I don’t know since when, the heroines of costume dramas began to gather together with the surname Liu, and all of them had excellent backgrounds and abilities. For example, the heroine Liu Miantang of the recently aired costume drama "Liu Zhou Ji" is not only the owner of Ya

I don’t know since when, the heroines of costume dramas began to gather together with the surname Liu, and all of them had excellent backgrounds and abilities.

For example, the heroine Liu Miantang of the recently aired costume drama "The Legend of Liuzhou" is not only the owner of Yangshan Village in Lingquan Town, but also a porcelain merchant with great business acumen. She is both beautiful and powerful.

Liu Miantang, the heroine of "The Story of the Willow Boat"

Looking back at the heroines of previous costume dramas, among various surnames, the surname Liu appears particularly frequently. Why are there so many heroines named Liu in costume dramas? Is there anything special about this last name?

There are quite a few female protagonists named Liu

The Liu family specializes in female protagonists. Before Liu Miantang in "Liu Zhou Ji", there were already many Liu family daughters on the list.

The heroine of the TV series "Changfengdu" is named Liu Yuru, and she is the legitimate daughter of a cloth merchant in Zhangzhou City, Jiangnan. With a good family background, after becoming the daughter-in-law of the Gu family, she not only kept her home in order, but also started a prosperous business with the trust and support of her husband's family.

Source: Weibo @ TV series Chang Feng Du

Liu Shao, the heroine of "Moon Song Xing", was born into a rich family and has no worries about food and clothing. She has a simple and kind nature, with a "chivalrous spirit", and dares to love and hate. , went through hardships just to protect the common people in the world.

Picture source: Weibo @ TV Series Yue Ge Xing

The heroine Liu Rong of " Willow Leaves Picking the Stars" had a poor background. She was originally a "willow leaf thief" who flew over the walls and came and went without a trace. But don’t worry, he and the male protagonist eventually became a couple of gods and heroes who support justice.

Picture source: Weibo @ Willow Leaves Picking the Stars Official Weibo

Of course, not all Liu women are heroines, but even if they are not the protagonists, they are important characters with good backgrounds.

Liu Ran, the second female lead in "The Wind Rises in Luoyang", is the daughter of the Liu family in Hedong, a well-known family. She is beautiful, gentle, virtuous and considerate, and is a proper lady for everyone.

Picture source: Weibo @风清鲁阳官微

Fan Xian's aunt Liu Ruyu in "Celebrating More Than Years " also has a very prominent background. She was born in the Duke's palace and has a noble status. From what Aunt Liu said in the play, "the Liu family has deep roots" and "the royal family has always been very kind to the Liu family", it is not difficult to see that the Liu family's status is extraordinary.

The surname Liu has become the "standard" for rich girls in costume dramas. As long as you are a member of the Liu family, you are already far ahead of other characters.

However, with so many surnames, why do high-ranking ladies like to have the surname "Liu"?

The origin of the development of the Liu surname

"Liu" is not rare among Chinese surnames, but it is not common either.

According to the seventh national census data, among the 300 surnames on the list, the surname Liu ranks 130th.

There are two main theories about the origin of the surname Liu.

The first one is that the surname Liu comes from the surnames Ji and Zhan. The Tang Dynasty's surname genealogy monograph "Yuanhe Surname Collection" once recorded: Zhou Gong's grandson Lu Xiaogong's son Zhan, Zhan's grandson Wuhai, took the surname of Wang's father as the Zhan family. He raised poultry and ate from willows, so his surname was Liu. This sentence says that Lu Xiaogong, a descendant of Zhou Gong Ji Dan, had a son named Zhan. Zhan's grandson Wuhai took his grandfather's "zi" as his surname, which is the Zhan family. Later, because the fiefdom of Zhan Wuhai's son Zhan Qin was in a place called "Liuxia", later generations began to use "Liu" as their surname.

Interestingly, Zhan Qin was given the posthumous title of "Hui" after his death, and he was also called "Liu Xiahui" by later generations. Therefore, academic circles generally believe that Liu Xiahui is the ancestor of the Liu surname, and the fiefdom where he resides is the origin of the Liu surname. .

The second type is that the surname Liu is simplified from the compound surname "Liuxia". It can be said that this is a continuation of the first statement. It may be the result of Liu Xiahui's descendants simplifying their surnames, removing the word "下" and retaining only the word "Liu".

After all, the surname Liu essentially comes from the place name, but there is still some controversy about where this place is. There are currently two views, one is in Liuli, Xintai City, Shandong Province, and the other is in Dongliu Tunji, Puyang County, Henan Province today. .

Although there is still controversy about where the surname Liu originated, the family of Liu has moved many times, and the academic community has basically reached a consensus. After Qin unified the six kingdoms, the Liu family moved to Hedong. The so-called Hedong refers to the entire province or the southwest area of ​​present-day Shanxi. Because the Yellow River flows here from north to south, and Shanxi is located to the east of the Yellow River, this area is called Hedong. Later, due to the constant war, the Liu family began to move south.

Picture source: Reference [9]

The Liu family's southward migration was divided into two branches, the Eastern Family and the Western Family.

A branch of the Western family moved to Ruying (now Linru, Henan and Fuyang, Anhui), but soon returned to the north and served the northern rulers. In order to expand their social network, the Liu family also formed marriage relationships with other large local families, such as the Zhao family, which was quite socially influential at the time. The second son of Zhao Chaozong, Zhao Zhongyi, married Liu Senxi's daughter, and the eldest daughter of Zhao Chaozong married Liu Senxi's brother Liu Shiyi. This is a typical marriage network that supports each other in politics. In this way, the status of the Liu family is evident.

