細說古人的名與字

An Introduction to the Chinese Naming Tradition of Both Ming and Zi

謝春聘(Chun-Ping Hsieh)

《復興崗學報》 101期 (2011/12) Pp. 167-188

https://doi.org/10.29857/FHKAJ.201112.0009

摘要

自古以來，中國人對於姓名本就十分重視。人們常言道「坐不改姓、行不改名」，即是最好的證明。姓是先世祖宗所傳，名是父母長輩所命，成年後還得再表個字，如此看重如此寄望，磊落君子自然寶愛之珍視之，並且終其一生戰戰兢兢以維以護而欲以光大之。這樣精彩的姓名學，其中最為畫龍點睛的是成年之後的表字。表字和命名，同等重要。二者雖互為表裏，但用法有別，自謙稱名，尊人稱字。在極其繁雜的社會中，應如何尊卑交接、應對進退，一定要遵守規範不能踰越，由此更能彰顯出中國古人特別地重視禮儀。古人就是這樣輕鬆愉悅地從日常生活中學習到豐富的社會學。今人大多有名無字，其所稱名字，通常拍的僅僅是名而已。雖然同樣重視命名，但可以體會得到在成長過程中的確缺少一份濃烈的自尊自重、尊他重他的傳統美德，至於因而導致對傳統文化的誤解或輕慢，那當然更不在話下。本人深覺這份文化資產的可貴，擬就名與字的相互關係、做一番深入的探討。文中根據史實，先行敘述命名表字的作法及其法則與依據，而後再論及其用法與諱法，並舉例加以解析說明，最後論及命名表字的作法對後代文化研究之貢獻。本人衷心希望能藉此喚醒普羅大眾的重視，而可以多多增進社會的和諧。

關鍵字

古人 ； 命名 ； 表字 ； 名字關係

並列摘要

Since ancient times, the Chinese have paid high respect to their own full names. A popular saying goes: ”While sitting on the seat (or staying at the homeland), one never changes one's surname; while walking on the road (or traveling abroad), one never changes one's given name.” To the Chinese, a kind of sacredness lies so definitely in everyone's name. The surname signifies the continuity of his lineage, whereas the personal name ming signifies blessings bestowed by the parents. A model gentleman of Chinese gentry, jun zi, means a person who conscientiously devotes himself to a virtuous and candid life so as symbolically not only to keep his name from being detained but also to glorify his parents as well as the lineage ancestors. To our surprise, however, the Chinese of traditional elite gentry would adopt, in addition, a courtesy name, zi, at the age of twenty. To avoid deviating from the sense of filial piety, the meaning of this courtesy name must evoke a response to that of the primary personal name. The present paper will thus focus on the strategic naming of zi as ingenious responses to ming, which discloses the most astonishingly wonderful wisdom in the art of Chinese naming. In the first place, we must understand that the need of zi cannot be separated from the address etiquette with which the Chinese of traditional hierarchical society were greatly concerned. As a member of mature elites, one needed to address each other by zi to show a gesture of courtesy. In contrast, one was obliged to address himself by ming as an attitude of humility. Without this naming tradition of ming and zi nowadays, we have abandoned altogether the traditional socialization of etiquette. This lamentable fact, I believe, gives rise to the present-day somewhat chaotic social phenomena, whether among the adults or among the adolescents. This paper is aimed to call attention to the significance embodied in the cultural heritage of naming zi as a response to ming. Through historical evidence, I will investigate how ming and zi are composed both by certain conventional rules and by their mutual syntactical logics. Surely I will not ignore the way how ming and zi are respectively used in daily life with certain restrained taboos. At last, I will give some marvelous examples to show how this art of naming zi is achieved as tactful responses to ming. This paper will end up with an urgent expectation that by reviving this age-old tradition of naming zi as a courtesy address of ming, we may create a harmonious society in which people are capably alert to respect each other.

並列關鍵字

the Chinese of traditional hierarchical society ； ming (the primary personal name) ； zi (the courtesy name) ； naming zi as a response to ming