alias (Chinese)

a form of an alias used by people in many Oriental cultures; the Chinese have several kinds of a. (biéhào 别號) depending roughly on the size of the person’s circle of acquantances; the a. is defined further in the Chinese PS-RULE [PS4]; 1) the primary a. or zì (字) consists of two words as an assumed name (acquired at age 20) and possibly a generational name (often very much like what in the Western cultures is called the “pseudonym” or “pen name”) [PS4]; 2) a Buddhist monk name or fǎ hào (法號 now 法号) acquired at initiation, to which is added a class name identifying those in the group entering at the same time [PS6]; 3) a posthumous alias