Generation name
| Generation name | |
|---|---|
| Chinese name | |
| Chinese | Tự bối or ban thứ |
| Hanyu Pinyin | zìbèi or bāncì |
| Jyutping | baan1 ci3 |
| HokkienPOJ | chū-pòe or pan-chhù |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 돌림자 or 항렬자 |
| Hanja | 돌림 tự or hành liệt tự |
| Revised Romanization | dollimja, hangnyeolja |
| McCune–Reischauer | tollimcha, hangnyŏlcha |
Generation name(variouslyzibeiorbanciin Chinese;tự bối,ban thứortên thế hệin Vietnamese;hangnyeoljain Korea) is one of the characters in a traditionalChinese,VietnameseandKoreangiven name, and is so called because each member of a generation (i.e.siblingsand paternalcousinsof the same generation) share that character.
Generation poem
[edit]The sequence of generation names is typically prescribed and kept in record by ageneration poem(Chinese:Ban thứ liênbāncì liánorChinese:Phái tự capàizì gē) specific to each lineage. While it may have amnemonic function,these poems can vary in length from around a dozen characters to hundreds of characters. Each successive character becomes the generation name for successive generations.[1]After the last character of the poem is reached, the poem is usually recycled, though occasionally it may be extended.
Generation poems were usually composed by a committee of family elders whenever a new lineage was established through geographical emigration or social elevation. Thus families sharing a common generation poem are considered to also share a common ancestor and have originated from a common geographical location.
Important examples are the generation poems of the descendants of theFour Sages(Confucius,Mencius,Yan Hui,Zengzi): theKong,Meng,Yan,andZengfamilies (the Four Families,Tứ thị). During theMing dynasty,Emperor JianwenrespectedConfuciusandMenciusso much that he honored their families with generation poems. These generation poems were extended with the permission of theChongzhen Emperorof the Ming dynasty, theTongzhi Emperorof theQing dynasty,and the Ministry of Interior of theBeiyang government.[2][3]
Hi ngôn công ngạn thừa, hoành văn trinh thượng diễn;
Hưng dục truyện kế quảng, chiêu hiến khánh phồn tường;
Lệnh đức duy thùy hữu, khâm thiệu niệm hiển dương;
Kiến đạo đôn an định, mậu tu triệu di thường;
Dụ văn hoán cảnh thụy, vĩnh tích thế tự xương.
The generation poem used by theSong dynastyHouse of Zhaowas "Nhược phu, nguyên đức duẫn khắc, lệnh đức nghi sùng, sư cổ hi mạnh, thời thuận quang tông, lương hữu ngạn sĩ, đăng nhữ tất công, bất duy thế tử, dữ thiện chi tòng, bá trọng thúc quý, thừa tự do đồng."[4][5][6]The 42 characters were split into three groups of 14 for the offspring of Song Taizu and his two brothers.[7]
Another notable generation poem is theNguyễn dynasty'sĐế hệ thi( đế hệ thi 'Poem of the Generations of the Imperial Family'), created by EmperorMinh Mạng.
Practice
[edit]Generation names may be the first or second character in a given name, and normally this position is kept consistent for the associated lineage. However some lineages alternate its position from generation to generation. This is quite common forKorean names.Sometimes lineages will also share the sameradicalin the non-generation name.
A related custom is the practice of naming two children from the characters of a common word. In Chinese, most words are composed of two or more characters. For example, by taking apart the wordjiàn-kāngKiện khang('healthy'), the Wang family might name one son Wáng Jiàn ( vương kiện ) and the other Wáng Kāng ( vương khang ). Another example would beměi-lìMỹ lệ('beautiful'). Daughters of the Zhous might be named Zhōu Měi ( chu mỹ ) and Zhōu Lì ( chu lệ ).
Besides theHanmajority, the MuslimHui Chinese people[note 1]have also widely employed generation names, which they calllunzi paibie;[note 2]for instance, in theNa family,the five most recent generations used the characters Wan, Yu, Zhang, Dian, and Hong. This practice is slowly fading since the government began keeping public records of genealogy.[8]
TheYao peopleofGuangdonghas also adopted the Chinese name system, albeit with extensions known as "sub-family-names" to indicate branches. Some groups have more recently (circaSong Dynasty) adopted the generation name system with little modification.[9]
Example
[edit]The following is a fictional family to illustrate how generation names are used.
