Names of Persons and Titles of Rulers

Students of Chinese history are often confused by the multitudiness of names a person is referred to. This article tries to explain the most basic facts. At the same time, it provides an overview of the most common temple names and posthumous honorific titles of Chinese persons.

One short example (the founder of the Ming dynasty 明あきら, 1368-1644) will highlight the complexity of this issue:

The personal name (corresponding to Western "first names", ming 名めい and zi 字じ)

The ming 名めい was a personal name (in addition to a real childhood name, youming 幼名ようみょう) used until the age of 20 sui, when boys were "capped" (guan 冠かんむり) and became an adult. At that time they adopted an adult name or courtesy name, the zi 字じ. Girls underwent the "pinning" (ji 笄) ritual at the age of 15 sui and were then called with their courtesy name. Both terms are today combined (mingzi 名字みょうじ) and mean the whole name, "first name" as well as family name (normally referred to as xingming 姓名せいめい). The ming was from adulthood on a very intimate name and only used by friends, but also when a person spoke of himself. When addressing someone else in a very polite way, the zi name was to be used. In biographies of famous persons, both names are mentioned, yet the ming name is then preferred to the courtesy name. In rare cases, the zi was the commonly used name (yi zi xing 以字行ぎょう "he went with the courtesy name [in public]"), for instance, the Tang-period 唐とう (618-907) poet Li Bai 李白りはく (701-762), who is in Europe better known with his zi name Taibai 太白たいはく, or Chiang Kai-shek (Chinese reading Jiang Jieshi 蔣介石せき), whose original ming was Ruiyuan 瑞みず元もと, the chosen ming, Zhongzheng 中正ちゅうせい, and the zi (by which he is commonly known) Jieshi.

The courtesy name is used especially in tomb inscriptions or in letters with formal character. The ming name was often a one-syllable word, while the zi could be a one-syllable or a two-syllable word. Sometimes the courtesy name was only an extension of the ming name, like the Ming-period scholar Huang Sheng 黃き盛もり (fl. 1570), whose courtesy name was Huang Dasheng 黃き大盛おおもり.

In Chinese biographies, the family name is normally not repeatead when listing the courtesy name, like in:

Both names, ming and zi, often had a similar meaning. Qu Yuan's 屈こごめ原はら (c. 343-c. 278 BCE) zi name, for instance, was Yuan 原げん "levelled, flat", his ming was Ping 平ひら "even, flat". Zhuge Liang's 諸しょ葛かずら亮あきら (181-234) ming was Liang 亮あきら "bright", and his zi was Kongming 孔明こうめい "enlightened hole" (Kong 孔あな standing alone can also be a family name, like that of Confucius). Yue Fei's 岳たけ飛ひ (1103-1142) ming was Fei 飛ひ "flying", and his zi was Peng 鵬おおとり "phoenix". Ban Gu's 班はん固かた (32-92 CE) ming was Gu 固かた "stable, secure", and his zi was Mengjian 孟はじめ堅けん "rude and solid".

The zi name of Sun Wen 孫まご文ぶん (1866-1925), Wen being his ming, was Yixian 逸はぐれ仙せん. He is therefore known in the West as Sun Yat-Sen (Yixian in Cantonese pronunciation), but not so in China, because telling him with the courtesy name would be too formal. Some persons have two courtesy names, like Wen Tianxiang 文ぶん天てん祥さち (1236-1283), who was formally called Songrui 宋そう瑞みずほ or Lüshan 履くつ善ぜん. Today, personal names (ming) can either be one-syllable long or two syllables.

Some personal names, especially that of girls, consist of a repetitive syllable, like Yuanyuan 圓えん圓えん or Bingbing 冰冰. During history, personal names were also subject to changes à la mode, like Ruzi 孺子じゅし, Xiangru 相しょう如 or Shizhi 釋しゃく之の during the Han 漢かん (206 BCE-220 CE) and Wuji 無む忌き during the Tang period 唐とう (618-907).

There is no fix repertoire of personal names like the "Christian" or biblical names in the West. Instead, families used to name their sons with words used in a certain poem (banci lian 班はん次じ聯れん, paizi ge 派は字じ歌か or xing beizi pai 行くだり辈字派は), often written by an ancestor. Each generation obtained a new character - the generation word (zibei 字じ輩やから or banci 班はん次じ) - as part of their name. Brothers had often a common character in their name (like the brothers Lü Dazhong 呂りょ大だい忠ちゅう, Lü Dafang 呂りょ大だい防ぼう, Lü Dajun 呂りょ大だい鈞ひとし and Lü Dalin 呂りょ大だい臨) or at least a character with a similar graphical element (like the brothers Su Shi 蘇そ軾 and Su Zhe 蘇そ轍わだち, both with the element 車しゃ).

