Meaning & History
From a combination of the characters 振 (zhèn, meaning “to arouse, to ring”) and 铎 (duó, meaning “wooden bell”). Originally just meaning “to ring a bell”, it later connoted the issuing of warnings, the giving of commandments or the practice of a teaching career. This name was borne by Zheng Zhenduo (1898-1958), a Chinese journalist, writer, archaeologist and scholar who taught at several universities and became head of the Cultural Relics Bureau after the People’s Republic of China was founded. It was also borne by the first ruler of the state of Cao during the Zhou Dynasty.