Do Names Affect Fate? Why Language Master Zhao Yuanren Gave Mediocre Names to His 4 Daughters

(The Woman Who Speaks History - Issue 1363)

The Chinese have always attached great importance to names, whether in the countryside or in the city, no matter whether the dignitaries or the countryside white men, if they have just had a child, it is necessary to take a lot of trouble to name it. Some of them are to ask learned people to name, some of them are to ask Mr. Yin and Yang, and some of them are to look up ancient books, dictionaries and so on. Even worse, for example, rural people can not read and write, but also do not have the money to hire Mr., that can not just name, but also have to think of a good sound, auspicious, to avoid evil. Of course, there are also "Hu" up, such as the dog, dog eggs, stone, toad, mosquito, etc., but this is mostly a small name, the name is in order to intimate, but then the child grows up, called the habit, and do not want to change, listen to the smooth, it is more and more intimate.

In order to name, China has even produced a study, that is, naming science. It involves the five elements gossip, I Ching or something, make it very esoteric. Nowadays, you can still see some naming societies on the street, and even online there are many websites about naming, such as name.com, etc. Most of them are based on the theory of Zhouyi, according to the person's birthdate and eight characters, etc. to name.

In the Chinese philosophy, a person's name is not only symbolic, and can even imply, influence a person's destiny, and should not be sloppy. Even in the new era, many people believe that the yin and yang gossip is superstition, the name is completely do not have to consider, but will still be very attentive. good name probably have to meet these conditions : one is good to hear, such as a girl, called the plum blossom is certainly better than the cinderblock, so called the winter plum, red plum a lot of; two is to have meaning, listen to the atmosphere, can send the parents of the good wishes, such as Zhiqiang, Jianguo, etc., were once very fashionable and cow's name; three is to have a provenance, do not become rootless, the wood, the water, the water, the water, the water, the water, the water, the water, the water, the water. The third is to have a source, not to become a rootless wood, water without a source, and even appear to be learned, such as the Nobel Prize in Literature, Gao Xingjian, whose name comes from the "Zhouyi": "Tian Xingjian, the gentleman when self-improvement".

Of course, there are other conditions, but these three conditions are basic, are very necessary to consider. In particular, the more sophisticated cultural people, his own name (such as a large number, pen name, etc.), or to his children's names, are very solemn, never casually up a, so people laugh at their own uneducated.

But there are exceptions, for example, there is a master of linguistics, known as the Republic of China, the first generalist, the first ghost, known as the father of modern Chinese language, Mr. Zhao Yuanren, He has four daughters, but he gave his daughter's name is very casual, not only does not sound good, and even seems to have no significance, it seems to be very mediocre, petty.

There is also the fact that the four biological daughters, whose names are very different from each other, that is, the names of the four sisters, in addition to the family name "Zhao", there is no one word is heavy. Traditionally in China, this is a very important point, like Da Mao, Er Mao, San Mao, Si Mao, since they are siblings, the names will be heavier than one character, so as to appear friendly, like a family. Zhao Yuanren, on the other hand, is not like that. So, as a master of linguistics and a great scholar of Chinese literature, why did Mr. Zhao Yuanren name his daughters so uncritically? What names did he give to his four daughters? Does it have any influence on their future destiny? Today we will talk about this topic.

(1) The master and his daughters

Zhao Yuanren (1892-1982) word Xuanzhong, also known as the word Yi Chong, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. This person is definitely a talent, known as the first generalist and ghost talent of the Republic of China, that is, extremely intelligent, erudite, Proficient in mathematics, physics, philosophy, music and other disciplines, proficient in 7 languages and 33 dialects, the standard language master. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Mathematics, and received a PhD in Philosophy from Harvard University. He taught at Cornell University, Harvard University, University of Hawaii, Yale University, and the University of Michigan, as well as at Tsinghua University in China, and at the Institute of History and Philosophy of the Academia Sinica. When he was teaching at Tsinghua University, he was known as one of the "Four Tutors" of Tsinghua University together with Liang Qichao, Wang Guowei and Chen Yinke.

Zhao Yuanren can be said to be a body of writings, talent, but for his daughter's name is very casual, whether her wife is a big old man, he is a "wife", do not dare to give his daughter a good name? On the contrary, Zhao Yuanren's wife is the famous talent Yang Buwei, and she is also a person who has a strange ambition and is generous. Whether it is Zhao Yuanren or Yang Buwei, the couple's names are very atmospheric, especially Yang Buwei, the name is simply atmospheric, bold to the burst, there is a strong ambition to the mood of the clouds. But what are the names of their four daughters?

Zhao Yuanren, Yang Buwei's four grandchildren from big to small names are: Zhao Rulan, Zhao Xinna, Zhao Lai Si, Zhao Xiaozhong.

At first glance, these four names are not too bad, and even the name of the boss "Rulan" is quite elegant. But don't forget, the parents of these four sisters are masters ah, and they are young is a great talent and a great talent, to give their own children this name is also too common, right? Moreover, these four sisters can be as beautiful as flowers, the standard beauty, these names simply do not match!

