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###One?of?the?difficulties?of?Chinese?ancient?history?is?the?unravelling?of?proper?names;?but,?as?with?other?difficulties,?this?one?is?owing?rather?to?the?novelty?and?strangeness?of?the?subject,?to?the?unfamiliarity?of?scene?and?of?atmosphere,?than?to?any?inherent?want?of?clearness?in?the?matter?itself.?In?reading?Scottish?history,?no?one?is?much?disconcerted?to?find?a?man?called?upon?the?same?page?(as?an?imaginary?instance),?Old?John,?John?McQuhirt,?the?Master?of?Weel,?the?McQuhirt,?the?Laird?o’?Airton,?the?Laird?of?the?Isle,?and?the?Earl?of?Airton?and?Weel;?there?are?many?such?instances?to?be?found?in?Boswell’s?account?of?the?Johnsonian?trip?to?the?Hebrides;?but?the?puzzled?Englishman?has?at?least?his?own?language?and?a?fairly?familiar?ground?to?deal?with.?When,?however,?we?come?to?unpronounceable?Chinese?names?of?strange?individuals,?moving?about?amid?hitherto?unheard-of?surroundings?2500?years?ago,?with?a?suspicion?of?uncertainty?added?about?the?genuineness?and?good?faith?of?the?whole?story,?things?are?apt?to?seem?hopelessly?involved,?even?where?the?best?of?good-will?to?understand?is?present.?Thus?Confucius?may?be?called?K’ung-tsz,?K’ung?Fu-tsz,?or?Chung-ni,?besides?other?personal?applications?under?the?influence?of?tabu?rules,?Tsz-ch’an?may?be?spoken?of?as?Kung-sun?K’iao,?or?(if?he?himself?speaks)?simply?as?K’iao.?And?so?on?with?nearly?all?prominent?individuals.?In?those?times?the?family?names,?or?“surnames”?as?we?say?in?English,?were?not?used?with?the?regularity?that?prevails?in?China?now,?when?every?one?of?standing?has?a?fixed?family?name,?such?as?Li?or?Yiian,?followed?by?an?official?personal?name,?like?Hung-chang?or?Shi-?k’ai.?In?old?times?the?clan?or?tribe?counted?first;?for?instance?the?imperial?clan?of?Ki?included?princes?of?several?vassal?states.?But,?after?five?generations,?it?was?expected?that?any?given?family?unit?should?detach?itself.?Thus,?in?710?B.C.,?Confucius’?ancestor,?son?of?the?composer?of?odes?mentioned?on?page?175,?took,?or?was?given?by?the?ruler?of?his?native?state,?Sung,?the?detached?family?name?of?K’ung-fu?(Father?K’ung),?“Father"?being?the?social?application,?and?K’ung?the?surname,?which?thence?became?the?family?name?of?a?new?branch.?The?old?original?clan-?names?were?little?used?by?any?one?in?a?current?sense,?just?as?the?English?family?name?of?Guelph?is?kept?in?the?dim?background?so?far?as?current?use?goes.?Nor?were?the?personal?names,?even?of?Chinese?emperors?and?kings,?so?grave?and?decorous?in?style?as?they?have?always?been?in?later?times.?For?instance,?“Black?Buttocks,”?“Black?Arm,”?“Double?Ears";–such?names?(decidedly?Turkish?in?style)?are?not?only?used?of?Tsin?princes?with?an?admixture?of?Tartar?blood?nearly?always?coursing?more?or?less?in?their?veins,?but?also?in?such?states?as?the?orthodox?Lu.?The?name?“Black?Arm,”?for?instance,?is?used?both?by?Lu?and?by?Ts’u?princes;?also?by?a?Ts’u?private?individual;?whilst?an?orthodox?Duke?of?Sung?bears?the?purely?Turkish?name?of?T’ouman,?which?(and?exactly?the?same?pictograph?characters,?too)?was?also?the?name?of?the?first?historical?Hiung-nu?(later?Turkish)?Khan?several?centuries?later.?The?name?Luh-fu?or?“Emoluments?Father,”?belonging?to?the?son?of?the?last?Emperor?of?the?Shang?dynasty?in?1123?B.C.,?was?also?the?personal?name?of?one?of?the?rulers?of?Ts’i?many?centuries?later.?In?the?same?way?we?find?identical?personal?names?in?CH’EN?and?Lu,?and?also?in?Ts’u?and?Lu?princes.?Eunuchs?were?not?considered?to?possess?family?names,?or?even?official?personal?names.?If?there?had?been?then,?as?now,?a?celibate?priestly?caste,?no?doubt?then,?as?now,?priests?would?also?have?been?relieved?of?their?family?name?rights.
