Chinanews.com, Beijing, February 9th, title: From "Jianguo" to "Yichen", witness the obsession of Chinese people's naming under the changing times
Author Guo Chaokai Zhang Ziyang
"The name is taken from the heart, along with fashion, and changes with time."
Name, as one of the heritage of Chinese name culture, is a social and cultural symbol based on people's blood heritage.
The names of Chinese people reflect inheritance, emotion, origin, generation, ethics, allusions, and source.
Between the two, three, and four characters, the etiquette of avoiding taboos is broad and profound, and the etiquette, justice, integrity and shame are all included.
The "Report on National Names in 2020" produced by the Research Center for Household Administration and Management of the Ministry of Public Security was released on the 8th, and was quickly posted on social software hot searches, with the largest number of five surnames, explosive names for newborns, and the most used names in different years Topics such as names aroused heated discussion among the people, and once again confirmed the public's importance and obsession with names.
Through the heated discussion of netizens, from the change of Chinese names, it can be seen that parents’ good wishes for their children continue to escalate, and they can also witness the high degree of consensus among Chinese people on the beauty of naming under the changing times.
Four rounds of the same name wave, four eras
The name is like a microscopic history, carved with the imprint of time.
"Jijiu Pian" written by Shiyou of the Western Han Dynasty lists 165 surnames: Feng Hanqiang, Jiao Miehu, Cheng Zhongxin, Cui Xiaorang... This series of names with a profound sense of history reflects the most important focus of society during the Western Han Dynasty— -The Hundred Years' War between the Han and Hungarians, the Three Guiding Principles and Five Constants, etc.
The changes of names in different eras reflect the economic and social development, the improvement of living standards and the innovation of ideas.
A large population, herd mentality and other factors have superimposed on the four rounds of re-name after the founding of New China.
Looking through the historical picture scroll, it is not difficult to find that every round of the wave of repeated names is accompanied by a deep imprint of the times.
When the People's Republic of China was founded, it was the consensus of the Chinese people to rejuvenate China and make the country rich and strong.
To commemorate this historical moment of great significance, many men named Jianguo, Jianhua, and Heping, and many women chose Xiuying, Guiying, and Xiulan.
These names have distinctive signs of the era, and people express their joy and hope for a new life.
In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a second wave of re-names. In that special era, everything must be aligned with the "revolution" and unified with the "stance."
"Military", "Brave", "British" and "Li" are more common, and the continuity of the times is more prominent, which to some extent also represents the political beliefs of the people.
With the advent of reform and opening up, Chinese names ushered in the third wave of renames.
The "single name style" prevailed, and a large number of "Zhang Wei", "Li Yong", "Wang Li" and "Liu Jing" appeared in the society, pursuing a "simple" and "unpretentious" life mentality.
Entering the 21st century, the fourth wave of re-names followed.
"Tao", "Haoyu", "Haoran", "Ting", "Xinyi", "Zi Han" and other "artistic fan" names are very popular.
Compared with the previous three waves of duplication of names, the names of the new new humans are now more "literary and artistic."
A report from the Ministry of Public Security shows that among male newborns who were born in 2020 and have registered their household registration, the three most frequently used names are: "Yichen", "Yuxuan" and "Haoyu".
Compared with 2019, "Yichen" was shortlisted for the first time and reached the top of the list, becoming the first choice for parents of male newborns. "Yichen", "Yuchen" and "Yichen" also entered the top ten.
For girls, the three names of "Yinuo", "Yinuo" and "Xinyi" have remained in the top three for two consecutive years, and "Yutong", "Kexin", "Yuxi" and "Meng Yao" have entered the top ten.
The names of these "literary and artistic fans" have strong colors of Qiong Yao opera and martial arts.
Some folklore experts pointed out that the growth of the parents of this generation of newborns happened to be accompanied by the popular culture of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea entering the mainland.
Many young parents just watched Qiong Yao's novels and martial arts film and television dramas along the way. The names of the protagonists with the charm of "culture" were full of enlightenment at the time.
When they are fathers and mothers, the stamp of the times will inevitably be re-engraved on the children.
Some netizens here complained that names such as "Yinuo", "Yinuo" and "Yinuo" make it difficult to distinguish, but deliberately pursuing this style has made the names become clichéd, and "explosive names" frequently "crash", revealing behind the scenes. It is the loss of culture.
