Chapter 2

Many friends may have noticed that during the late Han and Three Kingdoms era, single names were far more common than double names. This was a custom among the people, especially the literati, generally believed to have originated from Wang Mang's复古 (retro) edicts, which mandated that scholars and officials use single names, considering double names to be lowly. Historical records show that Wang Mang had a grandson named Wang Hui Zong, who, according to the new law, was renamed Wang Zong. Later, due to his ambition for the throne, he was forced to commit suicide. Wang Mang then had his name restored to Wang Hui Zong as a form of punishment.

Although this was an important reason, it was not the main one. The Eastern Han restoration almost adhered to the principle of "two whatevers": whatever Wang Mang advocated, we would oppose; whatever Wang Mang opposed, we would support. Although the new law mandating single names was abolished, it did not reverse the trend of using single names. In fact, the main reason for the widespread use of single names was that as Confucian ideals increasingly became the ruling ideology, the taboo system became increasingly strict. Not only did people avoid the names of rulers, but they also often avoided the names of elders. Although the "Book of Rites" stipulates that "for double names, only one character needs to be avoided," people gradually ignored this rule and began to avoid names more rigorously. It can be imagined that when the majority of people had single names, the scope of what needed to be avoided was significantly reduced, making the use of characters in daily life more convenient.

Therefore, this custom of using single names began in the middle to late Western Han period, and Wang Mang's复古 (retro) reforms merely codified it into law. Although the Xin Dynasty was overthrown, this custom did not change, leading to the dominance of single names during the Eastern Han and the Wei-Jin periods.

In the late Han and Three Kingdoms era, the vast majority of people recorded in history had single names, which does not need to be proven by listing them one by one. However, there are occasional instances of double names, which disrupt this custom. How can these be explained? The emergence of double names can be attributed to the following special cases:

The most common is that the person did not exist, and the name was fabricated in historical novels, such as Wu An Guo, Pei Yuan Shao, and Xing Dao Rong, among others.

The second is the use of courtesy names. In ancient times, people had both given names and courtesy names, which were also typically single characters. However, it was possible to add a rank, such as Bo (eldest), Zhong (second), Shu (third), or Ji (youngest), or respectful characters like "zi" (子) or "gong" (公), or honorifics for men like "fu" (父) or "pu" (甫). For example, Confucius' courtesy name was Zhong Ni, where "Zhong" indicates his rank. Later generations often respectfully called him "Ni Fu." By the late Han and Three Kingdoms era, courtesy names were typically double characters, but examples like Zhou Yu (courtesy name Gong Jin) and Lu Su (courtesy name Zi Jing) retained the ancient style.

Many people lost their given names and only their courtesy names were recorded, or they were commonly known by their courtesy names. For example, Zhuge Liang's friends in Longzhong were Cui Zhou Ping, Shi Guang Yuan, Xu Yuan Zhi, and Meng Gong Wei. In fact, Cui Zhou Ping was Cui Jun, Shi Guang Yuan was Shi Tao, Xu Yuan Zhi was Xu Shu, and Meng Gong Wei was Meng Jian, all recorded by their courtesy names. These can be verified, but there are also some that cannot be verified or are ambiguous, such as Zhuge Liang's father-in-law Huang Cheng Yan, who was mistakenly killed by Cao Cao, and Lu Su's friend Liu Zi Yang, as well as Yuan Shao's generals Lü Wei Huang and Mei Yuan Jin, whose given names are not recorded. Yuan Shao had a general named Han Ju Zi, who may have been Han Xun or Han Meng, and Jiang Yi Qu, who may have been Jiang Qi—whether these are correct or not, no one can prove.

The third case is errors in historical records. For example, the Shu general Fu Shi Ren, who surrendered to Lu Meng along with Mi Fang, was originally named Shi Ren, but this was a mistake in the historical novel. The Youzhou governor Wuhuan Chu, who surrendered to Cao Cao, was actually Jiao Chu, also a mistake in the historical novel. In the "Records of the Three Kingdoms," there is a Wang Zi Fu, while in the "Book of the Later Han," he is recorded as Wang Fu. As for Pang Tong's uncle Pang De Gong, it could be that he was known by his courtesy name, or the "gong" (公) was added later.