It?seems?quite?clear?that?many?if?not?most?family?names?began?in?China?with?the?name?of?places,?somewhat?after?the?Scotch?style:?even?in?Lancashire?the?title?of?the?old?lord?of?the?manor?is?often?the?family?surname?of?many?of?the?village?folk?around.?Take?the?Chinese?imperial?domain?for?instance;?in?the?year?558?one?Liu?Hia?goes?to?meet?his?master?the?new?Emperor.?His?name?(Hia)?and?surname?(Liu)?would?serve?just?as?well?for?current?use?to-day,?as?for?example?with?the?late?viceroy?Liu?K’un-yih;?but?we?are?told?Liu?Hia?was?so?“named”?by?the?historian?in?full?because?his?rank?was?not?that?of?first-class?statesman,?and?it?is?explained?that?Liu?was?the?name?of?his?tenancy?in?the?imperial?appanage.?At?a?Lu?funeral?in?626?B.C.?the?Emperor’s?representative?to?the?vassal?state?is?spoken?of?complimentarily?by?his?social?appellation?in?view?of?his?possessing?first-class?ministerial?rank:?he?cannot?be?spoken?of?by?his?detached?clan-name,?or?family?name,?“because?he?has?not?yet?received?a?town?in?fee.”?A?few?years?later,?another?imperial?messenger?is?spoken?of?as?King-shuh?(Glory?Uncle),?"Glory”?being?the?name?of?his?manor?or?fee,?and?“Uncle”?his?social?appellation.?In?436?B.C.?the?Emperor?sent?a?present?of?sacrificial?meat?to?Lu?by?X.?As?X?is?thus?“named,”?he?must?be?of?“scholar"?rank,?as?an?imperial?“minister”?(it?is?explained)?could?not?be?thus?named.?The?ruler?alone?has?the?right?to?“affront?a?man”?at?all?times?with?his?personal?name,?but?even?a?son?in?speaking?of?his?own?father?to?the?Emperor?may?“affront”?his?father,?because?both?his?father?and?himself?are?on?equal?subject?footing?before?the?Emperor.?To?“name”?a?man?in?history?is?not?always?like?"naming”?a?member?in?the?House?of?Commons.?For?instance,?the?King?of?Ts’u,?as?mentioned?in?Chapter?XXVII.,?was?named?for?killing?a?Chinese?in?531,?but?not?for?killing?a?barbarian?prince?in?526?B.C.?It?was?partly?by?these?delicate?shades?of?naming?or?not?naming,?titling?or?not?titling,?that?Confucius?hinted?at?his?opinions?in?his?history:?in?the?Ts’u?case,?it?seems?to?have?been?an?honour?to?"name”?a?barbarian.?Wei?Yang,?Kung-sun?Yang,?or?Shang?Kiin,?or?Shang?Yang,?the?important?personage?who?carried?a?new?civilization?to?Ts’in,?and?practically?“created”?that?power?about?350?B.C.,?was,?personally,?simply?named?Yang,?or?“Bellyband.”?As?he?came?originally?from?the?orthodox?state?or?principality?of?Wei,?he?might?be?called?Wei?Yang,?just?as?we?might?say?Alexander?of?Fife.?As?he?received?from?Ts’in,?as?a?reward?for?his?services,?the?petty?principality?of?Shang?(taken?in?war?by?Ts’in?from?Ts’u),?he?might?be?called?the?prince?or?laird?(kuen)?of?Shang?(of.?Lochiel),?or?Shang?Kuen.?As?he?was?the?grandson?(sun)?of?a?deceased?earl?(called?kung,?or?“duke,”?as?a?posthumous?compliment),?he?was?entitled?to?take?the?family?name?of?Kung-sun,?just?as?we?say?"Fitzgeorge”?or?“Fitzwilliam.”?Finally,?he?was?Yang?(=?John)?of?Shang?(=?Lochiel).?In?speaking?of?this?man?to?an?educated?Chinese,?it?does?not?in?the?least?matter?which?of?the?four?names?be?used.?In?the?same?way,?Tsz-ch’an?(being?a?duke’s?grandson)?was?Kung-sun?K’iao.?The?word?tsz,?or?“son,”?after?a?family?name,?as?for?instance?in?K’ung-tsz?(Confucius),?is?defined?as?having?the?effect?of?"gracefully?alluding?to?a?male.”?It?seems?really?to?be?the?same?in?effect?as?the?Latin?us,?as?in?Celsius,?Brutus,?Thompsonius,?etc.?When?it?precedes,?not?the?family?name?or?the?tabu’d?personal?name,?but?the?current?or?acquaintance?name,?then?it?seems?to?have?the?effect?of?Don?or?Dom,?used?with?the?most?attenuated?honorificity;?or?the?effect?of?“Mr.”?Fu-tsz?means?“The?Master.”
As?to?tabus,?the?following?are?curious?specific?instances.?King,?or?“Jungle,”?was?the?earliest?name?for?Ts’u,?or?“Brushwood,"?the?uncleared?region?south?of?the?River?Han,?along?the?banks?of?the?Yang-tsz;?and?it?afterwards?became?a?powerful?state.?But?one?of?the?most?powerful?kings?of?Ts’in?(249-244)?was?called?Tsz-ts’u,?or?“Don?Brushwood,”?so?his?successor?the?First?August?Emperor?(who?was?really?a?bastard,?and?not?of?genuine?Ts’in?blood?at?all)?tabu’d?the?word?Ts’u,?and?ordered?historians?to?use?the?old?name?King?instead.?In?the?same?way?the?philosopher?Chwang?Chou,?or?Chwang-tsz,?was?spoken?of?by?the?Han?historians?as?Yen?Chou,?because?chwang?was?an?imperial?personal?name.?Both?words?mean?“severe”:?it?is?as?though?private?Romans?and?public?scribes?had?been?commanded?to?call?themselves?and?to?write?Austerus,?instead?of?Severus,?out?of?respect?for?the?Emperor?Septimius?Severus.?The?business-like?First?August?Emperor,?himself,?evidently?had?no?hand?in?the?pedantic?King?and?Ts’u?tabu?business,?for?one?of?his?first?general?orders?when?he?became?Supreme?Emperor?in?221?B.C.,?was?to?proclaim?that?“in?ancient?times?there?were?no?posthumous?names,?and?they?are?hereby?suppressed.?I?am?Emperor?the?First.?My?successor?will?simply?be?Emperor?the?Second,?and?so?on?for?ever.”?There?is?no?clear?record?of?posthumous?names?and?titles?anterior?to?the?Chou?dynasty;?the?first?certain?instance?is?the?father?of?the?founder,?whose?personal?name?was?Ch’ang,?and?who?had?been?generally?known?as?the?“Earl?of?the?West.”?His?son,?the?founder,?made?him?W |
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