Why did ancient Chinese emperors call themselves zhen (朕) or guaren (寡人)? Research shows that the word zhen used to be a first-person pronoun (代词) . Before the Qin Dynasty, it meant “I” or “me” and everyone from farmers to state rulers could use it. The word can be found in books like Li Sao (The Lament) and Shi Jing (The Book of Songs).

However, when the state of Qin defeated (打败) all the other six states and unified (统一) China, Qinshihuang, the first emperor in Chinese history, changed how this word could be used. He made it a rule that zhen could only be used by the emperor himself. Since then, the word has been used only for rulers.

Chinese emperors also called themselves guaren. In ancient China, emperors took themselves as the “Sons of Heaven”, and believed they had a “Mandate of Heaven (天命)” to rule. However, if the “Son of Heaven” was found to have poor morals (德行), they would lose the mandate. So, the rulers used the term guaren or guade zhiren (寡德之人), meaning “a person who doesn’t have morality”. In this way, they could show their modesty (谦虚) . In Chinese culture, people should not talk proudly about their own abilities. Modesty is seen as a virtue (美德). Ancient rulers hoped to win people’s hearts by calling themselves guaren.

However, historical records show that guaren lost its popularity after the Tang Dynasty. The emperors of the following dynasties used zhen more often.

【小题1】Since when could zhen only be used by the emperor?

A．Before the birth of Qinshihuang.	B．After Qinshihuang unified China.
C．After Li Sao and Shi Jing came out.	D．From the start of Chinese history.

【小题2】Why did Chinese emperors call themselves guaren?

A．To show how special they were.	B．To show they were born with a mandate.
C．To win people’s hearts.	D．To show they were lonely.

【小题3】From the text, we can infer (推断) that ________,

A．both zhen and guaren are second-person pronouns.

B．Li Sao and Shi Jing came out after Qinshihuang unified China.

C．guaren took the place of “zhen” after the Tang Dynasty.

D．emperors in ancient China cared a lot about how they called themselves.

【小题4】Where is the passage most probably taken from?

A．A weather report.

B．A history book.

C．A sports magazine.

D．A science magazine.

【小题5】What is the passage mainly about?

A．How Qinshihuang unified China.

B．Li Sao and Shi Jing played important roles in ancient China.

C．When and why ancient emperors used “zhen” and “guaren”.

D．Modesty is seen as a virtue for the rulers in ancient China.