Why did the ancient literati call themselves by place names?

In general, ancient literati had many nicknames besides their real names. For example, Han Yu's nicknames include Mr. Changli, Han Libu and Han Changli. The friends living in Hebei should be curious. Changli is a place name, and now it belongs to Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province. Why did Han Yu take a place name as his own name? In fact, these names are not random, and Han Yu is not the only one who pretends to be a land name. Today, I'm going to tell you what the nicknames of the ancients are. Interested friends can come and have a look, which will definitely help you increase your knowledge.

1. Place name reference

This includes county name, place of birth, place of residence, place of employment and so on.

Han Yu, a writer in the Tang Dynasty, was born in Heyang, Henan Province (now south of Mengzhou, Henan Province). He often called himself Changli. Changli (now Yixian County, Liaoning Province) is the seat of Han's noble family, so the world calls it "Han Changli".

Liu Zongyuan in the Tang Dynasty was called "Liuhe East". Place names such as "Changli" and "Hedong" are the "county hopes" of the family.

The so-called "county hope", "county" is an administrative division, and "hope" is a noble family.

"County Outlook" refers to a famous family in a certain geographical area, that is, a county that lives in the world is looked up to by the local people, which distinguishes it from other people with the same surname.

In ancient times, people were called by their native place or place of birth to show respect, which was called "looking at the ground".

For example, Meng Haoran, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, was from Xiangyang and was called "Meng Xiangyang". Zhang Jiuling is a native of Qujiang, known as "Zhang Qujiang"; Wang Anshi, a politician in the Northern Song Dynasty, and Tang Xianzu, a dramatist in the Ming Dynasty, were both from Linchuan, Jiangxi Province, so they were called "Wang Linchuan" and "Tang Linchuan" respectively. Gu Yanwu, a beginner in Qing Dynasty, was born in Tinglin Town, Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, and was called "Gu Tinglin". In the late Qing Dynasty, Kang Youwei was a native of Nanhai, Guangdong Province, known as "Kang Nanhai"; Yuan Shikai, a native of Xiangcheng, Henan Province, was called "Yuan Xiangcheng" and so on.

In addition, Li Hongzhang is called "Li Hefei", Weng Tonghe is called "Weng Changshu" and Liang Qichao is called "Liang Xinhui", all of which are commensurate with their native places.

There are also people who are called by the place name of the place where they work.

in the Han dynasty, Jia yi was once demoted to be the master of Changsha, and was called "Jia Changsha" in the world. Kong Rong used to be Beihai Xiang, known as "Kong Beihai". Tao Yuanming was once the magistrate of Pengze County in Jin Dynasty, and was known as "Tao Pengze" in the world. In the Tang Dynasty, Luo Binwang was once a county magistrate in Linhai, and was known as "Luo Linhai" in the world. Cen Can used to be the secretariat of history, known as "Cen Jiazhou"; Wei Yingwu was once the secretariat of Suzhou, known as "Wei Suzhou" in the world; Liu Zongyuan was once the secretariat of Liuzhou, known as "Liu Liuzhou" in the world; Jia Dao used to be the master book of the Yangtze River, known as "Jia Changjiang" in the world.

2. Allegations of official titles, including official names, titles, etc.

Allegations of official titles belong to honorific titles. Others or future generations use such titles to show respect and admiration for the addressed person, but the addressed person cannot use them himself.

use official names to match each other, and use abbreviations or reduce them. For example, in the Han Dynasty, Jia Yi was once demoted as a master of Changsha, and was called "Master Jia" in the world. Ban Gu used to be the history commander of Lantai, because he was called "Ban Lantai"; Cai Yong used to be the commander-in-chief of Zuo, because he was called "Cai Zhonglang"; In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ma Yuan served as General Fubo, known as "Ma Fubo" in the world; Wang Xizhi, a calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was a general of the right army and was known as "Wang Youjun" in the world.

The titles are commensurate. For example, Ban Chao, who joined the army in the Han Dynasty, was once named Dingyuan Hou, known as "Ban Dingyuan" in the world. Xie Lingyun, a poet in the Southern Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, once attacked Kangle Gong in the Jin Dynasty, so he was called "Xie Kangle". In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang said that he was a duke of Yan, so he was called "Duke Zhang Yan". Yan Zhenqing, a great calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, was named Duke Lu, so he was called "Duke Yan Lu". In the Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi once named Jing Guogong, so he was called "Wang Jinggong". Sima Guang chased Wen Guogong, so he was called "Sima Wengong".

3. row number refers to

The so-called row number refers to the order in which someone ranks in the family.

The ranks of people in the Tang Dynasty are not ranked according to the brothers born to one father, but according to the birth order of cousins of the same great-grandfather. There are often examples of Tang poetry collections addressing each other by rank, such as Bie Dong Da, Sending Yuan Er to Xi 'an, Yu Yuan Jiu Shu, Drunk with Li Eleven and Remembering Yuan Jiu, Answering Wang Twelve and a suggestion to my friend liu.

among friends, Li Bai was called Li Shi-2, Du Fu Du Er, Gao Shi Gao San Shi Wu, Han Yu Han Shi Ba, Liu Zongyuan Liu Ba, Yuan Zhen Yuan Jiu, and Zhang Ji Zhang Shi-28, which was the prevailing custom at that time. The Song Dynasty also followed this custom, such as Qin Qi (Qin Guan), Ou Jiu (Ouyang Xiu) and Huang Jiu (Huang Tingjian).

according to this comparison, what should you call it?

Author's brief introduction Tan Ruwei is a professor at the School of International Education and Exchange of Tianjin Normal University, the chairman of the Chinese Language Education Committee of the Chinese Language Modernization Society, a member of the Tianjin Language Working Committee and a consultant of the Tianjin Language Society.