Page 254 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 247
Thus, nakedness may mean any of three different things: it may indicate nothing more
than a primitive state of civilisation; it may be an indictable offence or part of the
punishment for that offence; lastly it may serve a ritual purpose as in the rain-making
ceremony (it may also be part of a trick).

Name-giving

mingming

Chinese names have two components. Every Chinese has a surname or family name
(xing), which is written first: that is, it precedes the given name. The xing consists almost
invariably of a single character, and is therefore monosyllabic. Altogether, there
are hardly more than 400 different family names, with the result that millions of Chinese
are called Wang or Li. Until the Revolution of 1911, persons with the same family name
could not marry, apart from exceptional cases – for example, if it could be proved that
they had had no common ancestor for at least two thousand years. Families kept
genealogical records which in many cases extended back into prehistoric times, and
which are in general reliable from about AD 1200 onwards.
Before the Revolution, when a woman married she did not lose her family name
altogether, but often retained it along with her new family name, i.e. that of her husband.
(This is still customary in Taiwan.) When a child is born it first of all receives a pet-name
such as ‘little lion’ or ‘little fatty’. A little later, it gets its personal name, its ming, which
usually consists of two characters. The ming is chosen according to certain rules which
are often set out in verse form. All the children, or at least all the sons belonging to the
same generation, get the same character as first (or, more rarely, second) component of
the ming. As we saw, many millions of Chinese have identical family names, and two
persons with the same family name may be related. It is here that the code poem plays a

part. For example, suppose that a visitor turns up who has the same family name and who
also knows the code poem in which his ming appears. From this, host and visitor can at
once establish whether or not they belong to the same generation of one family. This in
turn will affect the manner in which the visitor is received, and the way in which he is
addressed. Thus, it is almost impossible for an impostor to pass himself off as a relative.
At the age of ten, or shortly thereafter, the child is given a second name. This is a
monosyllable or disyllable which is chosen by the father as particularly suited to the child
in question with an eye to its future success and happiness. This second name – the zi – is
therefore symbolic. It is used by friends and strangers alike. Adults may add further
names to those they already possess.
Within the family, brothers and sisters are referred to in terms of relationship only:
‘older brother number two’, ‘younger sister number three’, where ‘older’ and ‘younger’
are with relation to the age of the speaker. Again, within the family, such forms of
address as ‘old two’, ‘maternal aunt two’ and so on may be used.