The naming conventions and meanings of posthumous epithets in ancient times

The Chinese (Wikipedia) encyclopedia has an entry with a nickname, and the content is very complete.

It's complicated, and it is recommended to read the "Confessional Law".

There are three kinds of epithets of the Chinese emperor: praise, pity, and derogation.

1. Virtues, such as: Zhuang, Wu, Wen, Xuan, Xiang, Ming, Rui, Kang, Jing, Yi.

Most emperors in history have the nickname of "beautiful words", for example, the emperor has the talent of the heavens and latitudes, or at least is diligent and studious, then he can give a "Wen" word (such as Liu Heng, Emperor Wen of Han, Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of Wei, etc.); If the emperor has the great merit of expanding the territory or quelling the troubles, then he can be called "Wu" (such as King Wuling of Zhao during the Warring States Period, Liu Che of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei, etc.).

2. Plain words: such as: nostalgia, mourning, mourning, Min, thinking, mourning, a little sympathetic.

In "Ping", if an emperor's nickname is "Huai", it probably means that he has a benevolent personality, but he has little ability, and he will die short-lived and died early; If it is "sorrowful", it means that the country suffered during the emperor's reign, although the national disaster was not due to the emperor's mediocrity, but in the end, he was unable to return to heaven, so future generations can only express pity and sympathy for him.

Of course, there were also a group of emperors in the Han Dynasty who were called "quality", "chong", and "less", basically just saying that this emperor died early, and there was no more evaluation, so they can basically be counted as "ping".

3. Evil words, such as strong, spiritual, and yang, all contain negative meanings.

The law originated in or before the Yin Shang period

Ban Gu, a famous historian and writer of the Eastern Han Dynasty, said in "White Tiger Synonymous Confession" that "the Yellow Emperor began to formulate the law, and in the middle of the Tao, it is not easy for eternity, and although it is prosperous in later generations, it cannot be made." "Its advocacy began with the Yellow Emperor. Cui Shu, a famous scholar of the Qing Dynasty, believed that the law originated in the Yin Shang period, and he pointed out in the "Feng Manuscript Examination Letter Record" that "until the Tang Dynasty stirred up chaos and rebelled, the descendants posthumously called it the king of Wu, and the name of the law began."

Today, however, the argument that the law originated in or before the Shang dynasty may not be valid. There are two reasons for this, one is that the name is an abstract concept, which must be expressed in mature words, and the earliest mature text found in China so far is the oracle bone inscription of the Shang Yin period, so there is no condition for the law to be produced before Shang Yin, and it is inaccurate for the emperor to make a statement.

There are three kinds of ancient epithes: praise, pity, and derogatory

1. Virtues, such as: Zhuang, Wu, Wen, Xuan, Xiang, Ming, Rui, Kang, Jing, Yi.

2. Plain words: such as: nostalgia, mourning, mourning, Min, thinking, mourning, a little sympathetic.

3. Evil words, such as strong, spiritual, and yang, all contain negative meanings.

The origin time of the nickname is second only to the temple number. The nickname originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it can be said that the nickname is also directly related to the culture of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou people did not believe in ghosts and gods like the merchants, and the system of feudal division, primogeniture, and ritual music they established was more practical.

In order to limit the actions of the monarch, they invented epithets. The nickname, like the temple name, was posthumously sealed after the death of the monarch.

Era names are generally used in some better words, such as some blessings and prayers. No emperor would have used some of the worse words for the era name. Under normal circumstances, the emperor will change the era name when he encounters major events and important events such as "auspicious rain from the sky" or internal strife and external worries.

From the Ming Dynasty onwards, an emperor basically used only one era name in his life. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang's year name Hongwu, Zhu Di's year name Yongle, Xuanye's year name Kangxi, and Hongli's year name Qianlong will basically not change again. And the era name is also two words, which is more acceptable to the people.

Therefore, the people also began to use the era name Nian.

Praise good, disparagement of evil, sympathy, etc., these three are the categories of ancient epithets, and the meaning of each expression is also different.

Praise for goodness, sympathy, and disparagement of evil are three different categories of nicknames, representing different views and attitudes.

In no order, what you said was after the Han Dynasty.