The Portland daily press., 1900-07-31
HOW THE CHINESE ARE
NAMED.
High Claims Made as to the Logic and
NaturaIness of theiv System.
(New York Sun J


Chinese nomenclature to reporter said:
''The majority of the names that you
see on signs of 1aundries or tea stores
kept by Cinnamon are simply fancy
names adopted for their suspicious sig
nihcance; for instance, Hop Sing means
deserving of prosperity, 'Woh Loong'
means success through concord, Nee
Wah' means integrity and harmony.
They are simply notices, having no refer
ence to the proprietor or the members of
a firm whatsoever. 10 call the proprietor
of laundry Nee Wah' is as absurd as
calling the members of a Sixth avenue
dry goods firm memo me impune
lacessit.'
Every properly constituted Chinaman
has five names besides his surname or
cognomen. The last is fixed and handed
down from one generation to another
There are more than 800 patronymics
known in China, not counting those OF
naturalizsd subjects who originated from
Tartary. Their derivation is various and
instructive, and they embody in their
curious hieroglyphic shapes many an
historic truth and reference to dynastic
changes. The family names of the first
Chinese ambassador to this country,
Chgin and jun, were at one time, about
500 b. c., the names of two principali-
ties under the Chow kings The de-
scendants of the great Shun, the ideal
ruler in the golden age of China, were
lords OF China. The descendants of one
of the younger brothers OF WI. founder
of the Chow dynasty, were the petty
sOvereigns OF jun. 1t is from this
family that the present minister to the
United States is descended
1.-The family of Wa comes from the
feudal system OF China, which existed
for z, 900 years. 1t was abolished by the
first Emperor of Tsin dynasty. He it
was who built the Great Wall.
Some names denote certain mental or
personal Eecullar1ties of those who first
bore them. Others were adopted on GER
tain occasions, as some grand events in
the lives OF those who assumed them.
Patronymics were known at the dawn of
the Chinese authentic history, but were
not extensively used in company with
the prsenomen in designation until Con-
fucius time. COnfucius's family name
of Kung was only in existence three
generations before he did it the honor of
bearing it. Kung mems an aperture.
Some men, born near certain rivers and
certain places, took their names from
them. A few patronymics are double, that
is, consisting of two characters and the
history of some of them is curious.
1.-The name of Ouyang, borne by a
former ConsuI-GeneraI IN this city was
derived in this way: An aged man named
Gu had no descendants except a grand
son, who had married but was as yet I'M
blessed with a male child to bear the
hOnored name The young man, being
s1ckIy, died, leaving his aged grandsire
on n to b,f
The widow, contrary to the custom of the
country and needless of the entreaties
OF the lonely old man, married again q
young man named Yang and soon after
her marriage gave birth to the pOsth-
umous son by her first husband. In the
meantime she had lost track of Gu, whom
she suppose to be dead. Time passed on
and the pOsthumOus descendant of the
Gus became a famous man, having at
tanned to the highest literary rank in the
empire. He took the name of his step
father, and had always been known by
the name of Yang. But the old gentle
man Gu was not dead, as it was sup
posed, but was living retirement. One
day a fortune teller told the old man
what had befallen his family.
The old gentleman was thunderstruck.
Amusement and joy struggled in his
bosom for the mastery. He could not be-
neve it until he had ascertained the truth
of it in person. He sought his quOndam
granddaughter-in-1aW S house. 1t hap
pened that his great grandson was riding
that day In the direction OF the ancestral
temple of the Yangs to pay his respects,
attended by a gay retlnue, and chance
contr1Ved meeting between them on the
street. Gu, having learned who was in
the sedan, got close to it's side ami with a
cane he had in his hand, began to bella
Dor him, the famous nteratus of the day
The attendants seized Gu, but on ac-
ZOE lis
him. An explanation followed. After
much wrangljng between Gu and the
Yangs, a compromise was made. The
young man paid his respects to both the
Gus and Yangs by adopting the name of
OuY Yang.
''Ihe name Lee, which you think has
been assumed by me, is merely my Chin
csc surname spelled with English letters.
Lee in Chinese means a plum, and is
Identical with Lilo, the surname of Ii
Hung Chang. But I prefer the long
sound of in double to the Short to
which some may by mistake give the long
sound and make the name sound like lie.
have not the honor of being the great
ministers relation. l haven t the claim
Of even being d forty fifth cousin. For
Lee or LII, is as common in China as
Smith is here, and is borne by larger
number Of persons than any other name.
Every male child born In China is
first called by his milk name When
he grows old enough to attend school he
takes a book name. When he has
learned the mysteries of composition he
completes for literary hOnOrs under an as
sumed name, which is finally adopted
When he successfully passes his examina-
lions and obtains his degree his equals
address him by another, either coined
by them or adopted by him. At his mar
rage he adopts still another, called
style
In addition to those enumerated, nick
names are also common. They are all
fanciful. We do not have any conven-
tional Thomas, Richard or Henry
All our names are words which mean
something and are taken from the die
tionary. For example, Yam means by
imperial favor, and Phou or Foo, signi-
lies Wealth-that is, wealth 10y the EN-
peror's favor. Girls generally have only
the milk name, and oftentlmes, especial
" when they have grown to be women,
they are simply designated by numbers
according to the order of their birth