The use of ming and zi names in Western secondary literature is in some cases deviating from that in China. The most famous case is Wang Yangming 王おう陽明ようめい (1472-1529), who is in China better known as Wang Shouren 王おう守もり仁じん. Yangming was actually his style, and not a ming or zi.

Young people today often adopt English names, partially because it seems more fashionable, and partly because Chinese names are not easy to pronounce for foreigners. The Hong Kong singer Lau Tak-Wah (Liu Dehua 劉りゅう德いさお華はな), for example, calls himself Andy Lau. On the other hand, foreigners often adopt a Chinese name. Such names can vary in quality and can often at first sight be identified as that of a foreigner. The Jesuits in China accommodated to Chinese culture and had Chinese names. Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), for instance, was called Li Madou 利り瑪竇 (Li for Ricci and Madou for Matteo).

Traditionally, the personal names of women are seldomly explicitly told in literature, yet there are also exceptions like Li Dewu qi Pei, zi Shuying 李り德武とくたけ妻つま裴，字じ淑よし英えい "Li Dewu's wife Ms Pei, courtesy name Shuying". Even empresses are regularly called only with their family names, like Yehenala shi 葉は赫那拉ひしげ氏し "Ms Yehenala", the Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧太ふとし后きさき (1835-1908; Cixi is not her personal name but only her title, "Benevolent-Auspicous", as Empress and Empress Dowager), or Xuanzong guifei Yang shi 玄げん宗そう貴たか妃ひ楊氏 "Emperor Xuanzong's honoured consort, Ms Yang", who is known as Yang Guifei 楊貴妃ようきひ (719-756) "Honoured consort Yang". Yet some sources say that her personal name was Yuhuan 玉だま環たまき. A concubine of Emperor Cheng of the Han dynasty was called Zhao Feiyan 趙ちょう飛燕ひえん (31-1 BCE) "Flying swallow" because of her dancing talents. Feiyan was surely not her real name.

The family name (corresponding to the Western "surname", xing 姓せい and shi 氏し)

"Surnames" or family names (xing 姓せい) in Chinese are standing in front position, while the personal name or "first name" (ming 名な) follows at the end. The Chinese actress Gong Li 鞏俐, for example, has the family name Gong and the personal name Li. This is also use in other East Asian names in Japan (Koizumi Junichirō 小泉こいずみ純一郎じゅんいちろう, the former Prime Minister), Korea (Kim Yong Il 金きむ英逸えいいつ) and Vietnam (Hồ Chí Minh 胡志明ほうちみん).

There are only a few hundred family names in Chinese, of which about two dozen are much more frequently used than others. To the most common family names belong Wang 王おう, Zhang 張ちょう, Ma 馬ば, Zhao 趙ちょう, Chen 陳ひね and Li 李り, while names like Diao 刁 or She 佘 are very rare. Chinese family names are also not equally distributed over China. Chen (Chan) 陳ちん, Liang (Leung) 梁りょう and Lin (Lam) 林はやし are typical names from the south, Zhu 朱しゅ and Gu 顧 are often seen in the lower Yangtze area, while Cheng 程ほど, Kong 孔あな and Guo 郭かく are northern names.

Most family names are only one-syllable long, yet there are a few and rarely seen two-syllable family names (fuxing 複ふく姓せい), the most common of which are Ouyang 歐おう陽ひ, Sima 司馬しば and Zhuge 諸しょ葛かずら. Some of these names are of foreign origin (e.g. Türkic or Mongolian), like Geshu 哥舒, Linghu 令れい狐きつね or Yelü 耶律. In ancient China, such names were more common than today.

The term xingming means family and personal name ("first and last name"). The two kinds of surnames are traditionally often used as one term, xingshi 姓氏せいし. They originate in the earliest times of Chinese history, at latest the Zhou period 周しゅう (11th cent.-221 BCE), and are used for the paternal and the maternal line, respectively. The Song-period 宋そう (960-1279) history Tongzhi 通つう志こころざし says that shi 氏し was the name of the paternal family, xing 姓せい that for the mother (therefore the radical "woman" 女おんな). There was the rule that a marriage was only possible if the maternal family of two partners was not identical, yet whether the paternal line was the same or not, did not play a role (shi tong xing bu tong zhe, hunyin ke tong 氏し同姓どうせい不同ふどう者しゃ婚姻こんいん可か通どおり).

