China Exchange 1999 - International Programs @ TCC

All names in China sound very interesting to the ears of a person from the West. When you learn the translation of place names you are often surprised at the literalness of the names of cities and provinces in China. Beijing means northern capital, Shanxi, the name of a provence southwest of the city, means west of the mountians, etc. People's names are very different. I first noticed this when students were doing their introductions during the first classes. They would often mention what the persons name meant. The meanings were often very beautiful and poetic.

Enjoying a Chinese hot-pot dinner with a group of my students. Have I gained weight?

While dining with a group of students from my Tuesday class, I asked them to share with me the meanings of their names and the story of how they got them.

Lo Hui is from Hubei province in the east central part of China. Hubei means north of a great lake. Luo Hui said that, as a newborn, she cried very loudly, loud enough that her father could hear her before he entered the hospital. He assumed that a baby with so strong a voice must be a boy. She was named Hui which means bright future, but because she was at first thought to be a male her name is usually given to boys. She said that this put her into some interesting situations when she was growing up.

Xiao Li is from a coastal province south of Beijing, Shandong, which translates as east of the mountains. Her given name, Li, means beautiful. After her birth her father searched through a dictionary to find an appropriate name for her.

Zhang Gao Ming also cried very loudly as an infant. Her name means to speak or sing in a loud voice. Zhang Gao Ming said that the name given to a child is supposed to influence its future but that sometimes the name has the opposite effect from that intended. This was the case with her, she says that she has a very poor singing voice. She is from Anhui province in the east central part of China.

Ge De Hua was given his Chinese name by Hank Hund, who taught the Chinese class that he took at TCC last semester. My new surname, Ge, means lance or spear. De means virtue or goodness and Hua means magnificent or splendid and also stands for China. So I guess that, all together, it means that I am a spear of goodness thrust into China, although many here might argue with that interpretation. Everyone laughs when I tell them my name. I thought that, maybe, Professor Hund had pulled a joke on me. My dinner companions explained that the laughter was because there is a famous actor in China whose name is very similar.

 

I asked my student to write about the meaning of their names and to tell me how they got them. Here some of the responses:

• Yu Xinyi - "I was born at 6:20 in the morning. The second word of my name means the time when the sun rises. My family members were happy when they knew I was a girl. The last word of my name means 'delightful'".
• Li Dongdong - "My name was given by my dad. Dong means season of the Winter but double dong, when it is read, is like the sounding of a drum - dong dong."
• Zhang Yangin - "Yangin means swallow. My parents want me to work as diligently as a swallow does and also to live as steadfastly as it does."
• Luo Mengyu - "Meng means dreaming. Yu means jade. Mengyu means dreaming of jade. When my mother was going to give birth to me she constantly dreamed of jade."
• Huang Rui - "My Chinese name means auspicious prospects. It sounds like a boy's name but I'll cherish it in my heart, because it was given by my parents with their hope and love."
• Xie Lijian - "The door-bar to protect the family. It means that I am a key man. My mother gave me the name."

Several students said that their names had no particular meaning.

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ED GIBBS
egibbs@tcc.edu
 
 

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