A
posthumous name is an honorary name given to
royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in some cultures after the
person's death.
The posthumous name is commonly used when
naming royalty of China,
Korea, Vietnam
, and
Japan.
Posthumous names in China and Vietnam were also given to honor
lifetime accomplishments of many people who did not have hereditary
titles, for example to successful courtiers.
In the
Japanese tradition, an
emperor is now regularly given a posthumous name that corresponds
to the name of his reign. A non-royal deceased may be given a
posthumous Buddhist name known as
kaimyo, but is in
practice still referred to by the living name.
A posthumous name should not be confused with the
era name and
temple
name.
History
Having their origins in the Chinese
Zhou
Dynasty, posthumous names were used 800 years earlier than
temple names. The first person named
posthumously was
Ji Chang, named by his son
Ji Fa of Zhou, as the "Civil King". The use of
posthumous names was stopped in the
Qin
Dynasty, because
Qin Shi Huang
proclaimed that it is disrespectful for the descendants, or "later
emperors" to judge their elders, or the "prior emperors" (先帝). The
practice was revived in the
Han Dynasty
after the demise of the Qin Empire.
Chinese emperors
All Chinese posthumous names for rulers end in one or two of the
characters for "
emperor",
Huángdì (皇帝, i.e.
emperor), which can be shortened to
Dì; except about a
dozen or so less recognized ones who have had only
Dì and
no
Huáng.
Starting with Emperor
Xiaowen of Han
China (more commonly "Emperor Wen"), every single Han emperor,
except the first one of the Eastern Han Dynasty, has the character
of "
filial" (孝 xiào) at the beginning
of his posthumous names.
"Filial" is also used in the full posthumous
names of virtually all emperors of the Tang, Song,
Ming
and Qing
Dynasties. For Qing emperors, 孝 xiào is
placed in various position in the string of characters, while those
Qing empresses who were given posthumous names, 孝 xiào is always
initial.
The number of characters in posthumous names was increasing. The
emperors of the
Tang Dynasty have names
in between seven to eighteen characters.
Those in the Qing Dynasty have twenty-one characters. For instance,
that of the
Shunzhi Emperor was "The
Emperor of Order who Observes the Heavenly Rituals with a Solemn
Fate, Destined to Unify, Establishes with Extreme Talented
Insights, Admires the Arts, Manifests the Might, with Great Virtue
and Vast Achievement, Reaches Humanity, Purely Filial"
(體天隆運定統建極英睿欽文顯武大德弘功至仁純孝章皇帝, : tǐ tiān lóng yùn dìng tǒng jiàn jí
yīng ruì qīn wén xiǎn wǔ dà dé hóng gōng zhì rén chún xiào zhāng
huáng dì).
The
woman with the longest posthumous name is
Empress Cixi, who is "The Empress who
is Admirably Filial, Initiates Kindness, with Blessed Health,
Manifests Much Contentment, Solemn Sincerity, with Longevity,
Provides Admiration Prosperously, Reveal Adoration, Prosperous with
a Merry Heaven, with a Holy Appearance" (孝欽慈禧端佑康頤昭豫莊誠壽恭欽獻崇熙配天興聖顯皇后
xiào qīn cí xǐ duān yòu kāng yí zhāo yù zhuāng chéng shòu gōng qīn
xiàn chóng xī pèi tiān xīng shèng xiǎn huáng hòu).
Posthumous names can be praises (褒字) or deprecations (貶字). There
are more praises than depreciations, so posthumous names are also
commonly called
respectful name (尊號 zūn hào) in Chinese.
Sima Qian's
Records of the Grand
Historian outlines extensively the rules behind choosing
the names. Some of those guidelines:
- Praises
- Those having a persistent and reasonable governance(剛強直理) are
called "Martial" (武 wǔ). (This is one of the most honourable
names.)
- Those who sympathize with the people and recognize their needs
(憫民會椅) are called "Civil" (文 wén). (This is one of the most
honourable names.)
- Those who respect the talented and value righteousness (尊賢貴義)
are called "Reverent" (恭 gòng).
- Those who are kind and benevolent in nature (溫柔賢善) are called
"Benign" (懿 yì).
- Those who aid the people out of righteousness (由義而濟) are called
"Admirable" (景 jǐng).
- Those who treat the people compassionately with a gentle
quality (柔質慈民) are called "Compassionate" (惠 huì).
