Contrary to popular belief, a Chinese surname is very different from a
Westerner's first name. The Chinese surname is placed before the person's name
while the latter is placed after. Take the names Woo Teck Hwa and Jason Smith
for example. 'Woo' is the surname of the person named Teck Hwa while 'Smith' is
Jason's surname. Notice the difference in positioning?
Like most Asian surnames, Chinese surnames are passed down from generations and
hold the family history in perpetuity. Chinese surnames tell others about the
person's history and are always retained even though the name may change. The
surname is often looked-upon as a symbol of a man's pride and honor. It depicts
the past glorious deeds the ancestors have achieved through 'blood and sweat.'
According to legends, Chinese surnames originated from the Emperor Fu Xi
(2852BC). He standardized all Chinese surnames and defined matrimonial
relationship. Thus a proper system of population census was established. It was
also believed that there is a close relationship between surnames and totem
worship; the early Chinese adopted the names or symbols of certain animals as
their surname (e.g. Long (2) which means dragon.) A song in the Shi Jing,
recounting the birth of Hou Ji, the earliest ancestor of the Zhou people, shows
clearly the link between surnames and totem worship. Jiang Yuan the consort of
the fiery Emperor prayed to God for a son. She followed his footprints for a
distance and became pregnant. The giant footprints actually belonged to a bear
the Zhou people then worshipped. They gave themselves the surname 'Ji', which
was made up of the characters 'Nu' and 'Chen'. These characters represented
Jiang Yuan and the bear, respectively.
A book of hundred surnames (Bai Jia Xing) was complied during the 10th century.
It recorded about 500 odd Chinese surnames and was one of the earlier surnames
books written. The surnames are arranged in rhymed lines without repetitions. In
the original copy that was lost, pictures of famous historical figures were
illustrated on the upper part of every page while the text was printed on the
lower part. The unknown author successfully combined the study of family names,
philology, sociology and pedagogy into one book, making it one of the most
popular books in history.
Contrary to popular belief, a Chinese surname is very different from a
Westerner's first name. The Chinese surname is placed before the person's name
while the latter is placed after. Take the names Woo Teck Hwa and Jason Smith
for example. 'Woo' is the surname of the person named Teck Hwa while 'Smith' is
Jason's surname. Notice the difference in positioning?
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