Chinese Names to Know

[heifeng]

So, have you ever been in that situation when a name from some Chinese story pops up in a conversation and you are left in the dust..or you just want to know the story behind a certain historical person or a fictional character from a novel. Well, look no further! Introducing the thread for names that are useful to know as you study and use Chinese. Hopefully this will just grow into a list of new 'name' vocab everyone can add onto just like the random word of the day list. Now, let's get started:

窦娥 dou4e2 story here in English & Chinese. From the drama 感天动地窦娥冤

usage example: 我比窦娥还冤啊！

[muyongshi]

Well there are defintiley quite a few historical figures I can think of that would be good to know. Don't have the time to find all the links like heifeng was so kind to do and i don't know if most of these ones could be used like heifeng's examples but here are a few that are good to know historically and especially here in Sichuan.

曹操- now this one does have a saying 说曹操，曹操到

刘备

诸葛亮

张飞

And then of course you should know 秦始皇.

There is this other famous guy 大山，but doubt he's that important. More important would probably be Roddy

[gougou]

It would probably be helpful to include some commentary, as heifeng did, otherwise this will be little more than an index. Maybe I'll just pick up one:

诸葛亮 (Zhuge Liang): Strategist made famous by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I love the expression 事后诸葛, meaning being wise after the fact.

[Guest realmayo]

How about the Four Beauties?

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Beauties

The Four Beauties or Four Great Beauties (Chinese: 四大美女; pinyin: sì dà měi nǚ) are four ancient Chinese women, renowned for their beauty. Three of these women were genuine historical figures, but the scarcity of historical records concerning them meant that much of what is known of them today has been greatly embellished by legend.

More:

西施 Xi Shi so entrancingly beautiful that fish would forget to swim and sink away from the surface when she walks by.

王昭君 Wang Zhaojun so beautiful that her appearance would entice birds in flight to fall from the sky.

Diao Chan so luminously lovely that the moon itself would shy away in embarrassment when compared to her face.

杨贵妃 Yang Guifei a face that puts all flowers to shame.

So there's an idiom linking their effects on the fish, birds, moon and flowers:

沉鱼落雁, 闭月羞花

I guess you'd use this simply when commenting on someone being very pretty? Anyway, I've come across the names of two of these women a few times, enough to think it worthwhile to remember their names at least.

[heifeng]

It would probably be helpful to include some commentary, as heifeng did, otherwise this will be little more than an index. Maybe I'll just pick up one:

诸葛亮 (Zhuge Liang): Strategist made famous by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I love the expression 事后诸葛, meaning being wise after the fact.

Yeah, descriptions & examples of usage would be helpful. Don't worry Muyongshi, you don't need to post several at a time, just one at a time because as you mentioned...there are just so many historical figures to know! Slowly if this thread grows, we'll have a nice little trail of names & descriptions of how to use them in conversation, writing, etc. (At least, that's the plan)

I found a list here of 三国歇后语

here's one that rhymes 曹操诸葛亮 --脾气不一样: 比喻人不同，性格也不相同

Edited July 3, 2009 at 05:14 PM by heifeng

[abcdefg]

I nominate Lei Feng.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lei_Feng

One still sometimes hears comments such as, "He's a real Lei Feng."

[imron]

Well, so long as we're rhyming:

三天不学习，赶不上刘少奇

刘少奇 was chairman of the PRC from the late 50's to the late 60's before falling out of favour with Mao and being labeled a capitalist roadster and traitor. The above saying was said by Mao before all of that happened though, and is used to extol the importance of studying (with many saying that the phrase was actually a subtle warning from Mao to Liu not to get too big for his boots). It's still used today in the former context.

[heifeng]

here's a song for you abcdefg《

》

Hmm, that one is good to know Imron.

