Yide): Fei = 'to fly', Yide = 'increase in virtue'
Zhao Yun (Zilong): Yun = 'cloud' , Long = 'dragon'
Ma Chao (Mengqi): Chao = 'exceptional', Qi = 'to arise'
Huang Zhong (Hansheng): Zhong = "loyal", Hansheng = 'Han rises'
Wei Yan (Wenchang): Yan = 'to extend', Chang = 'long'
Jiang Wei (Boyue): Wei = 'to maintain', Yue = 'to save, to be thrifty'
Deng Zhi (Bomiao): Zhi = 'a fragrant plant', Miao = 'a seedling'
Wang Ping (Zijun): Ping = 'level', Jun = 'even'
Wu
Sun Jian (Wentai): Jian = 'firm', Tai = 'a terrace'
Sun Ce (Bofu): Ce, Fu = types of insignia or tally
Sun Quan (Zhongmou): Quan = 'power', Mou = 'strategy'
Zhou Yu (Gongjin): Yu, Jin = types of beautiful jade
Lu Su (Zijing): Su = 'solemn', Jing = 'to respect'
Lü Meng (Ziming): Meng = 'to cover, obscure', Ming = 'clear, open'
Lu Xun (Boyan): Xun = 'humble', Yan = 'speech'
Huang Gai (Gongfu): Gai = 'to cover', Fu = 'to cover'
Cheng Pu (Demou): Pu = 'all', Mou = 'strategy'
Taishi Ci (Ziyi): Ci = 'gentle, benevolent', Yi = 'good, righteous'
Gan Ning (Xingba): Ning = 'tranquil', Xingba = 'raising-hegemon'
Ling Tong (Gongji): Tong = 'to lead, to unify', Ji = 'merits'
Lu Kang (Youjie): Kang = 'resistance', Jie = 'upright, principled'
Zhuge Ke (Yuanxun): Ke = 'respectful and careful', Xun = 'humble'
Other
Dong Zhuo (Zhongying): Zhuo = 'surpassing', Ying = 'excellent'
Yuan Shao (Benchu): Shao = 'flourishing', Benchu = 'original, first'
Yuan Shu (Gonglu): Shu = 'art, way', Lu = 'road, way'
Lü Bu (Fengxian): Bu = 'cloth, to cover', Xian = 'first'
Gongsun Zan (Bogui): Zan, Gui = types of precious jade
Liu Biao (Jingsheng): Biao = 'example', Jingsheng = 'auspicious-rise'
Liu Zhang (Jiyu): Zhang, Yu = types of precious jade
Tao Qian (Gongzu): Qian = 'humble', Gongzu = 'honour-grandparent'
Ma Teng (Shoucheng): Teng = 'soar', Shoucheng = 'longevity-accomplish'
Chen Gong (Gongtai): Gong = 'palace', Tai = 'terrace'
Tian Feng (Yuanhao): Feng = 'abundance', Hao = 'pure white'
Wan Yun (Zishi): Yun = 'agree', Shi = 'teacher'
Appendix B: On name-changing in the Three Kingdoms
[NOTE: This is simply cut & pasted from some of my old posts, so I'll be rewriting this part to make it fit the rest of the essay. I'm only putting it here as a placeholder.]
There are various reasons why people changed their names--to avoid the taboo of the name of a superior (emperor, boss, someone else's ancestor), to fulfill a dream (such as Cheng Yu), or something like that. In extreme cases, a vengeful ruler would order the name of an offending minister be changed to something bad, but it's really rare.
Some people have proposed that Lu Xun's name was changed because Sun Quan was angry at him. The character for that Xun means "humble, inferior", which doesn't match his style, "Boyan" ("bo" means "eldest", and "yan" means "speech"--his original name, "Yi", means "discuss"). This seems to support the point that Sun Quan tried to demean him by forcing this name change on him.
However, I highly doubt this was the case. Lu Kang and Sun Quan finally sorted stuff out between them, and Sun Quan expressed great regret about what he did to Lu Xun. He ordered all his reproaching correspendces burnt, as an effort to erase the bad past. Lu Kang had Sun Quan rehabilitate his father's honour. It would be unthinkable that Sun Quan did all that but refused to change Lu Xun's name back.
There is actually a little bit of evidence that Lu Xun changed his name before Yiling. In Lu Xun's bio, Lu Meng is directly quoted to recommend "Lu Xun" to Sun Quan, and Liu Bei has a line saying "Now I am defeated by Lu Xun...". Chen Shou does a pretty good job keeping names in direct quotes the way they would have been said at the time--for example, though Sima Yi's given name (Yi) is taboo during the Jin, Chen Shou kept it in Zhuge Liang's speeches. If Chen Shou was being consistent, then Lu Xun's name (Xun) must have been in use by the time of Yiling.
Of course, stronger evidence for this dating of the name change should come from official petitions or writings, rather than direct speech--it's not clear how much of the conversations recorded did happen in history (who was around to write them down??).
Last edited by
Lady Wu on Thu Mar 24, 2005 5:08 am, edited 4 times in total.
"Whatever you do, don't fall off the bridge! It'll be a pain to try to get back up again." - Private, DW 8