The xing can be seen as a family name in the modern sense (all persons that descend from a particular ancestor), while the shi is in many cases a single branch of a family, often related to a place name. In other words, the xing expresses descendency from a "large" ancestral line (dazong 大宗たいそう, see zongfa 宗法しゅうほう), and the shi the descendency from a particular "lesser" or "lateral" line (xiaozong 小しょう宗むね). In imperial times, the difference between xing and shi as maternal and paternal lines ceased to play a role. The use of both terms was different from then on. Shi was seen as a distinctive criterion subordinated to the xing, meaning that shi indicated a more concrete branch or location of the family (like Pingyang Zhang 平たいら陽よう張ちょう "the Zhangs from Pingyang"). Such a distinction was all the more important as the population increased and people often changed the place where they lived.

During the Wei 曹魏 (220-265) and Jin 晉すすむ (265-420) periods the distinction of the shi was connected to a general classification of the family into one of nine ranks that allowed them to enter a certain stage of the bureaucracy (the jiupin system 九きゅう品ひん). Among the nobility, the name of the regional states or those of the smaller statelets in the earliest times was transformed into a surname, like the son of the Duke of Zhou 周しゅう公こう who was appointed ruler of the territory of Xing 邢. His descendants adopted Xing as their surname. A lot of surnames can be derived from the names of states and statelets of the Zhou period (Zhou 周しゅう, Qi 齊ひとし, Qin 秦しん, Wu 吳くれ, Cai 蔡, Tang 唐とう, Song 宋そう, Wei 魏ぎ, Cao 曹 or less oftenly seen names like Xue 薛 or Tan 譚たん). After the Tang period 唐とう (618-907) the term shi became less important and was only rarely used in the original sense.

During the Qing period 清きよし (1644-1911), the Manchus had a clan system (Man. hala, Ch. shi 氏し) which is still imperfectly investigated. A list of Manchu clan names can be found in the compendium Baqi Manzhou shizu tongpu 八旗滿洲氏族通譜.

Already in earlier times, but still in late traditional China, shi was used in the same sense as xing, often replacing the personal name in abbreviations like 呂りょ氏し "Master Lü", instead of the full name Lü Buwei 呂りょ不ふ韋 (d. 253 BCE).

The term shi is also used to indicate the family name of a woman, like in Fang Xuanling qi Lu shi 房ぼう玄げん齡よわい妻つま盧の氏し "Fang Xuanling's wife Ms Lu".

It is not custom in China that women adopt the family name of their husband after marriage.

The tabooed personal name (hui 諱いみな)

It was, even after their death, forbidden to tell the personal name (ming) of an emperor. Instead, the personal name is referred to as hui 諱いみな in imperial biographies, but does actually mean either ming or zi. The characters of their names were often also slightly altered so that it seemed as if the word was not written. The surname of the founder of the Ming dynasty, for instance, was written 硃 instead of 朱しゅ, which was the original – but during the Ming period tabooed - character.

In the history Jinshu 晉すすむ書しょ, written during the Tang period, Liu Yuan 劉りゅう淵ふかし (r. 304-309, a Xiongnu chieftain) is called with his courtesy name, Yuanhai 元もと海うみ, in order to avoid the name of the founder of the Tang, Li Yuan 李り淵ふかし (Tang Gaozu 唐から高祖こうそ, r. 618-626). The avoidance of an emperor's name could even have influence on book titles like the Taixuanjing 太ふとし玄げん經けい that was called Taiyuanjing 太ふと元もと經けい during the reign of the Kangxi emperor 康やすし熙帝 (r. 1661-1722) and even decades later, because his personal name was Xuanye 玄げん燁.

Another trick to avoid the word 玄げん was to write it without the last dot, like 𤣥, or 𢎞 for 弘ひろし, a character in the personal name of the Qianlong Emperor 乾いぬい隆たかし帝みかど (r. 1735-1796), Hongli 弘ひろ曆れき.

During his lifetime an emperor was usually addressed as Shang 上うえ "Your Highness", Huangshang 皇すめらぎ上じょう "Your August Highness" or Bixia 陛下へいか "Below the Steps to the Throne" (in order to avoid a direct addressing).

The style (hao 號ごう)

The hao "style" is a freely chosen alternative name. It was either a cognomen or a nickname, but especially among literati it was common to adopt a style for the own studio (shi 室しつ, ju 居い, zhai 齋とき, xuan 軒のき, ting 亭ちん, lou 樓ろう etc.). This studio name (shiming 室しつ名めい or zhaiming 齋とき名めい) often replaced the real name, like Songxuezhai 松雪まつゆき齋ひとし as that of the calligrapher Zhao Mengfu 趙ちょう孟はじめ頫 (1254-1322).

