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| Written by Administrator | | Tuesday, 08 November 2005 | Chinese surnames have appeared in the matrilineal society. At that time, the mother was the center of a clan. Using the title of clan to make a difference between family and marriage, the title of clan was usually connected with some living things and natural phenomenon. Later on, the titles were developed into surnames, like Xiong (Bear), Niu ( Cow), Yun ( cloud). In the ancient times, the form of address was added with place of birth, job title and name of ancestor. Once this title had been set down, it became a surname.
The source of Chinese surnames was mainly as follows: 1. In the matrilineal society, people usually took their mother’s name as surname. So many surnames are connected with female character components , such as Jiang(姜)、Yao(姚)、Ji(姬). 2 .Animals which people worshiped in ancient times became surnames, such as马(horse)、牛(cow)、羊(sheep)、龙(dragon). 3.The names of ancestors became surnames, such as赵 (Zhao)、宋(Song)、秦(Qing)、吴(Wu). 4. In ancient times, there were some official positions like上官(Shangguang)、司马(Sima)、司徒(Situ) and later on they become the surnames of their generations. 5. The rank of nobility of ancestors became surnames, such as王(Wang)、侯(Hou)、公孙(Gongshun). 6. where you lived and scenery became surnames ,such as东郭 (Dongguo)、西门(Ximen)、池(Chi)、柳(Liu). 7. A person’s occupation became a surname - the people who made pottery, use 陶( Tao)as their surname. Some even take their Chinese ancestors as Surnames .The Chinese ancestor name 轩辕 (XuanYuan) became a surname.
Chinese surnames can have one or more characters. A Chinese surname with one character is called a single surname, and a name with two or more characters is called a compound name. There is no exact number to show how many surnames there are in China. We only know that a book, << Hundreds of Surname>> , appeared in the Song Dynasty. It collected five hundred Chinese surnames, and 60 compound surnames. 5000 Chinese surnames appeared in a documentary on Chinese history. Today there are over 200 common surnames . 张(zhang)、王 (Wang)、李 (Li)、赵(Zhao)、刘(Liu) are common single surnames, and 诸葛(Zhuge)、欧阳(OuYang)、司徒(Situ) are common compound surnames.
Chinese given names have their own traditional characteristic. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the surname first and the given name second. The given name may have one or two characters. In ancient times, Chinese names were more complicated than modern times. They had a style, and a literary name. A style was taken at the age of twenty by men and at age of fifteen by women. People who had status and were well educated had their own literary names. The literary name could come from where they lived or what their interests were. For example, LiBai, a great poet in Tang dynasty, lived in Qinglian town , SiChuan province, and he gave himself the literary name: Qinglian lay Buddhist.
Chinese names usually have a certain meaning and express some wishes. Some names embody locations, time and natural phenomenon of birth like京(Beijing)、晨(Morning)、冬(Winter)、雪(Snow). Some name virtues, like忠(loyal)、义(obligation) 礼(manner)、信(faith). Some name wish health such as happiness, like健(health)、寿(long life)、松(the life as long as pine trees)、福(happiness). Usually there is a difference between a man’s name and a women’s name. A man’s name may use powerful characters, like虎 (Tiger)、龙(dragon)、雄( hero)、伟( great)、刚(solid)、强( Strong)” but for women’s name ,soft and beautiful characters may be used, like凤(Phoenix)、花(Flower)、玉(Jade)、彩(colourful)、娟(graceful)、静(quiet)”
Nowadays, people are not as particular about their names as people were in ancient times。 Generally, today people have a nickname, and a name. They don’t have style and literary names anymore and don’t follow a pattern of using generation names
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