Chapter 21 – Temple
Zhaoming Temple was located on East Tianmu Mountain. At the foot of the mountain was Putuo Village.
Yu Tang and Ma Xiuniang arranged to meet Gentleman Zhang there, where they will then pretend to have met by chance and take the opportunity to travel to Zhaoming Temple together.
Ma Xiuniang and Gentleman Zhang arrived ahead of Yu Tang.
Yu Tang got off the carriage and apologized profusely.
Ma Xiuniang brought her maid Xique along with her. She wasn’t bothered at all as she smiled cheerfully and locked arms with Yu Tang, saying, “It’s fine! We didn’t arrive much earlier than you either.” She then asked Yu Tang, “Have you had breakfast yet? Did you bring some snacks and tea with you?” After speaking, she looked at Ah Cam who was panting heavily.
To reach Zhaoming Temple, they had to climb up half the mountain, and it was still quite a distance away. Most people usually alight from the carriage at the foot of the mountain and walk all the way up, either because they want to show their piousness or because it was too expensive to hire a carriage for the journey up the mountain.
Ah Cam quickly patted the cloth bag behind his back and said confidently, “Don’t worry, Lady Ma, Old Aunty Chen prepared everything for us yesterday.” He then went in front of Gentleman Zhang and bowed respectfully.
Gentleman Zhang nodded his head in acknowledgement.
Yu Tang took a quick glance at him in curiosity.
He was about eighteen or nineteen years of age, fair and refined in appearance. He was tall and lean, and seemed like a gentle and mild-tempered person.
Although his family conditions were a bit lacking, but he still managed to pass the examination and became a scholar candidate at a young age. From this, it was clear that he was a hard-working person with a good aptitude for learning.
Yu Tong liked people who were intelligent.
Gentleman Zhang also brought along his personal attendant and followed along behind Ma Xiuniang and Yu Tang at a polite distance.
Yu Tang took this opportunity to speak to Ma Xiuniang and quietly teased. “Brother-in-law seems nice! Uncle arranged a good marriage for elder sister.”
Ma Xiuniang blushed hotly, but she didn’t refuse her words.
Clearly, she was very contented with this marriage.
Yu Tang asked, “What is brother-in-law’s name?”
Ma Xiuniang said shyly. “His Ming name is a single character ‘Hui’. He doesn’t have a Zi name yet.1”
Zhang Hui?
When did he become a successful scholar during her previous life? Yutang mused.
Yu Tong once again cursed her lack of knowledge.
Although there are many people walking up the mountain road leading to Zhaoming temple, but most of them were middle-aged women. The scenery wasn’t very interesting either and it wasn’t a day that had a sutra recital or an incense-offering ceremony. As such, it was quite noticeable when two young girls were walking along with a young man following behind them. People who passed by them would turn around and look at them curiously for a while.
Even though they were both wearing veiled hat coverings, Ma Xiuniang still felt a little shy and she whispered to Yu Tang, “Perhaps we should arrange to meet with Gentleman Zhang elsewhere instead?”
It was broad daylight and Ma Xiuniang brought along her maid and she too brought a male attendant with her. Yu Tang thought that it should be pretty safe and nodded with a smile.
Ma Xiuniang turned around and spoke to Xique, who tried not to laugh as she conveyed the message to Zhang Hui.
Zhang Hui looked at Ma Xiuniang for a few moments. He eventually nodded reluctantly, causing Yu Tang to laugh.
Ma Xiuniang pinched Yu Tang and pouted. “Aren’t I doing this for you? If people suspected anything, then that would be really embarrassing!”
Yu Tang quickly apologized, but she couldn’t help but tease her again. “Don’t worry, elder sister. When you have your coming of age ceremony, I will personally embroider a pair of mandarin duck pillows as a gift to elder sister.”
“You still dare to talk such nonsense?” Ma Xiuniang said with a glare.
Ma Xiuniang and Yu Tang continued with their conversation. As they laughed and joked, time passed quickly. Just as the sun rose high in the sky, they arrived at Zhaoming Temple.
Both of them went to the Heavenly King Hall.
Yu Tang took off her veil hat-covering.
Ma Xiuniang’s eyes widen as she exclaimed, “Ah-tang, you look so beautiful today!”
