Post by Naming in Korean on Dec 6, 2004 1:21:57 GMT -5
Tepyoung said:
Velvet Inkbrush, you initiated mention of the meaning of part of Yi Sun-shin's name, so permit me to elaborate with further comments on the entire name. The name is written in Chinese [or Sino-Korean] characters, so I trust that we can look at Chinese meanings as a guide, without giving offense. Yi is simply a common family name. Li (or Lee) in Mandarin.
For the given name (Sun-shin or Soon-shin), I shall copy info from Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary ---
Sun is Mathews' entry 5936 [pronounced Shun, falling tone, in Mandarin]: "Name of a legendary Chinese ruler, said to have ruled from 2255 - 2205 B.C. Wise; good."
Shin is Mathews' entry 327 [pronounced ch'en, rising tone, in Mandarin]: "A statesman. A subject. Formerly used by civil officials for 'I'."
So, what does Sun-shin mean? Wise statesman? Good subject? I don't know. Sometimes, it is not easy to guess what meaning the parents (or king or someone) had in mind, when they bestowed a particular Chinese/Korean given name.
It would be nice if this series covers the period of Yi Sun-shin's life when he acquired that name. From whom? What meaning was intended? Why? Enquiring minds want to know . . . .
Just FYI..
In korea, usually grandfather (of course also parents) or elder people in the family give a name to their grandchildren by famliy naming rule.
The rule is that each generation has their own chinese character and location, so children(who are in the same generation, ie.brother, sister, cousin)'s name include that character in the same location.
This rule helps to distinguish the generation in the family. It's an order of the family.
I think, in Sun Shin's case, the rule character is 'Shin(ãí)'. That's why the names of Sun Shin and his brothers include 'Shin(ãí)' at the end of their names.
i hope this info would be helpful.. ;D