oh no

Is there a specific relationship between the hanzi in An Ze’s name, and the hanzi he chooses for An Zhe? On a meta level

And are the names as phonetically similar as they seem? If so, would there be a reason why the author went with that?

oh!!! excellent question — there's not exactly interaction between the specific characters for zhe and ze, beyond the symbolism of the characters themselves to their respective people:

泽 — ze2, (n.) pool, marsh; (adj.) moist, wet 折 — zhe2, (v.) to fold, to break

I think it's explained in the book itself but it's been a while since I last read it, so bear with me if I'm repeating something you already know: An Ze gives our beloved little mushroom the character 折 zhe2 after An Zhe relays the story of his awakening to sentience: a rainstorm, a violent breaking away from the other mushrooms, independent thought/identity emerging. here, "zhe" is an unsubtle reference to An Zhe's "breaking away" from the other mushrooms

the two characters do sound very similar — in fact, some regional pronunciations do not differentiate between "ze" and "zhe" at all (or "se" and "she," or "ci" and "chi"). this is referred to as 卷舌 juan3 she2, which I believe corresponds to the phonetic term "retroflex" (consonants in this case). it's very possible that no one blinks twice at An Zhe "mispronouncing" his own name because 1) it could be an easy slip of the tongue, 2) some regional pronunciations simply do not differentiate the two at all, and 3) if I remember correctly, the human base is fairly multicultural, so honestly a lot of people might not even clock it. on a doylist level, the similarity between the two names facilitates An Zhe's theft of An Ze's identity; on a watsonian level, the similarity might have been a result of some combination of ego and empathy on An Ze's part, who comes to see An Zhe as a "little brother" and says as much when he names him

meanwhile, the 泽 ze2 in An Ze's name is a multifaceted character in that it can be a noun, adjective, or literary metaphor. handily, I can steal my own gloss of it from way back when:

泽 ze - (n.) pool/marsh, which gets you to both (adj.) moist, damp, and (n.) shininess, luster (think reflection of sunlight off water). An important thing to know is that water/moisture/rainfall are closely linked to the generosity and benevolence of a ruler in classical Chinese texts; the idea was that, with the generosity of the heavens (i.e. sufficient rainfall), plants on earth could flourish. Likewise, with the generosity of a sagely ruler, the people could flourish.

so An Ze's name is particularly symbolic because what is 泽 ze2 if not an ideal habitat for mushrooms to grow? tilt your head and think about it: An Ze's corpse and identity are literally the fertile soil from which An Zhe the human-shaped mushroom emerges

actually, the two names in the book that I think are actively in conversation with each other are 安泽 An Ze and 陆沨 Lu Feng — arguably the two most important people in An Zhe's life. both 泽 ze2 and 沨 feng1 are constructed similarly, with the 氵water radical on the left and phonetic component on the right. if An Ze represents water, i.e. that which gives An Zhe life/origin, then Lu Feng represents wind (沨 feng1, (onomatopoeia) the sound of flowing water or wind). and what is wind?

不知道是哪一刻，呜呜的风声从他耳边响起 —— 是旷野里的风声，他以前最喜欢的东西。 He didn't know exactly when it began, but the wind was crying mournfully in his ear — it was the sound of wind howling through the wilderness. It used to be his favorite thing in the world. (ch. 2)

his favorite thing in the world, you say...

audio from @/ high5ifyourestillalive on tiktok!

So, they're friends. Good friends. Just friends.