Yutang wore a red silk-embroidered flower jacket with a pale silver collar and a narrow sleeved shirt. Her raven-black hair was done up in an elaborate hair style and pinned with a small gilded-silver and pearl-encrusted hairpin. The contrast between her pitch-black hair and fair skin made her skin appear as white as fresh snow and she looked as beautiful as a painting, pure and elegant.
She smiled wordlessly.
Li Jun said that he liked her for her appearance, so she wanted to see just how much he liked her looks.
Not only did she put on a little powder on her face, but she even trimmed and shaped her eyebrows.
She came fully dolled up.
Ma Xiuniang sighed and said regretfully, “You should dress up more in future too.”
Maybe it was because her mother Madam Chen was a beauty, so although Yu Tang often heard people praise her beauty, but the ones who praised her were mostly her relatives, close friends or neighbors and elders living next door. When she looked into the mirror next to her mother, she didn’t feel that she was that beautiful and thought the people were just trying to be polite. Later, when she married into the Li family and was eyed by Li Duan, she then realized that she might be a little prettier than others. However, as she was already a widow at that time, there were strict rules on dressing. Furthermore, Madam Lin saw her as a thorn in her flesh, so she had no intention of standing out and thus often dressed simply and as low-key as possible.
After being reborn, some old habits still stuck, so it was unsurprising that Ma Xiuniang was a little awe-struck.
The two of them offered incense and proceeded to rest in the side room meant for visitors, while Ah Cam left to inquire on the exact location of Li Jun.
Ma Xiuniang stared at Yutang’s face again and lamented. “Seriously, the more I look, the more beautiful you seem, especially your expression as you speak and the way you look at me, which all seem to be very different from the past. But I noticed that the only things that have changed about you were your clothes and that you wore just one more piece of jewelry! Is it because I didn’t really observe you that much in the past?”
Perhaps it was because the experiences from her previous life were carved deep in her bones. She became more assertive and courageous than before and so it showed.
Yu Tang laughed as she denied her words, “You are just seeing me though rose-tinted glasses. I wonder if you do the same when you look at brother-in-law?”
“You naughty girl, I helped you and you actually poke fun at me?”
The two of them chattered on noisily.
After a while, Ma Xiuniang and Yu Tang rested on Luohan couch.
Ma Xiuniang commented, “I think, with your appearance, it’s only you that will reject the marriage and definitely not the other party. If you think that the second young master of the Li family is good, would you agree to the marriage?”
Ma Xiuniang had never seen Li Jun with her own eyes and didn’t know how Li Jun really looked like.
No!
Yu Tang almost blurted it out instinctively.
However, she restrained herself. If she denied Li Jun right now, it would be very suspicious, so she said instead. “Marriage doesn’t just involve marrying him alone. I’m also marrying into their family.”
“That’s true.” Ma Xiuniang thought about it and said with a frown, “If I had a mother-in-law like Mrs. Li, I would be annoyed to death.”
The two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Ma Xiuniang finally stopped persuading her.
Yu Tang then asked about Ma Xiuniang’s own marriage.
Ma Xiuniang told her that they will be married in the later half of the year. As Gentleman Zhang’s family lacked a person to preside over household matters, they wanted her to get married early to quickly take charge of the household. “My mother is also a decisive person. If she rejected something, she will not do it. Since she had agreed to this marriage, then they were already considered a part of the family. So the most important thing is our lives after marriage. As such, it’s fine for some details of the marriage ceremony to be done perfunctorily. ” After saying that, she cautioned her, “My mother told outsiders that our two families have already settled this marriage much earlier, but as we were still young, it wasn’t officially announced until now. This was to prevent gossipers from spreading rumors that we rushed into this marriage hastily. So if someone were to ask you, don’t say a word about this.”
“I understand!” Yu Tang was a little envious of Ma Xiuniang’s happy marriage.
Yutang pondered wistfully about her own marriage.
In theory, it was easy to find a son-in-law to marry into their Yu family, but in actuality, it was difficult to find someone that had good character and was intelligent.
Yu Tang sighed quietly in her heart.
Ah Cam came back to report, saying “The second young master of the Li family wore a bamboo-green silk robe with a white belt that hung two silk-embroidered pouches; one aqua green fragrance pouch and another good fortune pouch. His hair was also done neatly with two white jade bamboo-like hairpins. He is in Wu Dao Pine with a few friends drinking tea.”