Quite a few scholars used several styles, like the Song-period calligrapher Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅おうていけん (1045-1105; Tingjian was his courtesy name, while his ming was Luzhi 魯直) who called himself Fuweng 涪翁 "Old man from Fu (a place name in Sichuan)" or Shangu daoren 山谷やまたに道人みちひと "Daoist from the mountain valley". He is therefore also known as Huang Shangu 黃き山谷さんや. The Republican scholar Wang Guowei 王國おうこく維 (1877-1927) had the studio name Wang Guantang 王おう觀堂かんどう because his studio was called Guantang 觀堂かんどう "Contemplation Hall". The Song-period writer Ouyang Xiu 歐おう陽ひ修おさむ (1007-1072) called himself Zuiweng 醉よい翁おう "Old drunkard" or Liu-yi jushi 六ろく一いち居士こじ "Scholar of the six ones" (meaning one ten-thousand 一いち萬まん books, one thousand rubbings, one zither, one chess board, one jug of wine, and one old man [himself]). The titles of collected writings of literati often use the style of the author, for instance, like Zhao Ruteng's 趙ちょう汝なんじ騰あが (d. 1261) Yongzhai ji 庸いさお齋とき集しゅう "Collection of the Ordinary Hut", Zhao Mengjian's 趙ちょう孟はじめ堅けん (1199-1264) Yizhai wenbian 彝つね齋とき文ぶん編へん "Compiled prose writings of the Tripod Studio", Zhao Kan's 張ちょう侃ただし Zhuxuan ji 拙つたな軒のき集しゅう "Collection of the Simple Dwelling" or Tang Shichi's 唐とう士し恥はじ (fl. 1225) Lingyan ji 靈れい巖いわお集しゅう "Collection of the Numinous Cliff".

Place names were also popular hao names, like Yichuan 伊川いがわ (a river near Luoyang) for Cheng Yi 程ほど頤 (1033-1107). Zhuge Liang 諸しょ葛かずら亮あきら (181-234) called himself Wolong 臥龍がりょう "Sleeping Dragon". Wei Yingwu 韋應物ぶつ (737-791) was called Wei Suzhou 韋蘇州そしゅう because he hailed from that city.

Important offices a scholar-official had occupied were also often used as styles, like Du Gongbu 杜もり工こう部ぶ "Du, Minister of Works" for the poet Du Fu 杜もり甫はじめ (712-770), or Liu Zhonglei 劉りゅう中ちゅう壘るい "Liu from the Capital Guard" for the bibliographer Liu Xiang 劉りゅう向むかい (79-8 or 77-6 BCE). Sun Yat-Sen (Sun Wen 孫まご文ぶん) called himself Zhongshan 中山なかやま "Central Mountain" (probably from the Japanese family name Nakayama) and is therefore in China best known as Sun Zhongshan 孫まご中山なかやま and also called Guofu 國父こくふ "Father of the Nation". His political heir Chiang Kai-Shek 蔣介石せき is called Zhongzheng Xiansheng 中正ちゅうせい先生せんせい "Master Central Orthodoxy" (Zhongzheng was his common ming name).

Very common among modern poets is the adoption of an alias name, like Lu Xun 魯迅ろじん (1881-1936) for Zhou Shuren 周しゅう樹じゅ人じん or Lao She 老ろう舍しゃ (1899-1966) for Shu Qingchun 舒慶春はる. The Ming-period politician, writer and philosopher Wang Shouren 王おう守もり仁じん (1472-1529) is known by his style Yangming 陽明ようめい or Yangmingzi 陽ひ明子あきこ, as Wang Yangming 王おう陽明ようめい. His courtesy name was Bo'an 伯はく安やす.

