The problem of China people's names is very complicated, but everyone has a nickname, also known as birth name. In the past, women's nicknames were boudoir names or fine print, which outsiders could not explain. Many husbands never know their wives' nicknames at home.
Does Emperor Xianfeng know posthumous title of Cixi (1835~ 1908)? We don't know. However, it is an indisputable fact that posthumous title of Cixi is still popular among thousands of people. Let's take a look at all kinds of sayings about the nickname of Cixi.
Laner is very popular. Cixi's nickname is "Laner". This statement is so popular that it is difficult to explain its record source now. 19 16 Cai Dongfan wrote The Romance of the Qing Dynasty, only five years before the demise of the Qing Dynasty. In the sixty-third chapter of the book, "Nora's kindness to the Yuanmingyuan in early April" clearly wrote: "Nora's young name is Laner, her father's name is Anhui alternate Taoist."
In the period of the Republic of China, some romance novels described this vividly. For example, in the Romance of the Western Empress, Li said: In the sixteenth year of Daoguang (1836), Mrs. Tong Jiafu was pregnant again. "On the tenth day of October, my wife was sitting in the womb and suddenly dreamed that the moon was in her arms. There was a strange smell and some blue musk. "Romance" also wrote: "In less than two years, this Laner added a younger sister named Rong Er. "
Cixi was born in Daoguang for fifteen years, but Li mistakenly thought it was sixteen years. However, we should pay attention to these stories. After all, the official books of the Qing Dynasty did not record the name Cixi. Of course, Cixi's nickname can't be based only on these affairs.
When the eunuch of the Qing Dynasty recalled the court life (see Memoirs of a eunuch of the Qing Dynasty, included in the book Experiences of Court Life in the Late Qing Dynasty), he mentioned a phenomenon:
Taboo is probably known to the elderly and is the most important thing in the palace. Not only the words with the same sound as the name of Long Live Grandpa can't be catchy, but also the names of Empress Dowager, Princess and Toffee can't be catchy. These avoidable words and sounds should be firmly remembered. For example, as we all know, Xiao's original name was changed to Hengtai because posthumous title, the Queen Mother, was a brother and taboo.
There was a maid-in-waiting named He in the book "Talking about Maids", who stayed with Cixi for eight years. She recalled:
What the old lady likes best is a pot of orchids in the west bedroom. Everyone in the palace knows that the old lady's baby is called Laner, but no one says anything, and they all secretly hide it in their hearts, avoiding taboos. For example, it's time to water the orchids. We only mention watering the flowers, not the word blue. If you accidentally say a blue word, the old lady won't blame you.
It is also mentioned in the book that the palace called the maid-in-waiting "Rong Er" and Cixi's sister's nickname was "Rong Er", so Cixi called the maid-in-waiting "Little Rong Er" without the word "Er". "I sometimes called Rong Er occasionally, but I didn't change my name for it, indicating that the old lady didn't fully care about trifles".
The word "Lan" in "Laner" is interpreted as "Lan" by the maid-in-waiting, and Li's statement is "the smell of blue musk deer". Although there are differences, it shows that the two statements may not come from the same source, and the differences in historical materials further enhance the credibility of Cixi's nickname "Laner".
However, according to the above statement, many people in the palace should know the nickname of Cixi, but later the memories of eunuchs seem to be unable to confirm this. Eunuch Xin stayed with Cixi for eight years. His works in his later years were compiled as Memories of the Old Eunuch, in which he was very sympathetic to Cixi and revealed some things that outsiders didn't know much about. For example, Cixi is a disciple of Laozi, and "Guangrenzi" is her name. The queen mother is a bald old lady with * * * hair, "bald". This book even mentions that Puyi's real name is Wu Ge, but it is a pity to mention Cixi's nickname. In a word, the theory of "Laner" needs to be further explored by relevant materials.
The expressions of "Magnolia", "Xinger" and "A Cui" are also widely circulated. Cixi's nickname is "Magnolia". 1983 produced the film "Burning the Yuanmingyuan", which used this theory in a female scene and skillfully arranged for Emperor Xianfeng to meet Cixi. The prop was a handkerchief embroidered with magnolia flowers. Others explained that because Emperor Xianfeng liked Magnolia best, he gave the name to Cixi who was elected to the palace.
Whether Emperor Xianfeng likes Magnolia is unknown. Interestingly, unofficial history recorded the "Four Springs" of Yuanmingyuan that Emperor Xianfeng liked, namely, four * * * girls, begonia spring, apricot spring, Datura spring and Peony spring, all of which were named after flowers, but there were no magnolia flowers among them.
Now some people insist that the words "Laner" and "Magnolia" are all imagined from the word "Lan" when Cixi entered the palace and was made a noble person. This view is also worthy of attention.
Xinger's theory is a later theory. Originated from Na Genzheng's book "The Cixi I Know ―― An Oral Record of Cixi's Great-grandson" published in 2005, the author claimed to be the great-grandson of Cixi's brother Gui Xiang, that is, the nephew and great-grandson of Empress Dowager Cixi. According to that, "the birth name of Cixi is only known in our family". In the early 1980s, he heard his father say, "Cixi's nickname is Xinger and her scientific name is Xingzhen." And revealed that this nickname was given by Grandpa Cixi, because "at that time, several white apricot trees were planted at home. In the eyes of Manchu people, red apricots are not as good as white apricots, so we planted so many trees at home. In this way, grandpa named her Xinger ".
Cixi not only has a nickname, but also a big name (scientific name), which is really unknown to predecessors. This statement originated from the descendants of Cixi, so it cannot be ignored. Now many literature and history lovers on the Internet have named Cixi "Ye Henala? Xing Zhen. " However, Feng Qili, a scholar of Qing history, once published an article "An Examination of Na Genzheng's Ancestors", questioning Na Genzheng's account of the deeds of the ancestors. This actually involves the question of whether his works are fundamentally credible.
As for "A Cui", not many people know it now, but it is not new, but it may be the earliest statement about the nickname of Cixi. Chen, a famous historian, said in Dream of an Unfinished Spring Willow Hall: "When I was a teenager, I saw a book written by the Japanese. His nickname was Atui. Ceng Pu's "Evil Flowers on the Sea" also said, but it can't be confirmed. My aunt is attached here. "
Chen Yinque was born in 1890, went to Japan in 1902, went to Japan again in 1904, and returned to China in 1907. He should have read Japanese books between 1902 and 1907. Ceng Pu's "Evil Sea Flower" is the 27th time. He wrote that Emperor Xianfeng looked through the roster of female students:
Turning to the page of Galeries Lafayette, I saw that it said, "Nora, a native of Zhenghuangqi, Cui Ming, was several years old and was born on the 10th day of October in the 14th year of Daoguang".