The Inconsistent Translation of Posthumous Epithets

Abstract

A very large number of people in the pre-Qin literature are known by their posthumous epithets, shi 諡. Yet these are not translated into English according to a consistent format. Epithets ending in the titles -wang or -gong are rendered in the format “[title] [adjective] of [realm]” (e.g. “King Wen of Zhou”), while those ending in all other titles are translated in the format “[realm] [adjective][title]” (e.g. “Kong Wenzi”). This paper argues that the disparity stems from three misconceptions: (1) that posthumous epithets are “names”, (2) that the word zi is a honorific and not a noble title, and (3) that the Zhou dynasty had a clear distinction between place names and family names. After addressing each of these points the paper will propose an improved translation format.