Wu Dao Pine was located in the east of Zhaoming Temple, next to the Buddhist sutras archive. The pines trees were majestic and its lush, large canopy offered plenty of shade. Many scholars and learned people in Lin’an liked to sit under those pine trees and have poetry recitals, drink tea and play chess. Therefore the monks of the temple set up stone tables and benches, bamboo mats and wooden chairs under the trees for them to enjoy.
Yu Tang asked, “How far is that place from the Brush-Cleaning Spring where we planned to meet up with Gentleman Zhang?”
The Brush-cleaning Spring was also another interesting place in Zhaoming Temple. It was located in the back of Zhaoming Temple. There was a small cliff there that had a crack where a small spring flowed. The spring water from the mountain was clear and sweet. It was said that the after drinking the spring water there, it would sharpen the mind, cleanse the soul and make them smarter. Many families in Lin’an City especially those with boys, would come here to take some water for their children to drink, in hopes that their children will become clever and quick-witted. Even those people who have headaches or feeling feverish would also come to take some water back to drink. Often, the people who come to Zhaoming Temple to offer incense will come to drink a mouthful of the mountain spring water.
Ah cam said. “I have already checked. From here, we will head west to Wu Dao Pine. After making a turn north, there is a door that will lead us to the back of Zhao ming temple. After that, we can walk towards the east and there will be a road that leads to Brush-cleaning spring.”
In other words, they had to go around Wudao Pine to head to Brush-cleaning Spring
Fortunately there was a door that leads to the back mountain of Zhaoming Temple there. Otherwise if they were somehow discovered, it was a bit of a stretch to pretend that they were lost.
Ma Xiuniang covered her face in embarrassment.
It was her who decided on the place to meet up with gentleman Zhang.
Yu Tang laughed so hard that she couldn’t stand properly and urged her, “Let’s go quickly, before anything changes later.”
Ma Xiuniang couldn’t care less about her embarrassment and hurriedly agreed, “Then let’s go quickly!”
Yutang smoothened her hair, wore her veiled hat covering again and walked towards Wudao Pine with Ma Xiuniang.
Underneath the pine trees were seven or eight cooling mats spread on the ground. Several young male students were sitting there and talking, while their personal attendants were nearby, helping to fan, lighting incense, or making tea. There were a few others who just joined the crowd.
The visitors of Zhaoming Temple seem to have all gathered here.
Ma Xiuniang said nervously. “What are we to do? Even if we walk past like this, they won’t notice us!”
Yu Tang smiled sardonically.
Didn’t Madam Lin say that Li Jun had taken a fancy to her?
Then he should recognize her at once as he already formed a deep impression of her.
Ma Xiuniang looked at her warily, “What are you going to do?”
According to their initial plan, it would be enough for them to walk over and draw Li Jun’s attention.
Yu Tang replied, “Elder Sister, you stay here. I’ll walk over and pretend to be a curious passer-by. “
Ma Xiuniang said uncertainly. “That’s not so good, right?”
Yu Tang knew that it was risky, so she didn’t want to get Ma Xiuniang involved.
She reassured her. “It’s okay, just listen to me, nothing bad will happen.” After saying that, she didn’t wait for Ma Xiuniang to reply as she instructed XiQue to “keep an eye on Eldest Miss” and started to walk towards Wu dao Pine.
Ma Xiuniang wanted to call Yu Tang to come back, but she didn’t expect Yu Tang to walk away as fast as lightning and was already a distance away. As there were many people around, she held back from calling out to her.
Although Yu Tang wasn’t tall, but her waist was small and her legs were long and slender. Her footsteps were light and graceful. She hasn’t yet reached Wu dao pine when the group of male students and sons of noble families all noticed her and turned to stare at her with eyes wide open.
The sounds of chattering in Wudao Pine gradually grew faint and stopped.
Dun dun~ Yutang makes her grand entrance. The song showstopper just popped into my head as I translated this last bit lol! XD I can tell the next chapter is gonna be fun~~
1. This can be a little confusing. In modern day usage, Name = 名字. (ming zi) However, back then, they separated the two. At birth, a person will be given a 名 Ming name. Once they reached adulthood, a 字 Zi name will be chosen, which was often a reflection of the person’s character and qualities. When the names were combined it would be their ‘name’ 名字. Different ages, times and circumstances will require different usage of the Ming and Ji Names. I will go into further detail if required later on.