[heifeng]

This next one is actually the inspiration for this thread. Basically in one of the soap operas I watched this guys calls his laowai manager 周扒皮...and then once the boss finds out what it means, he then fires this employee:oops:

So, here's the story of 周扒皮 zhou1ba1p2

Quick summary:

周扒皮”何许人也？此人是“著名作家”高玉宝老先生笔下的恶霸地主，有名的反派男主角。“周扒皮”为了长工们能多干些活，半夜三更起来学鸡叫让长工劳动（卖身契上明文规定：鸡叫就得起床干活劳动），因为以前没有钟表等计时工具，长工们是从鸡叫起床返工日落则收工，周扒皮半夜鸡叫，使得那些长工们提早起床为他披星戴月地劳作。长工们恨死这个“周扒皮”了，最后忍无可忍，还是小长工小宝献计教训了“周扒皮”一顿。

　　周扒皮后来被世人比喻为地主阶级的著名典范，周姓一家，都与周扒皮的外号有份。

But, basically, I think this reference can also be used for a boss that works you to the bone/exploits employees, like one mentioned in this article: 遭遇“周扒皮”老板

(Which, for 扒皮 in the dictionary it also says to exploit, take advantage of...)

[heifeng]

ok, there are many names to know, so let's keep this alive:clap

This name came up in a conversation the other day:wink:

王老五： basically a 老光棍

《王老五》中的男主人公35歲還未結婚，影片中有插曲唱出了王老五的單身生活：「王老五呀王老五，說你命苦真命苦，白白活了三十五，衣裳破了沒人補。哎呀呀王老五，衣裳破了沒人補哇，依呀呀得兒喂，鍋里有水沒米煮，依呀呀得兒喂，可憐可憐王老五，天天害得相思苦……」後來「王老五」就成了大齡單身男性的代名詞。

Also,

钻石王老五 is used to refer to a rich single man

oh, actually this page also summarizes both of these terms:lol:

Edited July 22, 2009 at 02:59 PM by heifeng

[trien27]

Some names come out of Chinese martial arts novels, history, or ancient Chinese poets, like 岳飞 [Chinese general of the Sung/Song dynasty,], 李白 [Chinese poet, 8th century] or 李清照 [Chinese poetess, 1084-1156]or 楊過 / 杨过 [a fictional character from 神鵰俠侶 / 神雕俠侶,"The Condor Heroes" martial arts novel.]

[heifeng]

Yeah, I've heard 郭靖的郭 before when people have introduced themselves*....even my name on this board was partially inspired by 梅超风 wahahah

*or maybe I was the one asking if his/her surname was 郭靖的郭

[wangsong]

阿Q

鲁迅笔下最出名的角色

have you ever heard about him

[hexi8824]

I'm wandering why nobody mentions Pan Jinlian (潘金蓮)。 The most famous hot woman in all the ancient Chinese novels.

and her lover 西門慶

[Hofmann]

孔丘

孫武

關羽

孫權

愛新覺羅.玄燁

杜甫

李白

王羲之

...at least including those. And I got distracted by that Kwami guy again.

[heifeng]

Thanks for everyone's additions so far:mrgreen:

Keep in mind that adding a brief description of the person, some related links, and how or when this name is used in conversation, etc will help make this a more interesting and informative thread:clap

[leeyah]

Let's not forget Wu Zetian, an outstanding woman, the only female emperor in Chinese history.

武则天, 中华帝国唯一的女皇帝 (in Chinese)

[trien27]

I'm wandering why nobody mentions Pan Jinlian (潘金蓮)。 The most famous hot woman in all the ancient Chinese novels.

and her lover 西門慶

潘金蓮 was considered something like a prostitute in ancient China because she was still married to her husband, and became notorious for being who she was. She refused to have sex with her husband because he was too short in stature. She fell in love with her husband's younger brother before becoming 西門慶's wife/lover. 西門慶 has 6 "wives" including 潘金蓮. 潘金蓮 was not considered a good model for modern ladies. She's a sexy but very manipulative woman.