- Those who eliminate destructions and purge cruelty (除殘去虐) are
called "Tang" (湯 tāng). (Possibly named after the revered ruler
Cheng Tang (成湯), the founder of the
Shang Dynasty.)
- Those who make the people feel satisfied with their policies
(安民立政) are called "Constructive" (成 chéng). (Again, possibly named
after Chengtang.)
- Those who are considerate and far-sighted (果慮果遠) are called
"Brilliant" (明 míng).
- Those who preach their virtue and righteousness to the people
(布德執義) are called "Majestic" (穆 mù).
- Those who are aggressive to expand their realm (辟土服遠) are
called "Exploratory" (桓 huán).
- "Highly (respected)" (高 gāo) is particularly reserved for the
founders of dynasties.
- Deprecations
- Those who lived short lives without much accomplishment (短折不成)
are called "Passed Away Prematurely" (殤 shāng).
- Those who have a constant twinge of depression (often due to political
plights) during their governance (在國遭憂) are called "Pitiful" (愍
mǐn).
- Those who lose their spouses and pass away at their early age
(蚤孤短折) are called "Lamentable" (哀 āi).
- Those who are obliged to make sacrifices to their ancestors
(肆行勞祀) are called "Mournful" (悼 dào).
However, most of these qualifications are subjective, repetitive,
and highly
stereotypical; hence the
names are chosen somewhat arbitrarily. Such names are usually given
by court historians, according to their good deeds or the bad
ones.
Japanese emperor
The posthumous names of Japanese emperors are called
teigō
(帝号, lit.
emperor names). In addition to the appellation
Ten'nō (天皇, lit.
heavenly sovereign, usually
translated as
Emperor) that is a part of all Japanese
emperors' posthumous name, most consist of two
kanji characters, although a few consist of three.
Some names are given several generations later—this is the case for
Emperor Jimmu and
Emperor Antoku, for example. Others are given
immediately after death, like that of
Emperor Mommu.
Many have Chinese-style names, for example:
Some have Japanese-style names. For example:
- those who were named after the place where the emperor was
born, lived or frequented:
- those who were named after an emperor whose admirable
characteristics resemble those of an earlier one by adding
Go (後, lit. latter) as a prefix to the earlier
emperor's name:
- those who were named by combining the characters from two
previous emperors' names:
Since the death of
Emperor Meiji (明治天皇
Meiji Ten'nō) in 1912, the posthumous name of an emperor
has always been the name of his
era. For example, after his death
Hirohito (by which he is usually called outside
Japan) was formally renamed
Emperor Shōwa (昭和天皇
Shōwa Ten'nō) after
his
era; Japanese now refer to him by only that name.
Hirohito was his given name, but most Japanese never refer
to their emperors by their given names, as it is considered
disrespectful.
Korean emperors and kings
Koreans used posthumous name from the ancient Korean empire
Gojoseon.
These are Korean styled posthumous name of the emperors of
Gojoseon.Emperor
Dangun (Hangul: 단군왕검; Hanja
檀君王儉)
Emperor Buru
(Hangul:부루
단군;Hanja:夫婁檀君)Emperor
Heuldal(Hangul:
흘달; Hanja: 屹達)Emperor
Gumul (Hangul: 구홀;
Hanja: 丘勿)Emperor
Goyeolga
(Hangul:고열가;Hanja:古列加)
Officials
It was also common for persons with no hereditary titles,
especially accomplished scholar-officials or ministers, to be given
posthumous names by the imperial court. The characters used are
mostly the same ones used for emperors, with the same denotations
as described above. The length, however, was restricted to one or
two characters. See
List of
Posthumous Names for examples.
Confucius has been given long posthumous
names in almost every major dynasty. One of the most commonly used
was Zhìshèngxiānshī 至聖先師.
Sometimes a person is given a posthumous name not by the court, but
by his own family or disciples. Such names are private posthumous
names (Sĩshì, 私諡). For example,
Tao Qian
was given
Sishi Jìngjié 靖節.
Miscellaneous
To combine an emperor's temple name and posthumous name, place
temple first.
A fuller description of this naming convention for royalty appears
in the
Chinese sovereign
entry.
See also
References
- Yizhoushu (逸周書), ch. 54 (meanings of posthumous
names), [17350] .
External links
(仁徳天皇 Nintoku Ten'nō, lit.
Humane Virtue)
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