Chapter 21 – Temple
Zhaoming Temple was located on East Tianmu Mountain. At the foot of the mountain was Putuo Village.
Yu Tang and Ma Xiuniang arranged to meet Gentleman Zhang there, where they will then pretend to have met by chance and take the opportunity to travel to Zhaoming Temple together.
Ma Xiuniang and Gentleman Zhang arrived ahead of Yu Tang.
Yu Tang got off the carriage and apologized profusely.
Ma Xiuniang brought her maid Xique along with her. She wasn’t bothered at all as she smiled cheerfully and locked arms with Yu Tang, saying, “It’s fine! We didn’t arrive much earlier than you either.” She then asked Yu Tang, “Have you had breakfast yet? Did you bring some snacks and tea with you?” After speaking, she looked at Ah Cam who was panting heavily.
To reach Zhaoming Temple, they had to climb up half the mountain, and it was still quite a distance away. Most people usually alight from the carriage at the foot of the mountain and walk all the way up, either because they want to show their piousness or because it was too expensive to hire a carriage for the journey up the mountain.
Ah Cam quickly patted the cloth bag behind his back and said confidently, “Don’t worry, Lady Ma, Old Aunty Chen prepared everything for us yesterday.” He then went in front of Gentleman Zhang and bowed respectfully.
Gentleman Zhang nodded his head in acknowledgement.
Yu Tang took a quick glance at him in curiosity.
He was about eighteen or nineteen years of age, fair and refined in appearance. He was tall and lean, and seemed like a gentle and mild-tempered person.
Although his family conditions were a bit lacking, but he still managed to pass the examination and became a scholar candidate at a young age. From this, it was clear that he was a hard-working person with a good aptitude for learning.
Yu Tong liked people who were intelligent.
Gentleman Zhang also brought along his personal attendant and followed along behind Ma Xiuniang and Yu Tang at a polite distance.
Yu Tang took this opportunity to speak to Ma Xiuniang and quietly teased. “Brother-in-law seems nice! Uncle arranged a good marriage for elder sister.”
Ma Xiuniang blushed hotly, but she didn’t refuse her words.
Clearly, she was very contented with this marriage.
Yu Tang asked, “What is brother-in-law’s name?”
Ma Xiuniang said shyly. “His Ming name is a single character ‘Hui’. He doesn’t have a Zi name yet.1”
Zhang Hui?
When did he become a successful scholar during her previous life? Yutang mused.
Yu Tong once again cursed her lack of knowledge.
Although there are many people walking up the mountain road leading to Zhaoming temple, but most of them were middle-aged women. The scenery wasn’t very interesting either and it wasn’t a day that had a sutra recital or an incense-offering ceremony. As such, it was quite noticeable when two young girls were walking along with a young man following behind them. People who passed by them would turn around and look at them curiously for a while.
Even though they were both wearing veiled hat coverings, Ma Xiuniang still felt a little shy and she whispered to Yu Tang, “Perhaps we should arrange to meet with Gentleman Zhang elsewhere instead?”
It was broad daylight and Ma Xiuniang brought along her maid and she too brought a male attendant with her. Yu Tang thought that it should be pretty safe and nodded with a smile.
Ma Xiuniang turned around and spoke to Xique, who tried not to laugh as she conveyed the message to Zhang Hui.
Zhang Hui looked at Ma Xiuniang for a few moments. He eventually nodded reluctantly, causing Yu Tang to laugh.
Ma Xiuniang pinched Yu Tang and pouted. “Aren’t I doing this for you? If people suspected anything, then that would be really embarrassing!”
Yu Tang quickly apologized, but she couldn’t help but tease her again. “Don’t worry, elder sister. When you have your coming of age ceremony, I will personally embroider a pair of mandarin duck pillows as a gift to elder sister.”
“You still dare to talk such nonsense?” Ma Xiuniang said with a glare.
Ma Xiuniang and Yu Tang continued with their conversation. As they laughed and joked, time passed quickly. Just as the sun rose high in the sky, they arrived at Zhaoming Temple.
Both of them went to the Heavenly King Hall.
Yu Tang took off her veil hat-covering.
Ma Xiuniang’s eyes widen as she exclaimed, “Ah-tang, you look so beautiful today!”
