What does Mr. mean?

Starting from ancient times, the ancient teacher not only refers to men, but also includes the meaning of learning from others, the master is the first, and the teacher means.

In our country, calling women "Mr." was exclusive to the period from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the founding of the People's Republic of China. Due to the popularity of "new culture" and "feminist" ideas, Westernization and equality between men and women began to be pursued, so both men and women could be called "Mr." Of course, it is usually for people with more knowledge or status. Nowadays, ladies are no longer called sir, but some people, such as Mr. Yang Jiang, are still used.

This is a title only used in modern China for certain women who have outstanding achievements and great influence in a field (mainly literature, politics and other special fields). Such as Mr. Soong Ching Ling (the mother of the country), Mr. He Xiangning (the wife of Mr. Liao Zhongkai), Mr. Bing Xin, Mr. Yang Jiang, etc.

Extended information:

The history and evolution of "Mr."

The word "Mr." is not actually a modern Chinese vocabulary. On the contrary, it comes from an ancient proverb and means "born earlier than oneself and older than oneself".

As early as "The Analects of Confucius is Government", there is a sentence "If there is wine and food, Mr. Xian will eat the food". Of course, here, "sir" means "father and brother". There is a sentence in "Mencius": "Why did Sir say this?" The "Sir" here refers to an elder and knowledgeable person

. In the Warring States Period, "National Policy" said: "Sir, sit down, why do you do this?" It is also a way to address virtuous elders.

In the Han Dynasty, more people added the word "老" to "Mr." and called "Mr. Lao".

As for why "Mr." evolved into a pronoun for "adult men", it is because "Mr." often means "teacher" in ancient proverbs, and most of the teachers in ancient times were men. Slowly evolved into the usage in modern Chinese.

But in fact, the word "Mr." was not an exclusive word for "adult men" at first.

Sir’s specific usage:

1. Teachers and other educators. In ancient times, educated men and women could be called this way, so "Ms. Yang Jiang" would be respectfully called "Mr. Yang Jiang".

2. An honorific title for intellectuals and adult men with a certain status.

3. Call other people’s husband or your own husband to others.

4. In the old days, people who were engaged in accounting, story telling, fortune telling, fortune telling, Feng Shui reading, etc. were also called "Sir".

5. Anyone who is highly respected can be addressed as "sir", which means to show respect, and does not necessarily refer to men. For example, Song Qingling, Yang Jiang, Bing Xin, Ding Ling, Ye Man, Xu Guangping can all be called teachers.

6. Now all men can be called "Mr." This is the most commonly used usage in modern Chinese.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Mr.