中國中古人名的心態史研究

Abstract

芸芸眾生，莫不有心，作為社會性的「人」亦必有名，人名常為個體或集體心態之反映，從長時期來看人群不同的命名表現，每能從中窺見世相之遷移。本論文以中國中古的命名心態為主題，探討當時的人名特色與使用情形，以期增加對中古社會文化的理解。 以中古人名作為研究樣本，有兩項基本問題，第一是其數量龐大、來源分散；第二是使用者彼此間的社會身分、文化背景縫隙很大，必須細心處理各種「名」的使用情形，建立有效的分類或架構。本文盡可能擴大樣本的多樣性，並由宗教、風俗、胡漢、男女等四種架構，分析人名使用者的背景，並就命名表現與心態，提出四種分類模式：聖名、惡名、貴名、賤名。 聖名、惡名都是因佛教而起的外來新選項，為前代所無，使用目的在於求取護持，或宗教理想之寄託，因此不忌重名，不分男女，並常作為胡名之替代。唐代以後，惡名迅速消失，聖名有小名化的趨勢。貴名的特色是引經據典，最為隋唐大族菁英所喜。來源以華夏古典與儒家經書為大宗，強調慕古，並展現經世、修身之價值，可謂「經學化」之名，用字則近乎類書之表現。此名的菁英性格很強，更成為唐代以後士人命名之共相。賤名屬於「小名」之一支，起於古代「名」的信仰，與「字」的原始功能類似，從未被制度化，但生命力很強，長期流行，亦遍及胡漢、男女各階層，甚至可作為正名使用，本文比較賤名與其他命名模式，提出較為明確的定義與解釋。 此外，本文也探討中古道教對人名的影響，主要在於出世之情思，兼及胡族、女性等群體命名的特色，指出北朝人名受胡風感染，強調力量之追求，女性之名反映傳統女教思想，以及求子之願，唐代菁英女名更深受禮法觀念之影響。從整體看來，「階層」係中古人名使用最主要的區隔，並因華夏傳統接受之程度而有別，伴隨士人群體的擴大，貴名文化持續發展，惡名與其他外來色彩鮮明的選項被淘汰，其他命名模式長期流行於社會各界，直到近代始隨世變而改觀。

Human names as a social-cultural product are always the reflection of individual or collective mentalities. The changes of milieu could be investigated upon the various representation of naming in the long turn. The dissertation takes the human names and naming mentalities in medieval China as the theme, and scrutinize the naming characteristics and usage scenario of that time in order to extend the understanding of the history of medieval culture. By taking human names of medieval China as research materials, two fundamental questions are arose. One is the amount is huge, but some groups are so scarce of records that difficult for researchers to probe into. The other is that the social identities and cultural background of the name-owners are diverse. The usage scenario of every kind of “name” needs to be historically handled to establish valid classification and interpretation, and the dynamic scene could thereafter been exhibited. As to the above questions, the samples are not only gathered from official histories, but also explored in various materials. The goal is to achieve fine-grained understanding for medieval naming culture. This dissertation claims an analytic structure of four types: religion and thoughts, custom, Hu and Han, as well as male and female. As to the mentalities of naming, four classification models are identified: holy name, fierce name, elite name, and opprobrious name. The holy name and fierce name are both the foreign options derived from Buddhism, whereas unavailable in previous dynasties. The purpose is to plead for the blessings and protection, or commitment of religious ideal. These two models is ubiquitous in every class of Hu and Han, as well as male and female. Especially it acts as the surrogate of Hu names. In Tang Dynasty, the fierce name diminished rapidly for its frightful images, and holy name was toward in the pattern of nickname or religious name and inherited in succeeding dynasties. The elite name is characterized for quoting the classics and are especially favored by Sui-Tang aristocratic families and the literati. The origin of quotation is majorly from Huaxia classics and ancient histories centering in Confucianism. It admires antique and demonstrates the values for governing and benefiting the world, as well as cultivation the mind. The elite name could be seen as the invocation of Confucius Classics. Elegant and precise expression is attested, with the odor of literary encyclopedias. This model has so sturdy aristocracy character that other ones were gradually peripheralized or toward underclass in the naming arena. It became the common phenomenon for the intellectuals after Tang Dynasty. The opprobrious name belongs to the custom of informal name and origins from the ancient belief of the name-soul unity with the primitive function of “courtesy name”. This model had never been assimilated in etiquette but prevalent in ordinary life. It was common in Hu and Han, male and female, as well as every social class in medieval China. Furthermore, it may be adopted as formal name in some circumstances. The dissertation summarizes the opprobrious name in medieval China, tries to propound definition and explanation. This dissertation also elaborates how Taoism in early medieval China had impact on naming culture, and sheds light on the naming characteristics within Hu and feminine groups. In summary, “stratification” is the most crucial distinction in terms of utilization of human names in medieval China. The culture of elite name continuously extended after the medieval period with the increasing community of Confucianist identity. Except that options of fierce name or from obviously foreign language were weed out, other naming models were still chronically prevailing. These naming mentalities and cultures were not altered until the modern China radically changed.