Differing accounts give the identity of 西門慶 as various as a rich merchant to a corrupt court official depending on which version you're reading. Mostly it talks of his sexual prowess and the ability to attract other people's wives or prostitutes as his own.

Source: 潘金蓮 is a character from the novel 水滸傳, which is translated into 4 different names in English: "The Water Margin" or "Outlaws of the Marsh", or "All Men Are Brothers" or "The Marshes of Mount Liang." I have no idea how one novel can have four different titles when translated.

Edited August 1, 2009 at 02:49 AM by trien27

[trien27]

孔丘

孫武

關羽

孫權

愛新覺羅.玄燁

杜甫

李白

王羲之

孔丘, Kongqiu, is the personal given name of 孔子, Kongzi, which is Latinized as "Confucius", a later title of respect connected to his last name. His name is not "Confucius/Kongzi/Kongfuzi". For explanation of "zi or fuzi" or 子 or 夫子, see explanation under 孫武 / 孙武.

孫武 / 孙武, Sun Wu AKA 孫子 / 孙子, Sunzi: Here 孫子 / 孙子 doesn't mean "grandson" or "grandchild": 孫/孙 was his last name, 子 is short for 夫子, which was a respectable title for someone knowledgeable or a term for a teacher in ancient China. He is the author of 孫子兵法 / 孙子兵法 or The Art of War in English.

關羽/关羽 / AKA 關雲長/关云长 = A general of the Shu kingdom from Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history.

孫權/孙权 = is the non-Han ruler of 吳/吴 Wu, in the Three Kingdoms period: one of the Three Kingdoms: The other two rulers = Cao Cao 曹操 of Wei 魏 & Liu Bei 劉備 / 刘备of Shu 蜀 AKA Shu Han 蜀漢.

愛新覺羅·玄燁 / 爱新觉罗·玄烨 = Aisin-gioro Xuanye = Emperor Kangxi 康熙皇帝, a Qing dynasty Manchu emperor, the longest ruling emperor in Chinese history, reigned for 60 years: 1662-1722. Emperor Yongzheng's father. Emperor Qianlong's grandfather. "Aixinjueluo" is the Sinicized version of "Aisin-gioro": Aisin means "gold [the metal]" in Manchu, "gioro" is their clan name in Manchu. Emperors after Tongzhi are known by their given Chinese names which at times would be "translated" back into Manchu from Mandarin Chinese pronunciation, known back then as "guanhua" or "official language". Aixinjueluo: "Aixin" & "jueluo" have no meaning in Chinese: It is just the Pinyin version of an imperial surname.

杜甫 = Du Fu, a 唐朝 Tang dynasty poet

李白 = Li bai / Li Bo, a 唐朝 Tang dynasty poet

王羲之 = Wang Xi Zhi, a 晋朝 or 晉朝 / [Eastern] Jin dynasty poet

Edited August 1, 2009 at 02:43 AM by trien27

[trien27]

Yeah, I've heard 郭靖的郭 before when people have introduced themselves*....even my name on this board was partially inspired by 梅超风 wahahah

*or maybe I was the one asking if his/her surname was 郭靖的郭

It's true, but since 郭靖 was the protagonist in the novel 射雕英雄传 or "Legend of the Condor Heroes" by 金庸. But since 梅超风 was the antagonist from the same novel, people might have differing opinions.

Nobody will ask "黄容的黄" if that person's surname is 黄, but rather a description of how the character is written. Most of the time, people will be asked dependent on how their surname is written in Chinese, unless it has two or more characters in the last name, then you'd need to suggest someone in history with the surname, like "Is your last name 司马, "Si-ma", as in 司马迁, "Si-Ma Qian", the same last name as the Chinese historian? or Are you a descendant of the Qing dynasty emperors with the same surname of 愛新覺羅 / 爱新觉罗?

Edited August 1, 2009 at 03:06 AM by trien27
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