what does the change in the ship’s name tell you about what has happened since the last season

I'm pretty sure this is chapter 1 but I may be wrong. To help: " The ship on which his father Pei was about to set sail had a Tartar name now. Last season she had had a perfectly good Chinese name, but in effort to curry favour with the conquering barbarians, the captain had renamed her after the Khan's favourite wife: Chabi