St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-27
CHINESE NAMES.
An Interesting Statement. Fith Some Facts
That Mau Cause Surprise

Yam Phon Lee, who is apparently one Of
the many educated Chinese gentlemen liv-
ing in New England, writes an interesting
communication to the Springfield Republican
on the subject of Chinese names, which few
Americans know anything about. His own
name had been spoken of in connection
with lecture he was about to deliver and
Yam Phon Lee writes:
That am not called All Wing or All Sin
or Hop Sing or Ching Chang Chung may be
a matter of surprise to You. For most of he
names that my countrymen bear or are said
to bear in this country conform TO those
models of Celestial Nomenclature But tn
fact is the majority of the names that Won
see on signs of laundries or tea stores kept
bv Cinnamon are simply fancy names
adopted for their suspicious significance; for
instance, Hop Sing means deserving Of
prosperity, ''Woh Loong" means success
through concord Nee VAN means
Integrity and harmony" You may say
they are simply notices, having no refer
ence to the proprietor or the members OF
firm whatsoever. To call the proprietor OF
one of the laundries here Nee Wah' would
would be as absurd as calling the members OF
the dry goods firm of Forbes " Wallace
memo me impune lacessit."
Every properly constituted Chinaman has
five names-the prenOmina of the Romans,
besides his surname or cognOmen. The last
is fixed and handed down from one genera
ton to another. There are more than
three hundred patronymics known in China,
not counting those Of naturaiZed subjects
who originated from Tartary. Their deriva-
I i in Il
| body in their curious hierogvphlc shapes
many historic truth and reference of dyn-
astic changes. The family names of the
first Chinese Ambassador to this country and
/ of the present Minister Chin aud jun,
were ut one time, say 800 B. c.. the names
of two principalities under the Chow kings
The descendants of the great Shuu, the ideal
ruler in the golden age OF China. were lords
| of Chin The descendants of one of the
Younger brothers of WI, founder of the
Chow dynasty, were the petty sOvercigns If
jun. Hence a contemplation of these two
. names carries Us back TO China's fcudal
times. The feudal system lasted nearly p
600 years till the first Emperor of the Tsin
dynasty abolised it. In subsequent times it
has been revived under modified FORMS but
it has never recovered from the blow that
the builder of the great wall dealt it. The
principle of the Chinese system is similar to
feudalism in Europe, that is the holding of
lands by military tenure.
Some names denote certain mental or per-
so nal peculiarities of those who first bore
them. Others W ere adopted on certain occa-
sions, as some grand events in the lives OF
those who assumed them. Patronymics
were known at the dawn OF the Chinese au-
thentic history, but were not extensively
used in company the prenomen in desigua-
ton till Ccnfucius' time. Confucius' fam
lily name Kuug was only in existence three
generations before he did it the honor of
bearing it. kung means an aperture. Some
men born near certain rivers and certain
places took their names from them.
a few patronymcs are double, that is con-
sisting ef two characters.
The name Lee, which you think has been
assumed by me, is merely by Chinese sur
name spelled with English letters. You
don't SUPPOSE that the Anglo-SaXon race
have the monopoly of names in addition to
the monOpolies of religion, philosophy and
trade, do you! Lee in Chinese means "a
plum' and is identical with Ii, which is the
surname of Ii, which is the surname of Ii
Hung Chang, called 'Bismarc6 of China. -
But prefer the long sound in double to the
short to which some NAV by mistake give
|
honor of being the great minister's relation,
| haven't the claim even Of a forty-ifth cous-
in. For Lee, or Ii, is as common as Smith
and is borne by larger number Of persons
than any other name.
Every child born in China Is first called by
his 'milk name" When he grows old
enough to attend school he takes "book
name" When he has learned the mysteries
Of composition he completes for literary
honors under an assumed name which is
finally adopted when he successfully passes
his examinations and obtains his degree.
His equals address him by another, either
coined by themselves or adopted by him. At
his marriage he adopts still another, called
'stye." In addition to those enumerated,
nicknames are also common. They are fan
ciful. We do not have any conventional
''Thomas, Richard and Henry and the
rest. All our names are words which mean
something and are taken from the diction-
airy. For example, Van means Shy imperial
favor" and Phou, or Foo, signifies wealth,
that is, wealth by the emperor's favor. Girls
generally have only the "milk name" and
often times, especially when they have grown
to be women, they are simply designated by
numbers according to the order of their birth.
Interiors and juniors never address thei1
superiors and elders by name, but always by
some title, and children are forbidden by
the cannons of Confucius to mention any of
their fathers string of names, except that
which is given him by his equals, much les;
be named after him. In the same family no
names are ever duplicated. People who are
not scholars have only the milk name the
equality name', and if married, the matri-
monial style. Coolies and other laborer:
oftentimes lack the equality name. 'Ah
SIM name Of the hero in Bret Harte's funny
poem, is probably a milk name given by
father of the hero when he drew nutriment
from the fountains of infant life Sin
means 'frst'-he was probably the first token
of his parents welded bliss. 'Ah, is some
thing like the lie in Charlie, prefxed, instead
to add euphony to the word "Sin". Some
times it is spelled Gar" It has no signif
canoe Of its own.