Medieval Buddhist of the Day

[Twitter 5/31/19] Medieval Buddhist of the Day, Friday onomastics edition: On the right is Liu Ayi 劉阿姨, also from the Zhai Xingzu stele of 523. What makes her noteworthy is that, thanks to drift in language usage and naming patterns, her personal name is now the word for “Auntie.”

The name wasn’t remarkable at the time, since many women’s names took the form of 阿 plus a female kinship term or other feminine descriptor, so 阿姬，阿妃，阿娘 – there’s an 阿妃 and an 阿香 among the female donors on this stele alone. But still. Auntie Liu.