The posthumous honorific title (shihao 謚號)

The posthumous honorific title (shi 謚, also written 諡おくりな) was granted to an emperor or a grand minister after his death and chosen according to how the respective person performed during his lifetime. The posthumous title of an emperor was chosen by the officials of the Ministry of Rites, and that of a minister by the emperor. Except those official posthumous titles, there are also private honorific titles (sishi 私わたし謚) given to a high-standing person and chosen by his disciples or friends. The use of posthumous honorific titles came up during the Zhou dynasty (e. g. the titles King Wen 周しゅう文ぶん王おう and King Wu 周しゅう武たけし王おう for the dynastic founders). The Qin dynasty 秦はた (221-206 BCE) did not make use of them but the emperors were posthumously to be called with a kind of number going through all (expected) generations, like Shihuang 始はじめ皇すめらぎ "First Emperor", Ershihuang 二に世せい皇すめらぎ "Second Emperor", etc. Yet after the early demise of the Qin, the honorific titles were reintroduced by the rulers of the Han dynasty 漢かん (206 BCE-220 CE) and continued being used until the end of the Qing dynasty. Yet not all emperors were given a posthumous honorific title: Liu Bang 劉邦りゅうほう (r. 206-195 BCE), founder of the Han dynasty, for instance, has only been given the temple name Gaozu 高祖こうそ (miaohao 廟びょう號ごう). His son, Liu Ying 劉りゅう盈みつる (r. 206-195 BCE), on the other hand, was only given a posthumous honorific title (Hui 惠めぐみ "the benevolent") but no temple name because he had no surviving descendants.

Posthumous honorific titles were awarded to sovereigns (like Zhou Xuanwang 周しゅう宣せん王おう "King Xuan [of Wide-Reaching (virtue)] of the Zhou" or Han Wudi 漢かん武たけ帝みかど "Emperor Wu [the Martial] of the Han"), rulers of regional states (Lu Aigong 魯哀公こう "Duke Ai [the Lamentable] of Lu"), princes bearing the title of a princedom (Liang Xiaowang 梁りょう孝たかし王おう "Prince Xiao [the Filial] of Liang"), as well as private persons of high standing and the class of literati (Ouyang Wenzhonggong 歐おう陽ひ文忠ふみただ公おおやけ "Ouyang, Duke Wenzhong [the Cultivated-Loyal]", i.e. Ouyang Xiu 歐おう陽ひ修おさむ).

There is a fixed set of names used for posthumous honorific titles with a predefined meaning, some of them expressing the virtue (like Wen 文ぶん "the cultured", Hui 惠めぐみ "the benevolent", Huan 桓 "the graceful" or Yuan 元もと "the primary virtuous") or martial performance (like Wu 武たけ "the martial") of the bearer, some of them expressing a rough conduct (like Li 厲 "the unpityful"), licentious behaviour (like Yang 煬 "like roaring fire") or superstition (like Ling 靈れい "believer in ghosts"), some bring forward a feeling of pity for an unlucky life (like Ai 哀あい "pityable", Min 愍 "lamentable" or Huai 懷ふところ "deplorable"). In older times, posthumous honorific titles consisted of one syllable. From the late Warring States period 戰國せんごく (5th cent.-221 BCE) on, there were also combinations or "double titles" (fushi 複ふく諡おくりな), like King Wuling of Zhao 趙ちょう武たけし靈れい王おう (r. 326-299).

Many scholars see the beginning of double titles in imperial times in the Jin period 晉すすむ (265-420), as posthumous titles for imperial princes like Sima Tai 司馬しば泰やすし (d. 299), called Prince Wenxian of Gaoi 高密こうみつ文獻ぶんけん王おう, or Sima Teng 司馬しば騰あが (d. 307), called Prince Wu'ai of Xincai 新しん蔡武哀あい王おう. Emperors of the Northern Wei chose double titles, like Emperor Daowu 北きた魏ぎ道どう武たけ帝みかど (r. 376/386-408) or Emperor Mingyuan 北きた魏ぎ明元あけもと帝みかど (r. 409-423). Double titles were very popular among Confucian scholars and state officials of high standing, like Master Zhongwen 文忠ふみただ公おおやけ for Su Shi 蘇そ軾 (1037-1101), Duke Wumu 武たけ穆きよし公おおやけ for Yue Fei 岳だけ飛ひ (1103-1142), or Master Zhongjie 忠ちゅう介かい公こう for Hai Rui 海うみ瑞みず (1514-1587). The scholar Feng Yin 封ふう寅とら said that the first character served as a kind of "adornment" (wen 文ぶん), the second to describe the "substance" (zhi 質しつ) of the personal character.

From the Tang period on the honorific designations for late emperors became very abundant - not to say bombastic - like Wenwu dasheng daguang xiao huangdi 文武ぶんぶ大聖たいせい大廣おおひろ孝こう皇帝こうてい "Cultured and martial, filial emperor, great saint and great broadminded" for Emperor Tang Taizong 唐から太ふとし宗そう (r. 626-649). This circumstance made honorific titles very impractical for daily use, and they were superseded by the temple names of the rulers.