The Liu family's eastern dependents moved from the southeast of Henan to Xiangyang (today's Xiangfan City). The road to "promotion" was more difficult. The Liu family started out as a warrior, that is, entering the official career through establishing military exploits. However, if you want to join the powerful clan circle at that time, "strength" alone is not enough. You must also be spiritually in line with the big clan members.

With the rise of metaphysics in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Liu family began to focus on improving the cultural accomplishment of the family. In addition, family members later married the royal family. For example, Liu Yan, the son of Liu Yun, the nephew of the famous Southern Dynasty general Liu Yuanjing, married Princess Changcheng, the daughter of Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty. Liu Yan's son, Liu Pan, married Princess Fuyang, the daughter of Emperor Chen Wen, Chen Qian. The Hedong Liu family finally entered the upper class and became a high-level family. After the demise of the Southern Dynasty, the Eastern dependents also embarked on the road back to the north.

It is worth noting that although the main branch of the Liu family in Hedong has moved south, there are still some branches that have not left Hedong. Those who left have not given up their ancestral roots, and they have returned to the Hedong area one after another.

In the end, the Liu family, which has a strong clan foundation and local power, successfully promoted to one of the "Three Surnames of Hedong". From now on, when the Liu family is mentioned, it is no longer a "small family" that no one cares about, but a prestigious and famous family.

The three surnames of Hedong: specifically refer to the three major families of Pei, Liu and Xue who have made Hedong their commandery since the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Let’s go back to the heroine surnamed Liu in the costume drama we discussed. Basically, they are all daughters of wealthy families. They grew up in fine clothing and good food, and their family living conditions are favorable. "Liu" herself is from a famous family, so these settings are not surprising.

But there is more than one surname named Liu. If you want the persona of a "rich girl", other surnames are also acceptable. Why do you just fall in love with Liu?

Liu is more than just a surname

In traditional Chinese literature, as a cultural symbol with rich aesthetic connotations, the meaning of "Liu" has transcended itself and become a metaphor and symbolic image. "Woman" is one of its more common symbolic meanings. one.

The long and narrow shape of willow leaves is often used to describe the long eyebrows of beautiful women, which is also called "willow leaf eyebrows". The poem "Hibiscus is like a face and willows are like eyebrows" in "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" by Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, means that the hibiscus blooms like Concubine Yang's face, and the willow leaves resemble her eyebrows.

"Dream of Red Mansions" describes Wang Xifeng like this: a pair of red phoenix triangular eyes, two curved eyebrows with willow leaves | Source: screenshot of " Dream of Red Mansions "

In addition, willow trees are graceful and swaying in various shapes, and are often planted along the waterfront. The ancients often "Using a willow as a metaphor for a person" describes the gracefulness of a woman through the soft and frail posture of a weeping willow, reflecting people's aesthetic and emotional sustenance for women.

The rise of "willow waist" in the Tang Dynasty was the sublimation of the image of graceful and beautiful weeping willows by literati and poets. The swaying willow was compared to a woman's slender waist. The Tang Dynasty was an era when dance music was unprecedentedly prosperous. When the dancers danced, they looked like the branches of a weeping willow blowing in the breeze. They were nicknamed "willow waist" by literati and poets.

Liu Yong's "Lang Tao Sha Ling·There is a Person", "Prompt shooting with red sleeves raised, wind willow waist" depicts the softness of the dancer's waist through the "willow waist", which is full of vitality and movement at once. "A Dream of Red Mansions" uses the phrase "moves like a weak willow supporting the wind" to describe Lin Daiyu's walking as gracefully and gracefully as a slender willow swaying in the wind.

"A Dream of Red Mansions" Lin Daiyu (the one in the white cloak in position c) walks slowly

It can be said that the character "Liu" has a sense of "beautiful woman", and people with the surname Liu are naturally attractive.

In addition, the Liu family is indeed a prominent family in history. It is no wonder that the heroines of costume dramas are all competing for the surname "Liu".

References:

[1] Li Hong. The Liu family in Hedong and its origins in Sui and Tang Dynasties[j]. Journal of Shanxi Normal University (Social Science Edition), 2005, (04):84-87+108.

[2] Yao Wei Xia, Wu Chao. A review of research on the Liu family in Hedong in the past twenty years [j]. Yinshan Academic Journal, 2015, 28(02):93-96.

[3] Wang Yongping. The family culture of the "Eastern dependents" of the Liu family in Hedong during the Southern Dynasties Commentary on Fashion[j]. Journal of Jiangsu University (Social Science Edition), 2008, (05): 41-50.

[4] Ge Changyi. The symbolic meaning of "Liu" in "The Four Lives of Liu"[j]. Lanzhou Journal of the Institute of Education, 2019, 35(12):42-43+73.

[5] Liu Qian. On the origin of the "willow waist" tradition in Tang Dynasty poetry[j]. Journal of Beijing Forestry University (Social Science Edition), 2015 ,14(03):8-14.

[6] Ma Chao, Song Kuisheng, Sang Jingxuan. The cultural connotation and landscaping application of willow trees [j]. Chinese Horticulture Digest, 2013, 29(08): 133-134.

[7] Li Hui. The planting and cultural implications of willow trees in China [j]. Commercial Culture (First Half), 2011, (09): 344.

[8] Guan Chuanyou. The history of willow planting and willow culture in China [j]. Beijing Journal of Forestry University (Social Science Edition), 2006, (04): 8-15.

[9] Zhu Benjun, Wang Dacheng. Identification of settlements in the Yuanqu Basin in the "Warring States Atlas Group" of "Chinese Historical Atlas" - Also on Han and Wei Transportation routes connecting the old capital of Hedong [j]. Historical Geography, 2017, (02): 237-246.

Author: Minmin Zhang Yi