Though love fame is human nature , buying fame at the price of one's life is by no means common in Western society . Yet , men dying for fame are found commonly in the course of Chinese history . This reflects the unusual weight carried by the notion of fame in Chinese culture . This article focuses on this subject and analyzes the correlation of suicide and fame in Chinese society . 　　With the exception of the Taoists , the concern for reputation is a common sentiment among the Chinese , regardless of social class , gender , profession , or career . The only difference is that the higher one's social status is , the more pronounced this fixation becomes . To attain widespread fame is even included in a larger Confucian moral project . 　　There are many means by which the Chinese achieved fame . However , in the main stream of Chinese culture , there is an endorsed formula for the establishment of reputation through either of the "three fulfillments" , namely , the fulfillment of virtue , the fulfillment of merit , and the fulfillment of doctrines . Suicide has nothing to do with the fulfillment of doctrines , and seldom has it to do with the fulfillment of merit . But it does frequently have to do with the fulfillment of virtue . 　　Among the Chinese suicides who died virtuously and attained everlasting fame are those who sought fame by fulfilling virtues . What they were concerned about is renown rather than virtue itself . However , what is the inner logic supporting the idea that a good name outweighs physical life? One possible explanation is that it might have something to do with the belief in the sympathetic magic of names , which have prevailed from the Chinese antiquities . Its most conspicuous characteristic is the notion that a person's name constitutes part of his soul . The ancient Chinese believed in the immortality of the soul provided that the name of the dead person is frequently evoked . 　　From the age of "hilosophic breakthrough"onward , the superstitious correlation between name and soul faded away from the rational minds . Instead , belief in "spiritual immortality" took place . Immortality can be attained only if one's virtue is remembered and celebrated by the whole society . In this sense , it can be said that those who acted suicidally for the sake of fame were in fact exchanging a transitory life for an eternal one .