Not all emperors enjoyed the honour to be granted such a title. This was expecially true for those deposed or dethroned, mostly at the end of a dynasty, or very young emperors whose descendants did not continue the dynastic line. These emperors are commonly referred to as Feidi 廢帝はいてい "Deposed Emperor" or Feizhu 廢はい主ぬし "Deposed Ruler", Modi 末すえ帝みかど "Last Emperor", or Shaodi 少しょう帝みかど "Child Emperor", or Youzhu 幼主ようしゅ "Infant Ruler". One minor emperor of the Han was called Ruzi Ying 孺子じゅし嬰 "Ying the Kid" (Ying was a common ming name of that time, yet it also means "baby"). Rulers that were not bestowed a honorific title or a temple name are called by other means, for instance, the name of their territory before they became emperor, like the Prince of Hailing 海うみ陵りょう王おう (who was emperor between 1149 and 胡えびす1160), or according to the reign mottos, like the Gengshi Emperor 漢かん更始こうし帝みかど (r. 23-25 CE). Emperor Song Huizong 宋そう徽宗 (r. 1100-1125) was posthumously called Commandery Prince (junwang of Tianshui 天水てんすい郡ぐん王おう because he died as a prisoner of a foreign power.

The late Han-period book Duduan 獨斷どくだん, written by Cai Yong 蔡邕 (132-192), includes a list explaining of based on which personal characteristics posthumous titles were bestowed:

The temple name (miaohao 廟びょう號ごう)

The temple name was bestowed upon a deceased emperor and was written on a tablet used during offerings in the dynastic altar (taimiao 太ふとし廟びょう). Temple names were first used during the Shang period and continued to be bestowed on dynastic ancestors until the end of the Qing dynasty. It was common that the founder of a dynasty was called Taizu 太ふとし祖そ, Gaozu 高祖こうそ or Shizu 世よ祖そ, their successors were often called Taizong 太ふとし宗むね or Shizong 世よ宗むね.

Before the Sui period the use of temple names was restricted to important rulers whose life had a great impact on the empire or the dynasty. The emperors Jing 漢かん景けい帝みかど (r. 157-141 BCE), Zhao 漢かん昭あきら帝みかど (r. 87-74 BCE) and Ling 漢かん靈れい帝みかど (r. 167-188) of the Han dynasty, for instance, did not have temple names. From the Tang period onwards, all emperors were given temple names. At the same time the designations for the temple names were combined with that of the posthumous honorific titles (yihao 謚號), like Wenzong 文ぶん宗むね or Wuzong 武たけ宗はじめ. The term zu was practically given up, and all emperors had a temple name including the term zong. Temple names were also granted to an emperor's father and paternal grandfather that had not been rulers. This is called "posthumous investiture" (zhuifeng 追つい封ふう). These persons of common origin were thus made emperor after their death. The temple name of the founder of the Song dynasty for instance, Zhao Kuangyin 趙ちょう匡ただし胤たね, was Song Taizu 宋そう太ふとし祖そ (r. 960-976). His father Zhao Hongyi 趙ちょう弘ひろし殷いん (899-956) was posthumously called Emperor Xuanzu 宋そう宣せん祖そ, his grandfather Zhao Jing 趙ちょう敬たかし Emperor Jizu 宋そう翼つばさ祖そ, his great-grandfather Zhao Ting 趙ちょう珽 Emperor Shunzu 宋そう順じゅん祖そ, and his great-great-grandfather Zhao Tiao 趙ちょう朓 Emperor Gaozu 宋そう高祖こうそ.

Because virtually all dynasties have their Gaozu, Gaozong, Taizu or Taizong (Tang Taizu 唐から太ふとし祖そ, Song Taizu 宋そう太ふとし祖そ, Liao Taizu 遼りょう太ふとし祖そ, Jin Taizu 金太きんた祖そ, Yuan Taizu 元もと太ふとし祖そ, Ming Taizu 明太めんたい祖そ, Qing Taizu 清せい太ふとし祖そ)), it is very important to always add the name of the dynasty to avoid confusion about which Gaozu or Taizong is meant. In this form, the designation Tang Taizong or Song Gaozong is a kind of parallel to the "civilian" name (family plus personal name), and using the lonely name "Gaozong" would be the same as speaking of "King Henry" (which number? English or French?).

