Royal Naming Traditions Across Asian Dynasties
How Emperors, Kings, and Dynasties Named Themselves
Royal families across Asian history developed naming traditions of extraordinary complexity — involving throne names, posthumous names, era names, temple names, and elaborate taboo systems. These traditions shaped not only how rulers identified themselves but also how common people were required to speak and write in their presence. Understanding royal naming illuminates the deepest assumptions about identity, power, and sacred authority in Asian civilizations.
Chinese Imperial Names
Chinese emperors accumulated multiple names across their lifetimes. The personal name (ming, 名) was rarely used after coronation — it was subject to the taboo (huibi, 諱) that forbade commoners from writing or speaking it. During their reign, emperors were known by reign-era names (nianhao, 年號) — the Yongle Emperor's reign era gave us the famous 'Yongle Encyclopedia.' After death, emperors received temple names (miaohao, 廟號) used in ancestral worship — Taizu, Taizong, Shenzong — and posthumous names (shihao, 諡號), elaborate honorific strings that could run twenty or more characters, praising the emperor's virtues. The common historical reference 'the Qianlong Emperor' uses his reign-era name; his temple name was Gaozong; his posthumous name ran to twenty-five characters.
Korean Royal Naming
Joseon dynasty kings similarly received multiple names: their personal name (hwi, 諱), throne name (myohao, 廟號), and posthumous name (siho, 諡號). The personal name was subject to the same taboo as in China: the character used in the king's name could not be used by commoners in writing or speech. This taboo occasionally required replacing commonly used characters with alternatives throughout the realm — a significant bureaucratic and social disruption. The generational dollimja system applied within the royal Yi clan as it did in all Korean aristocratic families, creating a genealogical record embedded in the names of every royal family member.
Japanese Imperial Tradition
Japan's imperial naming tradition is among the world's oldest continuously maintained institutional naming systems. Japanese emperors take a reign name (gengo, 元号) — Japan's current era, Reiwa (令和, beautiful harmony), began with Emperor Naruhito's accession in 2019. Upon death, emperors are renamed posthumously for historical reference: Emperor Hirohito became Emperor Showa (昭和, Radiant Harmony) posthumously. The practice of using era names for date reference (year 6 of Reiwa = 2024 CE) continues in Japan today alongside the Western calendar, linking everyday timekeeping to the imperial naming tradition in a way found nowhere else in the modern world.