Shi Hao

A posthumous name is an honorary name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or reputation, the title is assigned after death and essentially replaces the name used during life. Although most posthumous names are given to royalty, some posthumous names are given to honour significant people without hereditary titles, such as courtiers or military generals.

To create a posthumous name, one or more adjectives are inserted before the deceased's title. The name of the state or domain of the owner may be added to avoid ambiguity.

History

Origins

Early mythological rulers such as Emperor Yao were known to have posthumous names. Archaeological discoveries have shown that the titles of kings as far back as the Zhou dynasty (1046 to 256 BC) are posthumous names, as in the cases of King Wu and King Wen. Posthumous names commonly made tracing linear genealogies simpler and kept a bloodline apparent.

In the Zhou dynasty, the posthumous name was usually only one character, such as ''Wen'' ('cultured') or ''Wu'' ('martial'). Over time, rulers began adding more characters to their ancestors' posthumous names. By the time of the first emperor of Tang, the length had grown to seven characters, which was taxing to pronounce or write. Therefore, emperors after the Tang dynasty are commonly referred to by either their temple name (Tang through Yuan dynasties) or era name (Ming and Qing dynasties), both of which are always two characters long.

Later developments

The use of posthumous names temporarily stopped when emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty proclaimed it disrespectful for the descendants of emperors to judge their elders by assigning them descriptive titles. The Han dynasty resumed using posthumous names after the fall of the Qin.

Posthumous names were used by non- Han rulers of the Sixteen Kingdoms, Nanzhao, Liao dynasty, Western Xia, Jin dynasty, Yuan dynasty, Qing dynasty, Silla, Japan, and Vietnam. King names of Hồng Bàng dynasty and Mahan followed the posthumous naming but are considered later works. Some rulers, such as Wu Zetian or rebel leaders, had similarly styled regnal names when they were alive.

Most monarchs inherited the throne and did not give negative posthumous names to the previous monarch. Later monarchs lengthened or changed some names. Emperor Aizong of Jin and the Chongzhen Emperor were referred to by different names by different people. Qin Hui of the Song dynasty had a name with a positive connotation, was then given a negative one, and later had the positive name restored. After the Song dynasty, few received negative names. In Korea, the disfavored monarchs of the Joseon dynasty did not receive posthumous names.

General guidelines

Selection

Posthumous names can be praises () or deprecations (). There are more praises than deprecations, so posthumous names are also commonly called ''respectful names'' () in Chinese. Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Historian'' extensively outlines the rules behind choosing the names. Most qualifications for a given name are subjective, repetitive, and highly stereotypical, meaning posthumous names are often chosen arbitrarily. Court historians usually provide such names according to the deceased's notable deeds.

Format

When combining an emperor's temple name and posthumous name, the temple name is placed first. For example, the Shunzhi Emperor, whose full posthumous title would be "Shizu, Emperor Zhang" (), combines his temple name and the last three characters of his posthumous reputation, which is the form most commonly seen in formal documents. Some monarchs' and royal members' posthumous names were extended, such as Hongwu Emperor, Nurhaci, Crown Prince Hyomyeong, Sunjo of Joseon, and Empress Dowager Cixi.

Some monarchs did not follow these guidelines; for example, monarchs of Ju, Chu, and Qi used place names, while some monarchs of Yue had Chinese transliterated posthumous words, and some monarchs of Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje had differently styled posthumous names. Some early Japanese monarchs also had .

China

''Shihao'' () is a Chinese term that means posthumous name and title. The names of living Chinese people may be any combination of characters. Most often, posthumous names are chosen from a relatively small list, with their literal meaning eroding as a result.Nordvall, L. Christian (2020)."The Inconsistent Translation of Posthumous Epithets". Translation Quarterly, no. 96, pp. 69–79.

Format

The Chinese language format for posthumous names is " 'state'' 'adjective'' 'title''. When translated into English, they take on the format " 'title'' 'adjective''of 'state'', such as King Wen of Zhou ('Cultured King of Zhou'), Duke Mu of Qin ('Solemn Duke of Qin'), and King Cheng of Chu ('Accomplished King of Chu'). The literal meaning of the adjective usually needs to be translated.

Recipients

Monarchs and consorts

All Chinese posthumous names for rulers end in one or two of the characters for "emperor", (), which can be shortened to , except about a dozen less-recognized ones who have had only and not .

Starting with Emperor Xiaowen of Han (more commonly Emperor Wen), every single Han emperor, except the first of the Eastern Han dynasty, has the character of 'filial' () at the beginning of his posthumous name. 'Filial' is also used in the full posthumous names of virtually all emperors and empresses of the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. For Qing emperors, the character is placed in various positions in the string of characters. For Qing empresses given posthumous names, is always initial.

