Chinese Family Trees and Titles

In the english translation of "The Rebirth Of The Malicious Empress Of Military Lineage," some family terms are not translated to english. This can be very confusing for english readers as english doesn't have a specific word for "My Father's younger brother's daughter" - everyone that is a parent's sibling's child is just a "Cousin." There also different variants of Chinese based on region, so there are multiple words - especially for close family members.

One could spend quite a bit of time researching Mandarin vs Cantonese words for family members. There are many list of relative names out there (see References) but are in lots of different places. So, on this page, there are images of a family tree with the **Vocative/Address,** alternatives, and formal term for each relation. In addition, that same information is in a table for easy searching.

As this Novel also includes the "DiShu" system so an explanation of the DiShu System is below with names for Wives and Concubines.

NOTE: The creator of these images is not a Mandarin or Cantonese speaker. If there are errors, please comment - this was mostly and act of compiling info from google searches and, well, that isn't always accurate.

## Maternal Family

### Maternal Relatives Table

\* = Elder/Younger than the EGO, \*\* = Elder/Younger than EGO's Mother, ^ = Elder/Younger than EGO's Grandparent

### Maternal Extended Family Relatives Table

\* = Elder/Younger than the EGO, \*\* = Elder/Younger than EGO's Mother, ^ = Elder/Younger than EGO's Grandparent, ^^ = Prefix is based on if it is EGO's Grandfather's Second (Èr), Third (Sān), or so on Brother/Brother's Wife.

## Paternal Family

### Paternal Extended Family Relatives Table

\* = Elder/Younger than the EGO, \*\* = Elder/Younger than EGO's Mother, ^ = Elder/Younger than EGO's Grandparent, ^^ = Prefix is based on if it is EGO's Grandfather's Second (Èr), Third (Sān), or so on Brother/Brother's Wife.

## DiShu System

This novel references "Di Sons/Daughters" and "Shu Sons/Daughters" which is referencing wife-born vs concubine-born system of hierarchy. Basically, "Di Children" are the 'legitimate children' (those that inherit their family's wealth/position/etc.) and the "Shu Children" are 'illegitimate children' and thus treated as lower status. "Di children" are either born of the first wife OR (after the first wife has died) from new wife or the children of a concubine is raised to be the wife. This is why Shen Gui and Shen Wan are considered "Di Sons" but their mother (Old Shen Furen) was not the First Wife. While the novel doesn't dive into a large extensive household, the ranks of concubines are also depicted in the below image and listed in the below table.

### Wife/Concubine Table

The following is a table of wives and concubines listed in order of rank (Highest to Lowest).

## References

1. From an Chinese to English Translator of this novel: https://chubbycheeksthoughts.com/2016/12/17/formal-family-titles/
2. "What to call your Cantonese Relatives": https://littlechinesethings.wordpress.com/2019/01/26/relatives-in-cantonese/
3. Family Words in Chinese Languages: https://omniglot.com/language/kinship/chinese.htm
4. Chinese (Mandarin) Family: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chinese\_(Mandarin)/Family
5. The Very Complicated Chinese Family Tree: http://blog.tutorming.com/mandarin-chinese-learning-tips/family-tree-relatives-in-chinese
6. How do say family members in Chinese: https://www.cchatty.com/How-do-say-family-members-in-Chinese-g-100043?hl=en
7. Grandparents: https://www.quora.com/Which-is-the-correct-way-to-say-maternal-grandfather-in-Mandarin-laoye-%E5%A7%A5%E7%88%B7-or-waigong-%E5%A4%96%E5%85%AC?top\_ans=39107788
8. Brother-in-law: https://www.quora.com/In-Hong-Kong-what-do-you-call-your-sister-in-laws-husband-in-Chinese
9. Wikipedia - Chinese Kinship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese\_kinship
10. Dishu System: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishu\_system
11. Ranking of Wives and Concubines: https://drwcn.tumblr.com/post/641171821217153024/hierarchy-of-the-chinese-harem-working-on-lwjs
12. Dishu System: https://chubbycheeksthoughts.com/2016/12/31/information-for-historical-novel/