The pre-Zhou rulers (Xia and Shang) had other systems to address their ancestors. They called their forefathers with a number according to the Ten Celestial Stems, like Waibing 外そと丙へい "Outer III", Zhongren 中ちゅう壬みずのえ "Middle IX", Taijia 太ふとし甲かぶと "Great I", Woding 沃丁 "Fertile IV", Taigeng 太ふとし庚かのえ "Great VII" etc. Early Zhou-period rulers also partially use this system, like Qi Dinggong 齊ひとし丁ちょう公こう or Qi Guigong 齊ひとし癸みずのと公こう. These numbers are not a counting of rulers with the same name, like Henry I, Henry II, but were given according to a genealogical system.

The reign motto (nianhao 年號ねんごう)

See more on reign mottos in the article on the Chinese calendar

Reign mottos were adopted by almost all emperors from the early Former Han period on. These mottos had often an auspicious or positive character or expressed the majesty of the ruler's ambitions. Emperor Wu of the Han was the first ruler who regularly proclaimed reign mottos. Reign mottos might change every few years (Empress Wu Zetian used 17 mottos during her 20-years long reign), but there are some examples when emperors changed their motto after a few months, often in connection with a political plan or enterprise. This can be very confusing because one year can be referred to by several different reign mottos, like the year 692 that was the third year with the reign motto Tianshou 天授てんじゅ "Celestial instruction", yet in the fourth month (approx. May-Jun) the reign motto Ruyi 如意にょい "As we wish" was chosen, and in the ninth month (approx. Oct-Nov) the motto Changshou 長壽ちょうじゅ "Longevity". Similarly confusing is a period of time when several dynasties reigned China. The year 1066, for example, was the third year with the reign motto Zhiping 治平じへい "Ruling to peace" in the Northern Song empire, the second year with the reign motto Xianyong 咸雍 "Everything in harmony" in the Liao empire and the fourth year with the reign motto Gonghua 拱化 "Towards an all-embracing [policy]" in the Western Xia empire.

From the Ming period on, all rulers only chose one reign motto that was valid for the whole period of their rule. The reign mottos of the Ming and Qing emperors are therefore in the West (and sometimes also in China) erroneously used like a personal name of the ruler, like "Emperor Kangxi" instead of a correct "the Kangxi Emperor" (Kangxi di 康かん熙帝 "the emperor of [the reign motto] 'Strong brilliance'"). The change of the reign motto was called gaiyuan 改元かいげん "change over to a (new) beginning". When a new emperor mounted the throne it was common that the reign motto of his predecessor (in most cases, the new emperor's father) was retained until the first day of the next year. Such a proclamation was often combined with a great amnesty (dashe 大赦たいしゃ).

Titles of nobility

See also the five ranks of nobility and female officials.

In historiography, persons are more likely to be called with their title of nobility (juelu 爵祿しゃくろく) than with their personal name. The most important titles are, of course wang "king/prince" and huangdi "emperor" (in combination with names also shortly called di or huang or enlarged to xiao...di 孝こう...帝みかど, meaning "filial"). The five titles of nobility (wujue 五ご爵) through all ages were gong 公おおやけ "Duke" (like Lu Aigong 魯哀公こう Duke Ai of Lu), hou 侯ほう "Marquis" (like Jin Wenhou 晉すすむ文ぶん侯こう "Duke Wen of Jin), bo 伯はく "earl", zi 子こ "Viscount" and nan 男おとこ "Baron".

From imperial times on the title wang is to be translated as "Prince" if the bearer of the title was related to the imperial house (which is in most cases the fact). During the Qing period this title was called qinwang 親王しんのう "Relative Prince" (like Gong qinwang 恭きょう親王しんのう "Prince Gong"). If a ruler was not accepted as a rightful emperor by historiographers he was called zhu 主しゅ "Ruler" (like Shu Qianzhu 蜀しょく前ぜん主あるじ, Shu Qianzhu 蜀しょく先さき主ぬし or Shu Houzhu 蜀しょく後ご主ぬし).

A very generic term for ruler is jun 君きみ "Lord", like in Lord Mengchang 孟はじめ嘗君 or Lord Shang 商しょう君くん. This title was in pre-imperial times bestowed like a title of nobility and was endowed with an estate. With the foundation of the empire the term came out of use and was degraded to a very polite adress, something like "Sir".

During the Spring and Autumn period the personal names of members of the nobility are indeed very complex. Sui Hui 隨ずい會かい, for instance, had the personal name Shi Hui 士し會かい and the courtesy name Shi Ji 士し季き. His estate included the territories of Sui 隨ずい and Fan 范, for which reason he is also known as Sui Hui or Fan Hui 范會, as head of the house of Fan 范. His posthumous title is Fan Wuzi 范武子こ or Sui Wuzi 隨ずい武子たけし.