Yutang wore a red silk-embroidered flower jacket with a pale silver collar and a narrow sleeved shirt. Her raven-black hair was done up in an elaborate hair style and pinned with a small gilded-silver and pearl-encrusted hairpin. The contrast between her pitch-black hair and fair skin made her skin appear as white as fresh snow and she looked as beautiful as a painting, pure and elegant.
She smiled wordlessly.
Li Jun said that he liked her for her appearance, so she wanted to see just how much he liked her looks.
Not only did she put on a little powder on her face, but she even trimmed and shaped her eyebrows.
She came fully dolled up.
Ma Xiuniang sighed and said regretfully, “You should dress up more in future too.”
Maybe it was because her mother Madam Chen was a beauty, so although Yu Tang often heard people praise her beauty, but the ones who praised her were mostly her relatives, close friends or neighbors and elders living next door. When she looked into the mirror next to her mother, she didn’t feel that she was that beautiful and thought the people were just trying to be polite. Later, when she married into the Li family and was eyed by Li Duan, she then realized that she might be a little prettier than others. However, as she was already a widow at that time, there were strict rules on dressing. Furthermore, Madam Lin saw her as a thorn in her flesh, so she had no intention of standing out and thus often dressed simply and as low-key as possible.
After being reborn, some old habits still stuck, so it was unsurprising that Ma Xiuniang was a little awe-struck.
The two of them offered incense and proceeded to rest in the side room meant for visitors, while Ah Cam left to inquire on the exact location of Li Jun.
Ma Xiuniang stared at Yutang’s face again and lamented. “Seriously, the more I look, the more beautiful you seem, especially your expression as you speak and the way you look at me, which all seem to be very different from the past. But I noticed that the only things that have changed about you were your clothes and that you wore just one more piece of jewelry! Is it because I didn’t really observe you that much in the past?”
Perhaps it was because the experiences from her previous life were carved deep in her bones. She became more assertive and courageous than before and so it showed.
Yu Tang laughed as she denied her words, “You are just seeing me though rose-tinted glasses. I wonder if you do the same when you look at brother-in-law?”
“You naughty girl, I helped you and you actually poke fun at me?”
The two of them chattered on noisily.
After a while, Ma Xiuniang and Yu Tang rested on Luohan couch.
Ma Xiuniang commented, “I think, with your appearance, it’s only you that will reject the marriage and definitely not the other party. If you think that the second young master of the Li family is good, would you agree to the marriage?”
Ma Xiuniang had never seen Li Jun with her own eyes and didn’t know how Li Jun really looked like.
No!
Yu Tang almost blurted it out instinctively.
However, she restrained herself. If she denied Li Jun right now, it would be very suspicious, so she said instead. “Marriage doesn’t just involve marrying him alone. I’m also marrying into their family.”
“That’s true.” Ma Xiuniang thought about it and said with a frown, “If I had a mother-in-law like Mrs. Li, I would be annoyed to death.”
The two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Ma Xiuniang finally stopped persuading her.
Yu Tang then asked about Ma Xiuniang’s own marriage.
Ma Xiuniang told her that they will be married in the later half of the year. As Gentleman Zhang’s family lacked a person to preside over household matters, they wanted her to get married early to quickly take charge of the household. “My mother is also a decisive person. If she rejected something, she will not do it. Since she had agreed to this marriage, then they were already considered a part of the family. So the most important thing is our lives after marriage. As such, it’s fine for some details of the marriage ceremony to be done perfunctorily. ” After saying that, she cautioned her, “My mother told outsiders that our two families have already settled this marriage much earlier, but as we were still young, it wasn’t officially announced until now. This was to prevent gossipers from spreading rumors that we rushed into this marriage hastily. So if someone were to ask you, don’t say a word about this.”
“I understand!” Yu Tang was a little envious of Ma Xiuniang’s happy marriage.
Yutang pondered wistfully about her own marriage.
In theory, it was easy to find a son-in-law to marry into their Yu family, but in actuality, it was difficult to find someone that had good character and was intelligent.
Yu Tang sighed quietly in her heart.
Ah Cam came back to report, saying “The second young master of the Li family wore a bamboo-green silk robe with a white belt that hung two silk-embroidered pouches; one aqua green fragrance pouch and another good fortune pouch. His hair was also done neatly with two white jade bamboo-like hairpins. He is in Wu Dao Pine with a few friends drinking tea.”
