Anyone who has watched “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” may wonder: Why were most names during the Three Kingdoms period only two characters long? Notable examples include Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhao Yun…
Looking back at Chinese history, throughout the more than 300 years that encompass the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms, names were predominantly single-character, with compound names being extremely rare.
The structure of a person’s identity, according to Chinese belief, consists of: Surname + Given Name. Here, we will focus only on the “given name.” Characters like Cao Cao and Liu Bei have corresponding single-character names: “Cao” and “Bei.”
Why were single-character names prevalent during the Three Kingdoms?
In the “Book of the Later Han” and “Records of the Three Kingdoms,” there are indeed individuals with compound names. For example, hermits like Pang Degong and Dang Lu Shou; artists like Dongfang Shansheng; and even some individuals retained childhood names as their official names, such as Liu Bontzu and Zheng Xiaodong. However, among the intellectuals and officials, almost no one adopted compound names. This is truly peculiar.
Characters in the Three Kingdoms typically have two-character names.
The issue stems from Wang Mang, a powerful figure of the Han dynasty, who later became the only emperor of the Xin dynasty, disrupting the Han period in Chinese history.
At the end of the Western Han dynasty, Wang Mang seized power. To consolidate his rule, he implemented the ” Teleological Theology” of Dong Zhongshu – a metaphysical philosopher, politician, and writer of the Western Han, associated with promoting Confucianism as the official ideology of the Chinese imperial state. Dong Zhongshu advocated for the worship of heaven over the traditional religious veneration of the five elements.
Wang Mang strongly emphasized “names.” Because in the “Spring and Autumn Annals,” it is stated: “Two names is against propriety.” (which roughly translates to: compound names go against the principles of propriety). According to this, only slaves had compound names. Upon ascending to the throne, he initiated a nationwide name change movement. First, he changed the names of officials at all levels, followed by changing place names.
Later, even the “Xiongnu” was renamed “Jiangnu” (a powerful nomadic ethnic group in China at the time), and “Shanyu” was changed to “Fuyu” (the title of the supreme leaders of the nomadic people), leading to wars among ethnic groups.
It must be noted that Wang Mang invested a great deal of effort into the naming system. He took pride in the Wang surname of his clan and granted the Wang surname to the Liu royal family and loyal subordinates as a sign of favor.
After ascending the throne, Wang Mang changed the names of officials at all levels, followed by changing place names. (Illustrative image)
In the “Book of Han – Biography of Wang Mang,” it is recorded that Wang Mang’s eldest grandson, Wang Zong, waited eagerly to become emperor as he had his grandfather and father before him. However, Wang Zong was extremely anxious.
He secretly had clothes made for the emperor, had someone paint his portrait, and carved a bronze seal. Concurrently, he conspired with his uncle to seize the throne. However, his limited power led to his plan being exposed. Despite being the eldest grandson of Wang Mang, his plot to overthrow the throne was a grave matter. Wang Zong felt ashamed and thought he had no choice but to commit suicide.
Although he had died, Wang Mang still issued an order: “Zong originally had the name Hui Zong, which was reduced by one character in accordance with the rules, and now the name Hui Zong is restored.”
It turns out Wang Zong’s original name was Wang Hui Zong, but according to Wang Mang’s decree, his name was reduced to “Wang Zong.” After committing a crime, he was stripped of the “privilege” of having a single-character name and had to restore his old name “Wang Hui Zong.”
From Wang Mang’s decree, three issues can be observed:
- First, the naming of individuals before Wang Mang’s time was not restricted, and his descendants still had compound names.
- Second, after Wang Mang ascended the throne, he issued a decree to “remove one character from compound names.” This means that this law did not permit people at that time to adopt compound names.
- Third, once someone became a criminal, their compound name was restored (if any). This was also a form of punishment and humiliation, stripping them of normal rights.
In the “Book of Han – Biography of Wang Mang,” there is also a phrase: “The Xiongnu Shanyu, following the decree, removed the second name.” This indicates that the Xiongnu Shanyu followed Wang Mang’s decree, eliminating one character from their compound names. It can be seen that during this time, Wang Mang not only prohibited the use of compound names but also significantly influenced the Xiongnu.
Due to Wang Mang’s decree, from his time onward, the practice of adopting single-character names gradually became established. Although Wang Mang’s words later lost their effect, the habit had turned into a custom, with compound naming being regarded as dishonorable.
If we were to translate this to modern times, where everyone adopts single-character names, the issue of name duplication would be severe. However, at that time, the population was not excessively large, and single-character names did not cause negative impacts on society. Therefore, the phenomenon of single-character names persisted, continuing through the Three Kingdoms period.
Additionally, there was another reason that made the wave of adopting single-character names easier to accept and comply with was the case of taboo naming (avoiding certain names to show respect).
When Qin Shi Huang established the Qin dynasty, the taboo naming system became even stricter. Using the name of the emperor would result in execution. As a result, both emperors and commoners adopted single-character names to avoid taboo naming as much as possible.
For instance, Liu Bingshi, the grandson of Emperor Wu of Han, had a compound name. However, after ascending to the throne, the terms “Bingshi” became too common, so he changed his name to Liu Zhun.