The term for Queen or Empress is hou 后きさき. The etymology of this word and character is still under discussion. It could either have been a female equivalent to the male si 司つかさ "governor" (which is quite improbable) or a picture of a wife giving birth to a son (a heir), or an alternative writing for 侯こう "ruler" (like in the name of the Zhou dynasty's mythological ancestor Hou Ji 后きさき稷きび, the "Lord of Millet"). After the death of her husband, a queen or empress became a taihou 太ふとし后きさき "Empress Dowager" (or Queen Dowager, in pre-imperial times). After the death of her son a taihuang taihou 太皇太后たいこうたいこう "Grand Empress Dowager". Empresses can be called with their family name, like Lü Hou "Empress Lü", but are much more often tied to their husband in the shape of Gaozu Taimu Huanghou Dou shi 高祖こうそ太ふとし穆きよし皇后こうごう竇氏 "Empress Taimu (the Great Respectful) of Emperor Gaozu, Ms Dou". Favourites of an emperor that were not officially given the title of Empress (that was reserved to one person only) were called fei 妃ひ "consort".

Princesses are called gongzhu 公主こうしゅ, like Yongtai gongzhu 永えい泰やすし公主こうしゅ "Princess Everlasting Greatness". Like Empresses, their name was tied to that of her husband, like Lu Yuan gongzhu 魯元公主こうしゅ "The Princess of [King] Yuan of Lu". Also here, personal names are totally neglected by historiographers. The daughter of a prince was called wangzhu 王おう主ぬし.

For court ladies, there were many different titles corresponding to a certain rank and income. The most often seen of these titles are furen 夫人ふじん "Lady", meiren 美人びじん "Beauty", jieyu 婕妤 "Lady of Handsome Fairness" and guifei 貴き妃ひ "Honoured consort" (see female officals).

The religious name (fahao 法號ほうごう)

Buddhist monks and nuns adopted with their ordination, like in the West ("Sister Eusebia"), a religious name. These names have traditionally two syllables. The most famous among them are Xuanzang 玄げん奘 (a special reading, meaning of 奘 not clear), Faxian 法ほう顯あらわ "Evidence of the dharma (the Buddha's teachings)", Jianzhen 鑑真がんじん "Mirroring the truth", or Konghai 空海くうかい "Sea of emptiness". The real names of these persons are only to be found in their biographies but are not used outside of such. It is common that Buddhist names are headed by the term Shi 釋しゃく (from Shijiamouni 釋迦牟尼しゃかむに "Shākyamuni") to indicate that they were monks, and as a kind of replacement for the missing family name, like Shi Sengyou 釋しゃく僧そう祐ゆう "Monk Sengyou". Monks of the Chan school (Zen) adopted longer names than those of the traditional schools, for instance, Linji Qixuan 臨濟義ぎ玄げん (d. 866), Xuefeng Yicun 雪ゆき峰みね義よし存そん (822-908), or Dahui Zonggao 大だい慧とし宗そう杲 (1089-1163).

Daoists did not follow such strict rules. Their "patriarchs" continued using their original name. Yet there was an abundant treasure of honorific titles for deities in the Daoist Heaven like Taishang Laojun 太ふとし上じょう老ろう君くん "Old Lord of the Utmost Heights" for Laozi 老子ろうし or Nanhua zhenren 南みなみ華はな真人まさと "Perfect Man of the Southern Florescence" for Zhuangzi 莊そう子こ. More "human" persons also adopted picturesce epitheta like Qingyuan zhenren 青あお元もと真人しんじん "Perfect Man of the Azure Origin", Hunranzi 混こん然しか子こ "Master of the Primordial Chaos", Chisongzi 赤松あかまつ子こ "Master Red Pine", Haichan dijun 海うみ蟾帝君くん "Imperial Lord Sea Cicada" or Zhenyi xiansheng 貞一さだいち先生せんせい "Master Pure Unity". Among Daoist patriarchs it was common that they changed their family names, in order to "inherit" the family name of the line.

Terms of address

In ancient China the term sheng 生なま "Master" was a common form of polite adress attached to the family name. In modern China it developed into the term xiansheng 先生せんせい "Sir, Mister". Another very polite term of address is gong 公おおやけ "Master", also attached to the family name. Old men can be called daye 大だい爺じい or laoye 老爺ろうや. A female person is called Taitai 太ふと太ふと "Ms" and more recently Nüshi 女おんな士し "Lady, Madam". An unmarried girl is called xiaojie 小しょう姐あね "Mistress", but recently this term can have a somewhat derogatory meaning.