Page 4 - Gan's Family History

2 | P a g e
downwards on the right, while the
brothers of the first-borne are listed
laterally on the left. Descriptions of
each generation are confined in
relatively narrow, horizontal
divisions of the form. These spaces
contain information such as the
ancestor's name and aliases, date of
birth and death and official rank. The
proceeding generations are recorded
in a similar manner.
Jiapu usually does not have
prominent records of the women in
the family because in Chinese
families, greater emphasis is placed
on the sons who will carry on the
family name. When daughters marry,
they are considered a part of their
husband's family. Although their
names are mentioned in both their
family and in-law's Jiapu, their
significance is usually marginalized
since they are unlikely to extend the
family's lineage.
THE CHINESE SURNAME
T
he Chinese surname is of
utmost importance to the
Chinese in fixing one's identity
in the constellation of so many
representation of one's personality B
different dialect groups. A Chinese
name is self- identification, a
and recognition of one's legal rights
and symbol of one's existence.
A person's visible form will die but
his formless life will live on forever in
his NAME. Hence, there is a Chinese
2 Extracted from the book “Your Chinese Roots - The
Overseas Chinese Story” by Thomas Tsu-wee Tan
idiom that says, “One is not afraid to
be born with a bad destiny, but to be
given a bad name.”
According to Chinese Tradition,
people had a Family (Surname) Name,
which takes precedence and is thus
written first in the Chinese style,
followed by a Given (Personal) Name
or the Style Name. In some cases they
may sometimes have a Respectful
(Another) Name. Both Given Name
and Style Name could be used
independently.
The Chinese are very particular
about a person's name because they
believe that a name can represent a
person's fate while an inappropriate
name can change a person's initial
fate.
Family names are usually of one
Chinese character each though two-
character are quite rare these days.
Either the Given Name or the Style
Name could follow the Family Name.
Both Given and Style Name could be
used independently.
2
Surnames and Clan Names
efore the three dynasties of
Xia, Shang and Zhou (2140 -
256 BC), the people of China
already have surnames and clan
names.
According to Chinese legend,
Chinese surnames originated from
the virtuous Yellow Emperor Huang