Why did most women in ancient times not have names, but were simply called "someone's"?

We often see the same female characters in different ancient dramas, yet they have the same last name but different first names. For example, Qianlong's original wife, Empress Fucha, is called Fucha in "Yanxi Raiders"? Rongyin, and in Yi Yi Chuan is called Fucha? Miriam, Shunzhi's beloved consort Dong E, called Dong E in The Secret History of Xiaozhuang? Wanru, and in Beauty Without Tears is called Dong E? Wanning. Many friends asked, in the end which is her real name?

In fact, these are not the real names of Empress Fucha and Consort Dong'e. The Qing Historical Records only records the name of Empress Fucha and Consort Dong'e. The Qing Historical Manuscripts only recorded ? Emperor Gaozong Xiao Xian Chun Empress, Fucha's, Chahar Governor Li Rongbao's daughter.? does not say the name of Empress Fucha. So the names of the characters in the movie and TV drama are adapted according to the needs of the plot, so that it is convenient for others to address.

In fact, not only Empress Fucha, many women in history are not recorded name, but simply called ? a certain clan? , so why is this the case? It is reasonable to say that everyone has their own name, why is it not recorded in the history books?

Name development

In ancient times, a child's name was usually given by the father when he was 3 months old, and the Rites of Passage? Funeral Service" recorded? Therefore, the child was born in March, then the father's name? , but slowly, this custom is not so restricted. Many people in order to give the child a good name, they will think long and hard, usually take a milk name, a small name, until the child is six or seven years old and then formally take the name.

And according to our Chinese tradition, ancient people would not only have names, but also ? character? and? and? and other appellations. Among them? character? Many people have it, such as Cao Zihuan and Cao Zijian. Zihuan? and "Zihuan" in "Cao Zihuan" and "Cao Zijian". Zijian? are the characters of Cao Pi and Cao Zhi respectively.

The number? It is very common among ancient literati, such as Su Shi, No. Dongpo Jushi, Li Qingzhao, No. Yi'an Jushi. Not only used to address, but also as their signature, which is equivalent to the literati? Pen name? The same.

Women's names

Before the Sui and Tang dynasties, there were quite a lot of women's names recorded in history books. Just for example, Empress Lu, the wife of Liu Bang of the Western Han Dynasty, was originally named Lu Piang (吕雉), with the character e姁 (娥姁), Empress Zhang Yan (张嫣), the Empress of Liu Ying (刘盈), and Wang Yoo (王娡), the birth mother of Emperor Wu of Han. But from the Tang Dynasty onwards, there are far fewer records of specific names for women.

The famous Wu Zetian, in many history books are not recorded in the name, are just short for Wu, and Zetian is her posthumous name, Meiniang is the name given by Emperor Tang Taizong, Wu Zetian ascended to the throne, but also their own name called Wu Juan. Later, her name was found in the New Book of Tang, ? Zetian Shunsheng Empress Wu of the Children's Hospital in Zhaoqing, China?

And in the New Book of Tang, only five names remain - Xu Hui, Wu Meniang, Shangguan Wan Er, Yang Yu Huan and Wang Zhu - while the rest of the women's names are unknown.

By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, female names were almost always shortened to ? a certain clan? now. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang's empress Ma, filial piety Zhuangwen empress Borjigit's, Kangxi's empress Hershey's, Qianlong's birth mother Xi Fei Nuhu Lu's and so on. These women have no first name in the history books, only the surname.

So why is this? I think there are three main reasons.

One, the status of women in ancient times. Before the Sui and Tang dynasties, the idea of male superiority and female inferiority was still in the development stage, and did not reach the extreme, the female name was respected at that time, especially during the period of Wei, Jin and North and South Dynasties. Because there are many records about female names in the history books of this period, I won't give you all the examples here.

Also at that time, Confucianism was not absolutely dominant, and the ethnic groups were in a period of integration, and many ethnic minorities were very respectful of women at that time. Therefore, women's names could be publicized at that time, and therefore easily recorded and passed down.

But after the Tang Dynasty, the dominance of Confucianism rose, and the inferiority of men gradually reached an extreme state, especially during the Song Dynasty, and the gradual emergence of women's foot-binding and other customs, which not only infringed on women's rights, but also harmed their physical health.

So it doesn't matter what you call yourself at this time, you don't even need a name. And at this time the status of women is low, the name of the girl can not be casually revealed, only the family can know, outside the call ? A certain clan?

Two, I think it is the historian's personal choice, the historian to record a lot of things, they tend to choose to focus. It's as if the emperor's affairs were the most important, and sesame seed minutiae would be recorded in detail, but a woman's status was not as high, and would not be recorded in particular.

Third, because of the war, even if some women's names were recorded, but after the war, with the loss of the historical books, then the women's names recorded in it are not known.

Nowadays, many costume dramas will have a name for a woman with no name recorded, such as Gao Hei Yue, Fucha Rongyin, Nuhu Luolu, and so on. Rongyin, Nuhu? Zhen Huan and so on, they have no real name recorded in history. But as a role in the drama, especially in the "Legend of Zhen Huan" as the heroine Zhen Huan, if there is no name would be very strange, so it is not surprising to take a name.