| Family member | Chinese form | Full name | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family name | Generation name | Given name | ||
| Father | Li | Yu | Feng | Li Yufeng |
| Father's sibling | Li | Yu | Yan | Li Yuyan |
| Mother | Wang | De | Mei | Wang Demei |
| Mother's sibling | Wang | De | Song | Wang Desong |
| First child | Li | Wen | Long | Li Wenlong |
| Second child | Li | Wen | Feng | Li Wenfeng |
| Third child | Li | Wen | Peng | Li Wenpeng |
| WangDesong VươngĐứcTùng | WangDemei VươngĐứcMai | LiYufeng LýDụPhong | LiYuyan LýDụNham | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LiWenlong LýVănLong | LiWenfeng LýVănPhượng | LiWenpeng LýVănBằng | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Affiliation character
[edit]In place of a biological generation, the character could be used as an indicator of seniority and peer groups in religious lineages. Thus, in the layBuddhistcircles of Song and Yuan times, it could be Dào (Đạo'dharma'), Zhì (Trí'prajñā,wisdom'), Yuán (Viên'complete, all-embracing'[10][note 3]), Pǔ (Phổ'universal'[note 4]), Jué (Giác'bodhi,enlightenment'), Shàn (Thiện'skillful, virtuous'[11]). The characters demonstrated belonging to a devotionalist group with a social status close to the family one. The affiliation character Miào (Diệu'profound, marvelous') usually was used by women, relating them toGuanyin,asMiàoshàn( diệu thiện ) was her name at birth.
In the same way, taking the monastic vows meant the break with the family lineage, which was shown by application of theBuddhist surnameShì (Thích,Thíchin Vietnam) in one'sDharma name,the first character ofGautama Buddha's title in Chinese:Shìjiāmóuní( thích già mưu ni, 'Śākyamuni',lit.'Sage of the Śakyas').
Notes
[edit]- ^Some authors consider the Hui people to be a Han Chinese subgroup.
- ^[sic], possible corruption oflùnzì páibèiLuận tự bài bối, an alternate term for tự bối. Not to be confused withLuận tư bài bối.
- ^Viên corresponds topūrṇa('teeming, filled') in Sanskrit, as in theComplete Enlightenment(Pūrṇabuddha viên giác ).
- ^Phổ is the equivalent ofviśvain Sanskrit.[10]
References
[edit]- ^Michener, James A.(1959). "IV: From the starving village".Hawaii.Fawcett Crest Book.New York:Ballantine Books.pp.480–85.ISBN0-449-21335-8.
- ^(in Chinese)Khổng tính (The Kong family, descendants of Confucius)ArchivedSeptember 3, 2011, at theWayback Machine
- ^(in Chinese)Mạnh tính (The Meng family, descendants of Mencius)ArchivedJanuary 16, 2006, at theWayback Machine
- ^"Chiết giang triệu kiến phi _ tân lãng bác khách".
- ^Lương vĩnh nhạc, triệu công đĩnh (1 July 2014).Bát trảo ngư gia trường ── hài tử ái ngoạn bất thị tội.Minh song. pp. 107–.ISBN978-988-8287-38-3.
- ^Chaffee, John W(1999).Branches of Heaven: A History of the Imperial Clan of Sung China.Harvard Univ Asia Center. p. 25.ISBN978-0-674-08049-2.
- ^Lee, Thomas H. C. (January 2004).The New and the Multiple: Sung Senses of the Past.Chinese University Press. pp. 357–.ISBN978-962-996-096-4.
- ^Susan Debra Blum;Lionel M. Jensen(2002).China off center: mapping the margins of the middle kingdom(illustrated ed.). University of Hawaii Press. p.121.ISBN0-8248-2577-2.Retrieved2011-04-09.
ma surname hui.
- ^YU, Xiao (2011-08-10)."Dao tộc đích hán thức tính thị hòa tự bối chế độ"[Chinese surname and generation names in Yao people].China Folklore Network / China Folklore Society(in Chinese).Retrieved23 December2022.
- ^abWilliam Edward Soothill&Lewis Hodous,1937,A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms.
- ^A. Charles Muller,Digital Dictionary of Buddhism.
External links
[edit]Examples of generation poems:
- Thegeneration poems of the Ming dynasty princes(in Chinese)
- TheShaolin lineage poem,used by monks at theShaolin Monasteryand representing the continuity of theDharma transmission
- Thegeneration poem of the descendants of Huang Qiaoshan(871–953)
- Ten generation poems of the Cantonese Lee familyArchived2010-10-07 at theWayback Machine(in Chinese)