Vol. 72 No. 1 (2024): NAMES: A Journal of Onomastics
Articles

Chinese Onomasticons of Posthumous Names: Between Ritual Practice and Historical Exegesis

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  • Yegor Grebnev
Yegor Grebnev
BNU-HKBU United International College
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5195/names.2023.2461

Published 2024-03-12

Keywords

  • posthumous names,
  • China,
  • history,
  • anthroponymy,
  • onomasticon

Copyright (c) 2024 Yegor Grebnev

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This paper provides a brief introduction to Chinese posthumous names. This name system is based on the opposition between positive and negative evaluations of the deceased. It was employed as a means for negotiating legitimacy and shaping the historical record. This article also provides information on the “Order of Posthumous Names Explained”, a chapter of the Neglected Zhou Scriptures. This chapter is a canonical source for the study of Chinese posthumous names. It is commonly seen by scholars as an ancient onomasticon used to assign posthumous names. This paper argues that, in its present form, this chapter is a complex medieval compilation of multiple earlier sources. This paper counters the narrow interpretation of onomasticons of Chinese posthumous names as manuals for assigning names to the deceased. Instead, it postulates that onomasticons of posthumous names were also used as aids in the interpretation of history. They provided meaningful moralistic interpretations for the posthumous names attested in historical sources.

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