The elegant address of wife in Chinese

Hey, friends! Welcome to our online Chinese lesson center where so many Chinese lovers will have access to the most native Chinese language and expressions. In this edition of discussion, we will share some details on how to address your wife in Chinese. That will be fresh and interesting! Let us start.

Above all, among many Chinese online lessons, it is a general use that Chinese people call their wife as lao3 po2 whose character is 老婆. Yet, we would like to show you a different calling in Chinese culture, which is addressed fu1 ren2 in both ancient times and modern times. The fu1 ren2 can be written like this 夫人(Fu1 Ren2). Respectively speaking, fu1 means a kind of etiquette address for man and woman. Ren2 means a person. Therefore, using lao3 po2 is far less polite and formal than using the address of fu1 ren1.

Besides, let us turn to the origin of the phrase fu1 ren2. It is said that fu1 ren1 originated from the period of spring and autumn or even earlier years, around thousands of years from now. At that time, its meaning refers to stand for the fixed address of the first wife of the king in the nation. Throughout the course of the development of Chinese feudal dynasties, the phrase of fu1 ren2 had been endowed with at least four usages.

Firstly, in our Chinese lessons online, it refers to the calling of the wife of the zhu1 hou2 who was the leader of a patch of the land in the past.

Secondly, it refers to the address of other wives called pin2 fei1 of emperor in ancient times. Since Qin2 dynasty, fu1 ren2 has been put into practice. Then during the three Kingdoms, fu1 ren1 was ruled as one of the wives’ callings in wei4 state. Specifically, the empress owns the highest power in the sub-court palace that was called hou4 gong1. And there were five levels under the status of empress in which the status of fu1 ren1 was the highest among them. Until wei4’s next emperor, he increased the amount of level to twelve kinds.

Thirdly, it also refers to the address of local officials’ wife as well. For instance, in Ming2 dynasty, the phrase fu1 ren2 was used as the address of court officials with first level and second level that were called yi1 pin3 and er4 pin4.

Fourthly, it is commonly used as the address of general wife of ordinary people. Moreover, such a usage is usually taken in formal occasions to a large extent. What deserves to be mentioned is that only the fourth usage is still prevailing in modern people’s conversations among all the uses. It is lively and vivid for you to use.

OK, that is all for our Chinese lesson online today. How do you like this phrase? Why not try calling your wife as fu1 ren2? There will be more humorous and colorful moments in your family’s conversations.