A Study On The Names Of Han Bamboo Slips In Northwest China

Personal name is the most common language symbol used to distinguish,mark and call others and oneself,as well as the reflection of politics,economy,society,culture,mainstream thought,ethnic relation,military movement and other factors in different periods.Its broad category includes surname,given name,courtesy name,literary name and other appellations.Because of the long history and multi-ethnic blend,the name system of our country presents many complex characteristics,but also carries the style of the times.In addition to referring to Shiji史记(Records of the Grand Scribe),Hanshu汉书(the Book of the Han Dynasty),Houhanshu后汉书(the Book of the Later Han Dynasty),Jijiupian急就篇,Cangjiepian苍颉篇,the unearthed documents such as the bamboo slips,silk manuscript,inscriptions on a tablet and seal are also worthy of further study.The Han Bamboo Slips in Northwest China were unearthed in the Gansu and Inner Mongolia,which provide material support for our research on the naming culture of Han Dynasty with a huge number of bamboo slips,rich document contents and diverse ethnic groups.At present,more than20,000 Han Bamboo Slips in Northwest China related to personal name have been published.The complete form of "surname+given name+courtesy name" is less.Most of them are written in the form of "surname+given name" or separate given name.There are also a small number of bamboo slips that only have surname or courtesy name,because of ambiguity,fracture and other reasons.The surname in the Han Bamboo Slips in Northwest China contains a large number of single surnames and a few compound surnames,many usual surnames and rare surnames.The given name contains a large number of single-character names and two-characters names.In addition to a large number of male names,there are also a small number of female names and names of ethnic minorities.Compared with surname and given name,courtesy name appears less frequently in the Han Bamboo Slips in Northwest China,but the naming tendency can still be found.It can be seen that the Han Bamboo Slips in Northwest China contain huge and rich naming information,which can provide historical evidence for us to study the naming habits of border people in the Han Dynasty and analyse the social factors behind them.At the same time,the scholars have not yet formed a systematic study on the personal name in the Han Bamboo Slips in Northwest China,and mainly focused on the discussion of the name definition and correction,single-character names and two-characters names,the naming culture,etc.Therefore,we will carry out exhaustive statistics on the personal name of the Han Bamboo Slips in Northwest China published at this stage,analyzing the problems of single surnames and compound surnames,the wives taking their husbands’ surnames,single-character names and two-characters names,male names and female names,names of ethnic minorities and courtesy names,so as to explore the rich naming characteristics of Han Dynasty and the unique social culture at that time.