Courtesy name

A courtesy name (Chinese: 字; pinyin: zì; lit.: 'character'), also known as a style name,[1] is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name.[2] This practice is a tradition in the Sinosphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.[3]

For European nobility, see courtesy title.

Courtesy name (Zi)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	(表) 字
Hanyu Pinyin	(biǎo) zì
Wade–Giles	(piao)-tzu
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	tự
Korean name
Hangul	자
Hanja	字
Revised Romanization	ja
McCune–Reischauer	cha
Japanese name
Kanji	字
Hiragana	あざな
Revised Hepburn	azana

The courtesy name would replace a man's given name as he entered adulthood.[4] It could be given either by the parents or by a private teacher on the first day of school. Women might adopt a zi in place of their given name upon marriage.[4] One also may adopt a self-chosen courtesy name.

A courtesy name is not to be confused with an art name (hào, Chinese: 號, Korean: 호), another frequently mentioned term for an alternative name in Asian culture-based context. An art name is usually associated with art and is more of a pen name or a pseudonym that is more spontaneous, compared to a courtesy name.

Usage

The zì, sometimes called the biǎozì (表字) or "courtesy name", is a name traditionally given to Chinese men at the age of 20, marking their coming of age. It was sometimes given to women upon marriage. The practice is no longer common in modern Chinese society. According to the Book of Rites, after a man reaches adulthood, it is disrespectful for others of the same generation to address him by his given name, or míng. Thus, the given name was reserved for oneself and one's elders, whereas the zì would be used by adults of the same generation to refer to one another on formal occasions or in writing; hence the term "courtesy name".

The zì is mostly disyllabic, consisting of two Chinese characters, and is often based on the meaning of the míng or given name. For example, Chiang Kai-shek's zì (介石, romanized as Kai-shek) and ming (中正, romanized as Chung-cheng) are both from the yù hexagram of I Ching.

Yan Zhitui of the Northern Qi dynasty asserted that whereas the purpose of the míng was to distinguish one person from another, the zì should express the bearer's moral integrity.

Another way to form a zì is to use the homophonic character zǐ (子) – a respectful title for a man – as the first character of the disyllabic zì. Thus, for example, Gongsun Qiao's zì was Zǐchǎn (子產), and Du Fu's: Zǐměi (子美).

It is also common to construct a zì by using as the first character one which expresses the bearer's birth order among male siblings in his family. Thus Confucius, whose name was Kǒng Qiū (孔丘), was given the zì Zhòngní (仲尼), where the first character zhòng indicates that he was the second son born into his family. The characters commonly used are bó (伯) for the first, zhòng (仲) for the second, shū (叔) for the third, and jì (季) typically for the youngest, if the family consists of more than three sons. General Sun Jian's four sons, for instance, were Sun Ce (伯符, Bófú), Sun Quan (仲謀, Zhòngmóu), Sun Yi (叔弼, Shūbì) and Sun Kuang (季佐, Jìzuǒ).

The use of zì began during the Shang dynasty, and slowly developed into a system which became most widespread during the succeeding Zhou dynasty. During this period, women were also given zì. The zì given to a woman was generally composed of a character indicating her birth order among female siblings and her surname. For example, Mèng Jiāng (孟姜) was the eldest daughter in the Jiāng family.

Prior to the twentieth century, sinicized Koreans, Vietnamese, and Japanese were also referred to by their zì. The practice was also adopted by some Mongols and Manchus after the Qing conquest of China.

Examples

Chinese	Family name	Given name	Courtesy name
Lǎozǐ 老子	Lǐ 李	Ěr 耳	Bóyáng 伯陽
Kǒngzǐ (Confucius) 孔子	Kǒng 孔	Qiū 丘	Zhòngní 仲尼
Sūnzǐ (Sun Tzu) 孫子	Sūn 孫	Wǔ 武	Chángqīng 長卿
Cáo Cāo 曹操	Cáo 曹	Cāo 操	Mèngdé 孟德
Guān Yǔ 關羽	Guān 關	Yǔ 羽	Yúncháng 雲長
Liú Bèi 劉備	Liú 劉	Bèi 備	Xuándé 玄德
Zhūgé Liàng 諸葛亮	Zhūgé 諸葛	Liàng 亮	Kǒngmíng 孔明
Zhào Yún 趙雲	Zhào 趙	Yún 雲	Zǐlóng 子龍
Lǐ Bái 李白	Lǐ 李	Bái 白	Tàibái 太白
Sū Dōngpō 蘇東坡	Sū 蘇	Shì 軾	Zǐzhān 子瞻
Yuè Fēi 岳飛	Yuè 岳	Fēi 飛	Péngjǔ 鵬舉
Yuán Chónghuàn 袁崇煥	Yuán 袁	Chónghuàn 崇煥	Yuánsù 元素
Liú Jī 劉基	Liú 劉	Jī 基	Bówēn 伯溫
Táng Yín 唐寅	Táng 唐	Yín 寅	Bóhǔ 伯虎
Máo Zédōng 毛澤東	Máo 毛	Zédōng 澤東	Rùnzhī 潤之
Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石	Jiǎng 蔣	Zhōngzhèng 中正	Jièshí 介石

See also

• Cognomen, the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome

References

1. Tianjun Liu, Xiao Mei Qiang (2013). Chinese Medical Qigong. p. 590. ISBN 978-1848190962. Mencius (371—289 BCE), born in Zou county (Shandong province), first name Ke, style name Zi Yu, was a famous philosopher, educator, politician, and expert on the Qigong life nurturing of Confucius in the Zhanguo Period.
2. Origins of Chinese Names. 2007. p. 142. ISBN 978-9812294623. In ancient times, besides having a surname and a given name, one would have a courtesy name 'Zì' as well. The courtesy name was the proper form of address for an adult. On reaching 20 years of age, young men would 'put on the hat' as ...
3. Names of Persons and Titles of Rulers
4. "Qū lǐ shàng" 曲禮上 [Summary of the Rules of Propriety Part 1]. Lǐjì 禮記 [Book of Rites]. Line 44. A son at twenty is capped, and receives his appellation....When a daughter is promised in marriage, she assumes the hair-pin, and receives her appellation.