The fourth case is foreign names. For example, Shamo Ke, Hu Che Er, and Hu Chi Er, who had "Hu" (胡) prefixed to their names, indicating their non-Han origin. In the historical novel, there is a Qiang leader named E He Shao Ge, who is both a foreigner and a mistake, as he was actually two people, E He and Shao Ge, in the official history.

The fifth case is nicknames, which were common among the Yellow Turbans, such as Zhang Niu Jiao, Li Da Mu, Guo Da Xian, and Chu Fei Yan (later renamed Zhang Yan). Cao Shuang had a close associate named Yin Da Mu, who likely had large eyes. In Eastern Wu, there was a Duke Yan Bai Hu, whose name is ambiguous; it could be due to his low birth, or "Bai Hu" could be a nickname.

The sixth case is double surnames with single names, which can be misleading. For example, Wei minister Gao Tang Long, whose surname is Gao Tang, and Wang Qiu Jian, whose surname is Wang Qiu. As for Chun Yu, Si Ma, and Zhuge, there are many people with these surnames, so they generally do not cause confusion.

Upon careful examination, the truly double-named individuals in the late Han and Three Kingdoms era are likely the following:

First, Ma Yuan Yi and Zhang Man Cheng, both leaders of the Yellow Turbans, who were of low birth and not literati, hence they retained their double names in an era where single names were considered noble and double names were considered lowly.

Second, Han Taifu Ma Ri Di (pronounced Mi Di), whose courtesy name was Weng Shu, was the nephew of the great scholar Ma Rong. Therefore, he was definitely not known by his courtesy name or a foreigner. His situation was special because in the Western Han era, there was a minister named Jin Ri Di, who was originally the crown prince of the Xiongnu Xutu tribe, and Emperor Wu granted him the surname Jin. Clearly, Ma Ri Di chose his double name to emulate this ancestor.

Third, in Zhuge Liang's "Memorial to the Emperor on His Departure for War," he mentions the attendant Guo You Zhi. We find that many double names in the Wei-Jin and Southern Dynasties periods end with the character "zhi" (之), such as Pei Song Zhi, Wang Xi Zhi, Zu Chong Zhi, and Liu Lao Zhi, among others. Wang Xi Zhi's seven sons were named Wang Xuan Zhi, Wang Ning Zhi, Wang Cao Zhi, and Wang Xian Zhi, and his grandchildren included Wang Zhen Zhi and Wang Jing Zhi, and his great-grandchildren included Wang Yi Zhi and Wang Yue Zhi, all with "zhi" (之). Mr. Chen Yinke believed this was related to the Celestial Master Daoism, a special habit or symbol of believers, and Guo You Zhi may also belong to this category.

Therefore, in my novel "Han-Wei Wen Kui," I often encounter people recorded in history with double names, and whether they were known by their courtesy names or were mistakes, or had other special circumstances, no one knows. I have uniformly set them as known by their courtesy names. For example, Xi Zhi Cai, who may have been from a commoner family, hence the double name, but the custom of single names was not limited to aristocratic families. As long as one was a literatus, whether from an aristocratic or humble background, they would not break this custom unless in extremely special circumstances. Therefore, I set his surname as Xi, given name as Xian, and courtesy name as Zhi Cai. For example, in the "Nine Provinces Spring and Autumn," it is said that Kong Rong only trusted "vicious debaters" Wang Zi Fa and Liu Kong Ci, but distanced himself from virtuous talents Zuo Cheng Zu and Liu Yi Xun. I set Wang Zi Fa's given name as Xiao, Liu Kong Ci's given name as Xiang, Liu Yi Xun's given name as She, and Zuo Cheng Zu's given name as Jing.

There was also a wealthy man named Li Jin, who repelled Lü Bu in Chengshi, recorded in the "Heroic Records" as Li Jin Xian, whose brother was Li Shu Jie. I set Li Shu Jie's given name as Fu and Li Jin Xian's given name as Deng. Later, there may be a character named Cao An Min, whom some say should be Cao An and Cao Min, a mistake in punctuation causing a double name. I will simply treat it as a courtesy name.

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