Let's look at what the historical beauties were called: Xi Shi, Zhao Jun, Diao Cicada, and the most unimpressive one, Yang Yuhuan, which is no worse than the best name of the four sisters, Zhao Rulan. The problem is, Zhao Yuanren's eldest daughter "Rulan" is the best name or he "cut corners" , because his wife Yang Buwei's nickname is with the word "Lan", called Yang Rulan. The name of his wife, Yang Buwei, was Yang Lanxian ("兰"). Zhao Yuan Ren named his eldest daughter Rulan, not only messed up the ethical (in the traditional sense, children's names can not be overlap with the parents, a word can not be); even if Zhao Yuan Ren new wave of thinking, do not care about these, but his name is also perfunctory suspicion.

Look at Zhao Yuanren's second daughter, third daughter and youngest daughter's name, "Xin Na" and "Lai Si" sounds strange, look at nothing new or poetic or something. The word "Na" for "Shin Na" would make sense if it were changed to "Na", since it's a girl after all; the word "Si" for "Lai Si" would be changed to "Silk", which might be a bit poetic. The word "Si" is changed to "Silk", which might be a bit poetic. Especially "small in", and small and in the middle of the name is simply too not atmosphere, too mediocre, huh. So why did Zhao Yuanren, the master of language, name his daughter so hastily?

(2) Zhao Yuanren for his daughter's name process

Zhao Yuanren married in 1921, the following year on April 20, his eldest daughter was born. At that time, Zhao Yuanren and his wife Yang Buwei were both in the United States, so his eldest daughter was born in the United States. Zhao Yuanren was thrilled to have a daughter and immediately told the happy news to Russell, the great British philosopher. Russell had been lecturing in China, and Zhao Yuanren worked as an interpreter for Russell at that time, and they became close friends. So he had a good thing to share with Russell, and exaggeratedly said, "The four hundred million and one members of the Chinese people have been born in our home!" At the time, China's population was claimed to be 400 million, so this was a logical statement on his part.

Zhao Yuanren named his daughter Zhao Rulan, presumably to save trouble, and his wife's nickname was Lanxian, which seemed to make them mother and daughter close. So does this common name have any effect on his daughter's future?

Zhao Rulan went on to live in the United States, attending Harvard University, where she studied music and phonetics. She went on to teach at Harvard, where she was the first Chinese-American female professor in the history of the university; she was also a musicologist. Rulan Zhao's husband, Bian Xue-bell, was a renowned aerospace expert and a tenured professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. Bian was also an internationally renowned authority on computational mechanics, a member of the U.S. Academy of Sciences, and a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Harvard University is ranked first in the world, and MIT is ranked second, can teach in these two universities, this couple is definitely successful people.

Plus Zhao Yuan Ren's second daughter, she was born in the United States, the time is May 14, 1923, his eldest daughter Zhao Rulan was born in April 20, 1922, Zhao Yuan Ren couple this birth rhythm is really considerable, two years in a row gave birth to two daughters. The name of this daughter was "Xin Na", which was not very nice, but Zhao Yuanren's name for her was not without significance. What does it mean?

At the time, China was called "zhina" internationally, and "xinna" meant new China. It was a sign of his and his wife's wish that the old world would end and a new China would be born. At that time, the word "zhina" did not have any pejorative connotation. Later, after the Japanese invaded China, they called the Chinese "Chinamen", and it seems that the word began to have a disparaging connotation towards the Chinese people. Mr. Wen Yiduo's "I am a Chinese" published in 1925 declared: "I am a Chinese, I am a zhina, a great nation! Great nation! I am the originator of Oriental culture, and my life is the life of the world. I am Chinese, I am zhina!"

There is another interesting topic about the birth of this woman. At the time, Zhao Yuanren's wife, Yang Buwei, said she was accidentally born on her own because contraception was not avoided. At that time, the couple lived in the U.S. is more difficult, a year ago just gave birth to a child, and now another one, it is too simmering. But later, Yang Buwei was glad that the failure of contraception, because his daughter was so beautiful, the couple rejoiced.

Born abroad, Zhao Xinna's first language is French, which is nothing, his father Zhao Yuanren is a language genius, proficient in seven languages. Later, of course, she learned Chinese easily. Zhao Xinna studied at Radcliffe University in Cambridge, majoring in chemistry, and later graduated from Harvard. She was not only a good-looking girl, but also an excellent student, and became the school's top girl. She had so many suitors that she couldn't even read, so it seems that being too pretty is also a problem. In the end, she married Dr. Huang Peiyun, a man who would please his mother-in-law.

Zhao Xinna and her husband returned to China in 1946, and the couple taught at the Changsha Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, where they were both university professors and had successful careers.

Zhao Yuanren's third daughter was called Zhao Lai Si, born on June 14, 1929 in Beijing. Just like the second daughter, Zhao Xinna, who was born because of a contraceptive failure, this daughter came into the world quite by chance. Because Zhao Yuanren's wife, Yang Buwei, did not intend to have so many children. The first two children were born at the beginning of their marriage, which made her and her husband's hands full and brought a lot of pressure to the family. Later, Yang Buwei opened a clinic in Beijing and engaged in birth control examinations. Some people satirized her, saying that Yang Buwei was encouraging others to plan their families because she couldn't have any more children. She was so angry that she specialized in getting pregnant again and having a baby to show people, so the birth of her third daughter could be considered lucky.

