Yu Menglong's Reincarnation Story: The True Story of Lady Meng Jiang and Emperor Qin Shi Huang (Part One)

The Preciousness of a Name

Lady Meng Jiang is the protagonist of one of China's most famous folk love stories. Together with Legend of the White Snake (Yu Menglong has also shared "The True Story of the White Snake"), Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (often called "the Chinese Romeo and Juliet"), and The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, these are known as the Four Great Folk Love Stories of China.

"Meng" (孟) means "eldest daughter," and "Jiang" (姜) is her family surname. So "Meng Jiang Nü" simply means "the eldest daughter of the Jiang family."

The real personal names of women in ancient China were not widely known — not out of disrespect, but quite the opposite. Hiding a woman's name was a way of protecting her.

People in ancient times deeply valued and cherished their true names. A person's "ming" (名, given name) was known only to elders and could only be called within the home.

The "biaozi" (表字, courtesy name) was used only by family members of the same generation, friends, or juniors as a form of respectful address.

The "biehao" (別號, art name or pseudonym) was what people used to refer to themselves in public. Thus, one's real name was a private matter in ancient China — only close family knew it.

Why did the ancients regard names as so precious, treating them as private treasures to be guarded?

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The Preciousness of a Name

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