The number of characters in posthumous names increased over time. The emperors of the Tang dynasty have posthumous names between 7 and 18 characters, while most in the Qing dynasty have more than 20 characters. For instance, the Shunzhi Emperor's posthumous name has 25 characters. () The woman with the longest posthumous name (also 25 characters) is Empress Dowager Cixi; the shortened version of the name was ('the Distinguished Empress who was Admirably Filial').

Members of the ruling family

According to the noble system since the Zhou dynasty, the immediate family members of the emperor were given the titles like King, Prince, Duke, or Earl, with or without actual control over a region. After their death, they would be referred to by the same title, with the posthumous name (usually one character) inserted in the middle. The characters used are mainly those used for emperors. For example, Prince Gong of the Qing dynasty was posthumously named Zhong () and thus is referred to as Prince Gongzhong (). Prince Chun was posthumously named Xian (), and is therefore referred to as Prince Chunxian ().

The posthumous name could include more than one character. For example, Prince Shuncheng Lekdehun was posthumously honoured as Prince Shuncheng Gonghui (). Yinxiang, Prince Yi was granted a posthumous name consisting of 9 characters, ().

Officials

It was also common for people with no hereditary titles, primarily accomplished scholar-officials or ministers, to be given posthumous names by the imperial court. The characters used are mainly the same as those used for emperors. The length, however, was restricted to one or two characters. The posthumous name is sometimes rendered canonization in English, for the scholar-official to Confucianism is considered analogous to the saint in the Catholic Church. However, the process is shorter.

Confucius has been given long posthumous names in almost every prominent dynasty; one of the most commonly used was (). Sometimes a person is given a posthumous name not by the court, but by his family or disciples. Such names are private posthumous names (). For example, the given to Tao Qian was ().

Modern use and discontinuation

The emperors of China continued to receive posthumous names of increasing length as a matter of ritual long after the naming convention had been abandoned in casual speech and writing. The Guangxu Emperor, who died in 1908 and was the last emperor to receive a posthumous name, has a 21-character title: "Emperor Tongtian Chongyun Dazhong Zhizheng Jingwen Weiwu Renxiao Ruizhi Duanjian Kuanqin Jing". Puyi, the last emperor of China, did not receive a posthumous name upon his death in 1967.

Korea

In Silla, every monarch was given the title of ''wang'' () with two characters in posthumous names from Jijeung of Silla. On the other hand, all posthumous names for kings of Balhae were restricted to one character. Most of the kings of Goryeo and Joseon were more often given temple names than posthumous names, unlike in the dynasties of ancient Korea. All posthumous names for the rulers of Goryeo and Joseon end in two of the characters for ''Daewang'' (). This is a longer name made up of adjectives characteristic of the king's rule.

Details of the system of posthumous names were recorded during the Joseon dynasty. During the Joseon dynasty, officials discussed and decided on the king's posthumous name five days after the king's funeral. Before his temple and posthumous names were chosen, the deceased king was called ''Daehaeng daewang'' (). The Ministry of Culture and Education () was in charge of the naming. The Ministry of Culture and Education selected three candidates and reported them to the next king, who chose the name he liked best.

The deposed kings' names were made up of three parts: the temple name (), eulogistic names (), and posthumous names (). A deposed king was not given any posthumous names with temple names unless reinstated. They were degraded to the rank of a ''gun'' (); Yeonsan-gun and Gwanghae-gun are notable examples. Some men did not ascend to the throne in their lifetime but were proclaimed kings after they died by their descendants who became kings. In Joseon, nine men were raised to the status of emeritus kings.

Gojong of Joseon proclaimed Korea an empire in 1897, receiving the title of emperor, thus the posthumous names of Gojong and Sunjong end in two of the characters for ''Hwangje'' (). Crown Prince Hyomyeong has been given the longest posthumous name in Korea. He was posthumously elevated in status and given the title Emperor Munjo with 117 characters in posthumous names in 1899.

Modern use

In the Republic of Korea, the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association has issued posthumous names, without the recognition the government, to Empress Sunjeonghyo; Crown Prince Euimin; and Gu, Prince Imperial Hoeun.

Japan

In Japan, posthumous names are divided into two types: ''shigō'' () and .

In addition to the title, is a part of all Japanese emperors' posthumous names, most of them consisting of two kanji characters, although a few have three. Some names are given several generations later—this is the case for Emperor Jimmu

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