Wu Dao Pine was located in the east of Zhaoming Temple, next to the Buddhist sutras archive. The pines trees were majestic and its lush, large canopy offered plenty of shade. Many scholars and learned people in Lin’an liked to sit under those pine trees and have poetry recitals, drink tea and play chess. Therefore the monks of the temple set up stone tables and benches, bamboo mats and wooden chairs under the trees for them to enjoy.
Yu Tang asked, “How far is that place from the Brush-Cleaning Spring where we planned to meet up with Gentleman Zhang?”
The Brush-cleaning Spring was also another interesting place in Zhaoming Temple. It was located in the back of Zhaoming Temple. There was a small cliff there that had a crack where a small spring flowed. The spring water from the mountain was clear and sweet. It was said that the after drinking the spring water there, it would sharpen the mind, cleanse the soul and make them smarter. Many families in Lin’an City especially those with boys, would come here to take some water for their children to drink, in hopes that their children will become clever and quick-witted. Even those people who have headaches or feeling feverish would also come to take some water back to drink. Often, the people who come to Zhaoming Temple to offer incense will come to drink a mouthful of the mountain spring water.
Ah cam said. “I have already checked. From here, we will head west to Wu Dao Pine. After making a turn north, there is a door that will lead us to the back of Zhao ming temple. After that, we can walk towards the east and there will be a road that leads to Brush-cleaning spring.”
In other words, they had to go around Wudao Pine to head to Brush-cleaning Spring
Fortunately there was a door that leads to the back mountain of Zhaoming Temple there. Otherwise if they were somehow discovered, it was a bit of a stretch to pretend that they were lost.
Ma Xiuniang covered her face in embarrassment.
It was her who decided on the place to meet up with gentleman Zhang.
Yu Tang laughed so hard that she couldn’t stand properly and urged her, “Let’s go quickly, before anything changes later.”
Ma Xiuniang couldn’t care less about her embarrassment and hurriedly agreed, “Then let’s go quickly!”
Yutang smoothened her hair, wore her veiled hat covering again and walked towards Wudao Pine with Ma Xiuniang.
Underneath the pine trees were seven or eight cooling mats spread on the ground. Several young male students were sitting there and talking, while their personal attendants were nearby, helping to fan, lighting incense, or making tea. There were a few others who just joined the crowd.
The visitors of Zhaoming Temple seem to have all gathered here.
Ma Xiuniang said nervously. “What are we to do? Even if we walk past like this, they won’t notice us!”
Yu Tang smiled sardonically.
Didn’t Madam Lin say that Li Jun had taken a fancy to her?
Then he should recognize her at once as he already formed a deep impression of her.
Ma Xiuniang looked at her warily, “What are you going to do?”
According to their initial plan, it would be enough for them to walk over and draw Li Jun’s attention.
Yu Tang replied, “Elder Sister, you stay here. I’ll walk over and pretend to be a curious passer-by. “
Ma Xiuniang said uncertainly. “That’s not so good, right?”
Yu Tang knew that it was risky, so she didn’t want to get Ma Xiuniang involved.
She reassured her. “It’s okay, just listen to me, nothing bad will happen.” After saying that, she didn’t wait for Ma Xiuniang to reply as she instructed XiQue to “keep an eye on Eldest Miss” and started to walk towards Wu dao Pine.
Ma Xiuniang wanted to call Yu Tang to come back, but she didn’t expect Yu Tang to walk away as fast as lightning and was already a distance away. As there were many people around, she held back from calling out to her.
Although Yu Tang wasn’t tall, but her waist was small and her legs were long and slender. Her footsteps were light and graceful. She hasn’t yet reached Wu dao pine when the group of male students and sons of noble families all noticed her and turned to stare at her with eyes wide open.
The sounds of chattering in Wudao Pine gradually grew faint and stopped.
Dun dun~ Yutang makes her grand entrance. The song showstopper just popped into my head as I translated this last bit lol! XD I can tell the next chapter is gonna be fun~~
1. This can be a little confusing. In modern day usage, Name = 名字. (ming zi) However, back then, they separated the two. At birth, a person will be given a 名 Ming name. Once they reached adulthood, a 字 Zi name will be chosen, which was often a reflection of the person’s character and qualities. When the names were combined it would be their ‘name’ 名字. Different ages, times and circumstances will require different usage of the Ming and Ji Names. I will go into further detail if required later on.