Zhao Laisi was not called that at first. At the time, Zhao Yuanren gave his daughter a very different name, Zhao Lai trace Si Mei, and took the English name Lensey. Zhao Yuanren later recalled that he gave the child a name that is really called "playful". At that time, the linguistic master and his assistant even moved out of the Chinese syllabary table to study. Yang Buwei was anxious. But for Zhao Yuanren, a linguist known as a ghostwriter, wouldn't changing a name be a piece of cake? This time, he was even more energetic, and used all the phonological "anti-checks": the anti-check of Len is "莱痕", and the anti-check of sei is "思媚", which means "Lai Trace" (Lai Trace). Simei, plus the last name, five characters, so the daughter will be called Zhao Lai trace Simei, this name is avant-garde can be. Moreover, "Lai" was the first word in Zhao Yuanren's mother's name, "Laixun".

Because the name is really strange, people always ask where it comes from, and it's a pain in the ass. Later, the great scholar Fu Si-nian suggested that Zhao Yuanren change the child's name to a simple name, so from the "Zhao Lai trace Si Mei" to take two words, called "Lai Si". But the English name remains.

The third daughter, Zhao Lai Si, studied at the University of California, specializing in mathematics, and did so well that she earned a doctorate, which Mrs. Zhao, Yang Buwei, called "a monster of a genius". Zhao Laisi married a Japanese, Wisaku Namioka. Her marriage was nothing short of an international combination; she herself was Chinese, her husband and father-in-law were Japanese, but her mother-in-law was French. Together with her husband, Mr. Pogonovi, she taught at Cornell University in the United States. They are also absolutely successful in their careers.

Zhao Yuanren's youngest daughter, whose English name is Bella, was born on May 24, 1931, in Beijing. In her mother's work, Yang Buwei's "Miscellany of the Zhao Family," she is said to have been "taken out with a pair of pliers. Of Zhao Yuanren's four daughters, his youngest had the most petty name. How did he name his daughter "Xiao Zhong"?

In fact, this name is not Zhao Yuanren's own daughter, this time the name is more childish. He actually authorized his third daughter to name her sister. That's fine, but the problem is that his third daughter, Zhao Silai, was under two years old at the time. That's a lot of fun. At the time, Zhao Yuanren told his third daughter, "This honorable task is in your hands, what name will you give your little sister?" Xiao San looked at a pair of couplets on the wall with a crooked head, and she only knew two of the words "small" and "in", so she pointed to those two words and said, "Small - - in! -Middle!"

"Middle! Small-middle is small-middle, it's settled!" Old Zhao immediately clapped his hands. So the youngest daughter will be called Zhao Xiaozhong.

Zhao Xiaozhong is also very talented, and not because of the name of the petty, mediocre and mediocre, she is the same as her old man Zhao Yuanren, graduated from Cornell University in the U.S., her grades as good as her sisters, won the three Golden Key Award, and received master's degree in Physics , and then served in the world after Harvard's Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

There was only one small blemish: Zhao Xiaozhong's marriage was not a happy one; her husband's name was Qiu Hongyi, and he was later divorced. This was the only regret of Zhao Yuanren's family. However, Zhao Xiaozhong has been living in the United States, divorce is commonplace in the United States, there is no big surprise, maybe she remarried happier.

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Conclusion: Looking at the course of language master Zhao Yuanren's naming of his four daughters, it can be seen that the so-called name affects a person's fate and prospects is untenable. Zhao Yuanren, Yang Buhui husband and wife are full of knowledge and achievements; their four daughters and even son-in-law are also full of knowledge and achievements. Zhao Rulan, Zhao Xinna, Zhao Lai Si, Zhao Xiaozhong four sisters not only look like a flower, but also the heart of the orchid quality, even if the name is not so pleasant, not so learned, or even very mediocre, so what? This does not detract from their excellence!

The four of them, who with whose name there is no repetition of words, such as Lanxin Na Lai Si Xiaozhong, eight words are independent of each other, but does not affect the four sisters of the blood, flesh and blood deep.

Mr. Zhao Yuanren had two strange articles to face the Latin (alphabet) of the Chinese script (the number 1349 has been a special article interpretation), and to their daughters randomly named, once again face the name affects the life of the argument, and even directly negate the traditional science of naming, can be described as a wise man and the traditional culture of the "revolutionaries! "

In fact, the name is a mark, is a person different from the other people of a sign only, there is no need for a big brain; at the same time, it is also a person's personality performance, you up what name, up a few words, is a person's freedom and the right to other people do not have the right to interfere. This is also the ultimate revelation that Mr. Zhao Yuanren gave us.

(文/说历史的女人-花无去)

References:

The Biography of Zhao Yuanren, Autobiography of a Woman, and The I Ching.

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