Zidu

From the characters 子(zǐ, meaning “son”) and 都 (dū, meaning “capital city”, “head” or “beautiful”). This is a name that appears in the song “The Mountain has Fusu Trees” (山有扶苏) featured in the Classic of Poetry (诗经), a collection of poetic folk songs and hymns from the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046 - 256 BCE). Within the song, it is used to refer to an ideal beautiful man the female narrator is waiting for.

It is believed that the Zidu in the song refers to Gongsun E (公孙阏), a real general and nobleman who served the state of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn period (770 - 473 BCE). Other interpretations say Zidu is just an idealized folk figure or archetype. In any case, the philosopher Mencius (c. 372–289 BCE) mentions Zidu in his rhetoric, where he states that “no-one under Heaven does not know of his beauty; those that do not know of Zidu’s beauty have no eyes.”

Zidu was also used as a courtesy name by Bao Xuan (鮑宣), a censor known for his integrity and courage during the late Western Han Dynasty (202 BC–9 CE).