Editing Chinese name (section)

===Courtesy name===
{{Main|Courtesy name}}

Upon maturity, it was common for educated males to acquire a courtesy name ({{zhi|c=字|italic=no}}, {{Lang|zh-latn|zì}} or {{zhi|c=表字|italic=no}}, {{Lang|zh-latn|biǎozì}}) either from one's parents, a teacher, or self-selection. The name commonly mirrored the meaning of one's given name or displayed his birth order within his family.

The practice was a consequence of admonitions in the ''[[Book of Rites]]'' that among adults it is disrespectful to be addressed by one's given name by others within the same generation. The true given name was reserved for the use of one's elders, while the courtesy name was employed by peers on formal occasions and in writing. The practice was decried by the [[May Fourth Movement]] and has been largely abandoned.