Reading Zuo Zhuan | Five Principles and Six Taboos of Ancient Names
Shen Gui replied:
"There are five: faith, righteousness, image, emptiness and class. Take the name and life as the letter, the virtue and life as the righteousness, the class life as the image, the thing as the fake, and the father as the class. Not by the state, not by officials, not by mountains and rivers, not by hidden diseases, not by animals, not by money People in the Zhou Dynasty were afraid of God and fame. Therefore, national waste, official waste, mountains and rivers waste, livestock waste, ritual waste. Jin used Nuo Hou to waste Stuart, Song used Wu Gong to waste nothing, and the first gentleman gave two mountains, so you can't die with great events. "
-"Zuo Zhuan Huan Gong Six Years"
Five principles of naming
Shen Gui talked about five principles of naming: faithfulness, righteousness, image, falsehood and category.
Take the famous students as the letter. Like Tang Shuyu. Yu Shu is the younger brother of Zhou Chengwang, the son of Zhou Wuwang. When he met his mother, he dreamed that God said to him, "I hope you will have a son named Yu, and I will give him Don." When the wife gave birth to a child, the child had a word "Yu" in his hand, so he was named "Yu". (Shi Ji Jin Shi Jia)
Another example is Lu Gongzi's friend. When he was about to be born, his father Lu Huangong made a divination, and the Oracle said, "This is a boy named you. He is located between two clubs, and he will become a court assistant. After Ji You's death, Lu was no longer prosperous. There was a word "friend" on his palm, and it was named after his friend. The number was the season. The next person is Ji. ("Historical Records of the Duke of Zhou")
Take moral life as righteousness. For example, Zhou Wenwang Mingchang and Zhou Wuwang Farming. Zhou Wenwang's grandfather was an ancient prince. Mrs. Gong's wife, Tai Jiangsheng, has a young son's calendar and married Ji Li Tairen as his wife. Taijiang and Tae In are virtuous women. They were born in Zhou Wen Wang Jichang, and sometimes they have "Sheng Rui". The ancient duke said, "I am prosperous in the world. Is it prosperous?" Put the hope of revitalizing the Zhou family on this grandson. Sure enough, it lived up to my grandfather's expectations. There are two things in the world that laid the foundation for destroying Yin. (Historical Records Zhou Benji)
Take life as an image. For example, Confucius' head is a mud mound. Confucius' parents prayed in Niqiu and gave birth to Confucius. Confucius was born in the middle of a depression, hence the name Qiu and Zi. (Historical Records Confucius Family)
What I took was fake. For example, when Confucius' son was born, Lu sent a big carp to congratulate him. Confucius was deeply honored by the gift given by the monarch himself, so he named his son carp, the word "Bo fish".
Take parents as the class. Lu Huangong's Prince Tong was born on the same day as him and was named Tong.
Six situations that should be avoided
Six situations should be avoided: no country, no officials, no mountains and rivers, no hidden diseases, no animals and no money.
Zhou people used taboos to serve the gods (in this case, the ancestors), and their names should be taboo after their death.
Not by the state. The monarch's son is not named after his own country. The country name cannot be changed, so the principle is to avoid having the same name as the country name. For example, Lu's son cannot be surnamed Lu.
Not official. In the name of an official position, you have to change the name of the official position. For example, Jin Xiangong sealed Stuart, Jin abolished Stuart and renamed it Zhong Jun. Duke Wu of Song was famous and vulgar, and Guo Song was abolished and renamed Sicheng. This is not a common practice and should usually be avoided to avoid official confusion.
Not by the mountains and rivers. In the name of mountains and rivers, we have to change the name of mountains and rivers. For example, Lu's famous tools and Lu Wugong's famous ao are named after their positions. This is not taken for granted.
There are no hidden diseases. No disease is named after it. Bad luck, avoid bad luck.
Not animals. The name of the animal that is not used for sacrifice, otherwise it cannot be used for sacrifice. For example, a famous pig cannot be sacrificed with a pig, and a famous sheep cannot be sacrificed with a sheep.
Don't use money. Don't use the name of money, or it will affect etiquette.
The general principle is not to use the names of some important things, otherwise it will cause confusion because of the change of names.
Of course, this is for the son of the monarch, the future monarch. For an ordinary people, for example, someone named a mountain, the country will naturally not change the name of the mountain for this reason. But this mountain and river can be called by its first name, so you can't avoid it for your elders. Therefore, these principles also apply to ordinary people.