Hu Tao's Name trivia

Hi There. There is a fellow of Walnut nation in a thread asking why Hu Tao doesn't has Japanese pronunciation like the other Liyue characters. I think it's informative for the sub so I will rephrase it and add more detail here.

I'm not a native English user, so please spare me.

• Actually, the [胡] "Hu" in her name is the family name and her given name is one syllabus of [桃] "Tao"

[桃] Tao means "peach", using in both [桃子] Taozi: fruit and [桃花] Taohua: blossom.

So in the Chinese language, she will not be referred to as Walnut but Peach.

• At Feiyun Slope Bulletin Board there is the interaction between Baizhu and Hu Tao. Hu Tao was called Master Hu (later changed to Director Hu).

In Chinese, Baizhu is calling Hu Tao "胡堂主 Hu Tangzhu". The Tang here is the same word in Wangsheng Tang (Wangsheng Funeral Parlor). Tang means "Hall", Wangsheng Tang means "Hall of the rebirth".

Tangzhu is honorific. In Chinese culture it's normal and polite to call someone who you not close to by the status/role after the family name. So Hu Tangzhu can be translated to "Hall Ruler (or Master) Hu".

The "Old Hu", the 75th leader of the Hall is also mentioned in Hu Tao story so we can confirm that the family name is Hu.

This Hu is actually the real family name in China, 15th population in 2019. The former president Hu Jintao is also the same Hu.

• [胡] Hu, this word is also the part of Hanzi [蝴] "Hu" in [蝴蝶] "Hudie" Butterfly. In China, the butterfly is the symbol of freedom, beauty, dream, spirit, and the afterlife.

In funeral and mourning, one should not kill the butterfly as it might contain the spirit of the deceased. And the butterfly is the insect that knows the way to the afterlife peace. This belief is spread in Sino countries. In Bleach, shinigami use butterfly to guide them for travel between the human world and soul realm.

• Tao or "peach" as fruit and blossom are the symbols of luck and progress. It's also connecting to divinity as the legend says there are countless acres of peach fields in heaven. Each fruit gives you power and a long lifespan of god. In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong ate the whole bunch of peaches then became even more powerful.

• Hu and Tao, "butterfly" and "peach". That is the reason why Hu Tao has these two elements in her design. (the blossom in her pupils and at her headpiece)

• Hu Tao is the only character that's going by full name. Other Liyue characters also have 2 syllabus names but none has the space between the syllabus. In Chinese, a given name even with 2 or 3 characters, is considered a word. That way they will have different pronunciations in Japanese (reading it a kanji way).

• However, Hu Tao is not a word, it's two. That's why they cannot just combine and read it as "Kurumi" which means walnut in Japanese because her original name is not walnut but peach. And if they want to go by Japanese pronunciation, her name might be Ko Momo, which is really weird and generic at the same time (I mean the name Hu Tao is also very generic).

• In China, there is a way to call the one you adore with suffix and prefix. In the case of Hu Tao, she can be called [小桃] xiao tao, [小桃桃] xiao taotao or [桃儿] tao'er which has the same meaning as "Little Tao"

This is just trivia from her name. It's just for "good to know" and nothing else. Walnut is still the most recognized nickname for Hu Tao. So if you prefer any other nickname you can go by it.

Have fun and may RNGchons bless you!