The pursuit of the spiritual world after material abundance cannot just stop at simple imitation.
Some netizens also pointed out that the parents of new students should be named in line with their predecessors.
The Chinese have a splendid history of naming.
When it comes to naming, the Tang Dynasty emphasizes that there must be classics in the language. Wu Sansi comes from "think twice before acting", Du Ruhui comes from "The Book of Songs" "Wind and rain are like obscurity"; some people will take the Republic of China as examples, Xu Zhimo, Lin Huiyin, Fu Sinian, Mei The names of Yiqi and others show the spirit of the times and the humanistic spirit.
In the opinion of experts, naming children "Jianguo" or "Zhang Wei" or "Yichen" or "Yinuo", the name itself represents a symbol of a person, whether it is uncommon or popular among the public, parents are satisfied Reflecting the characteristics of the times, you don’t need to worry about it.
As for "three "Yinuo" children appearing in a kindergarten class at the same time, this problem is not difficult, maybe only the teacher knows it. The outside world can laugh at it.
The dispute between single and double names is like a entanglement that spans a thousand years
In addition to the names of the popular models, the public has also noticed the changes in single and double names from the annual ring of the times.
Nowadays, with the exception of some ethnic minorities, most people in China have two-character (single surname and single name), three-character (single surname and double name or double surname and single name) or four-character (double surname and double name), beyond the comparison of four characters Rare.
In the pre-Qin era, single names prevailed.
Lu Shang, Kongqiu, Zhuang Zhou and other luminous thought giants are all single names.
The rapid population growth in the Han Dynasty made the ills of confusion for single names increasingly prominent.
The meaning of the dual names Huo Qubing, Kong Anguo, and Li Guangli cannot be carried by a single name.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Mang reorganized his old style and issued an edict banning double names, citing the theory of "Sneering Two Names" in "The Story of Chunqiu Gongyang.
Since then, in successive dynasties, with the changes of the times, single and double names have become more prosperous.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the development and improvement of the patriarchal clan system, a method of naming by generations based on the purpose of different ages and Ming descent became increasingly standardized, and double names once again prevailed.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, three-character names have always occupied the mainstream from different ages.
Especially before the 1960s, the clan and family name culture was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Names were often taken with characters indicating generation, so there were fewer two-character names.
After the reform and opening up, modern cultural thoughts have continued to influence the way of naming names. The concept of generation is gradually being weakened. People seek to be concise and easy to remember. The proportion of two-character names has increased from 7.6% in the 1960s to the 1990s. 27.6%.
Careful netizens discovered from the report of the Ministry of Public Security that in the three years from 1970 to 1999, only Jianjun (male), Hongmei (female), and Tingting (female) broke into the 60 most used names. In the ranks, the remaining 57 "popular" names are all single names.
Since the 21st century, with the rapid growth of the population and the increasing frequency of population movements, the phenomenon of duplicate names has increased. In order to reduce the rate of duplicate names, three-character names have gradually increased.
Perhaps people no longer regard simplicity as beauty, and two-character names are not enough to carry multidimensional beauty.
Perhaps even more so because of the popularity of single names for 30 to 40 years, which has caused some aesthetic fatigue, so that the household registration police have joined the "persuade the army to retire."
Currently, three-character names account for more than 90%, and the proportion of two-character names has decreased to 6.3%.
The dispute between single and double names is more like an entanglement that spans a thousand years.
Looking at the wave of naming since the founding of New China, the prevalence of "Tao", "Haoyu" and "Haoran" has allowed boys to say goodbye to "Weiguangzheng"; the popularity of "Ting", "Xinyi" and "Zihan" also keep girls away Three follow four virtues".
Whether it is the dispute between single and double names, or the current people's complaints about the names of popular models, it is all because of the Chinese people's obsession and emphasis on names.
"Names are in orthodox form, and characters are expressed in virtue." Chinese names are not only a symbol of family blood inheritance, but also a recorder of social development and changes in the times.
Naming is an art. How to speak, what to imply, and how to write are all things that need to be considered.
With five thousand years of heritage as the backing, the name should be more elegant and honest, rather than one-sided pursuit of explosive models.
(Finish)