亚氏

[randall_flagg]

Who was 亚氏？

I'm reading a book and the author constantly says :亚氏认为... 或者 根据亚氏的思想线索 ....

Any help?

Thanks,

Randall

[skylee]

if the book is about philosophy then perhaps it means Aristotle (亞里士多德).

[randall_flagg]

The book is about philosophy and Aristotle is mentioned a lot. So 亚 is just short for 亞里士多德 in this case? I mean, it DOES make sense that way!

Thanks, Skylee!

[randall_flagg]

Wow, this was really helpful. Seeing that I've seen many other names mentioned that way （ like 车氏 for 车尔尼雪夫斯基 etc), I feel stupid now. Thanks, Skylee, for helping me once again!

[roddy]

Ah, 氏 can mean 'school of thought'. Didn't know that. So 亚氏 would be Aristotelianism, I guess. Just looked that up too

Edit: No, it seems to just refer to the person.

Edited November 25, 2008 at 11:32 AM by roddy

[Guoke]

氏 is used after the surname/last name of an expert or a famous person

e.g. 摄氏温度计=Celsius thermometer， 华氏温度计=Fahrenheit thermometer

[randall_flagg]

The defense of the ignorant: But they never talk about 毛氏 perhaps, because it is too close to 毛屎 which would disgusting indeed.

[Guoke]

they never talk about 毛氏

Really? Google it, please.

[randall_flagg]

Wow! They do talk about it. When I went to school in China it was NEVER 毛氏， even in my 毛概 class!

[Hanyu'sWay]

There are several way's of using the word 氏。

One is to use it to refer to a family. 刘氏历代宗亲 means the Liu family's ancesters.

This usage is related to the term 氏族。

氏 can also be used to refer to a married woman without using her given name. For example, 李氏 can be used to the wife who came from the 李 family, 张氏 would be the wife who came from the 张 family. This usage has become obsolete as it is neither legal nor usual for a man to have more than one wife anymore.

The use of 氏 to refer to someone else such as a famous person is just a shorthand, somewhat like 'the said person '. It is used much more often on foreign names as the saving in character writing is usually more significant. 摄氏 and 华氏 are taught in elelmentary school science class as is. It has replaced the original name so you can use it without the context and people would understand. In fact, no one would understand you if you have said something like 摄尔西儿斯 or 华拉海特，哈哈。

[roddy]

Ah, interesting. I've often wondered about those 氏s. So are there any examples of the 'school of thought' usage?

[Guoke]

Hanyu'sWay：

It is used much more often on foreign names as the saving in character writing is usually more significant.

Are you sure about this? From what I can gather, the use of 氏 after Chinese surnames is equally common, if not more common.

[Guoke]

roddy：

So are there any examples of the 'school of thought' usage?

Could you have confused '氏' with '派‘？

The use of ’派‘ is more appropriate when you are referring to a school of thought.

E.g.: 少林派，南派，北派，逍遥派, 海归派...

'氏' is only used after a surname to refer to the originator of something.

E.g.: 陈氏太极拳, 杨氏气功...

[Hanyu'sWay]

Hanyu'sWay：

Quote:

It is used much more often on foreign names as the saving in character writing is usually more significant.

Are you sure about this? From what I can gather, the use of 氏 after Chinese surnames is equally common, if not more common.

You got me thinking a little more about this. I was thinking mostly about contemporary usage.

Traditionally Chinese tend to avoid give names out of respect (in the case of royalties) and, strangely, out of disrespect, such as when using 氏 on wives. Nowadays, one still call one's higher-ups by titles rather than given name. Whether it is common or not, I tend to think using 氏 even on foreign names is somewhat a throwback. But that is just my opinion.

[roddy]

Could you have confused '氏' with '派‘？

Easily, but not in this case - 'school of thought' is listed in the 氏 entry in the ABC. And checking a newer version I now see 老氏 as 'School of Laozi'

[Lu]

out of disrespect, such as when using 氏 on wives.

Is it really a matter of disrespect in this case? I haven't looked into this, but I've only seen this 张氏 in very old texts, when a woman could be 李张氏, Mrs Li nee Zhang, no disrespect, that was just her official 'name'. I though at the time that perhaps that was because often women didn't even have a name (in my perception, I might be wrong), they would just be 张三妹, third sister of the Zhang family, and then when they married into the Li family they of course weren't a sister from the Zhang family anymore, but a member of the Li family, originally from the Zhang family: 李张氏.

[Hanyu'sWay]

Quote:

out of disrespect, such as when using 氏 on wives.

Is it really a matter of disrespect in this case? I haven't looked into this, but I've only seen this 张氏 in very old texts, when a woman could be 李张氏, Mrs Li nee Zhang, no disrespect, that was just her official 'name'. I though at the time that perhaps that was because often women didn't even have a name (in my perception, I might be wrong), they would just be 张三妹, third sister of the Zhang family, and then when they married into the Li family they of course weren't a sister from the Zhang family anymore, but a member of the Li family, originally from the Zhang family: 李张氏.

That shows women were recognized as wives and not as individuals. In my mind it is a kind of disrespect for women. But of course I am looking at this at this age.

[Lu]

Then we agree. Women generally had a bad position in those times, so naturally the chenghu wasn't very respectful according to today's standards, but I guess at the time the naming was considered respectful enough.

[trien27]

Easily, but not in this case - 'school of thought' is listed in the 氏 entry in the ABC. And checking a newer version I now see 老氏 as 'School of Laozi'

老氏 is used because he's known as "Laozi" or 老子, where 老 refers to his last name, but 子 is shorthand for "夫子" meaning "teacher", as is the case with Kongzi, or Confucius, "孔子", where 孔 is his last name, and as mentioned above, 子 is shorthand for "夫子" meaning "teacher". 氏 refers to the last name here, and doesn't mean "School of".

[aloha_cn]

This's a funny topic. Every Chinese charactor has its story.

氏 comes from '支' (branch), means a branch of the family tree. So 氏 means the family name.