Tip to the Traveler: Chinese Names
Whether you’re going to travel in China or deal with some Chinese people persons in some other situations, it’s a good idea to get to know the basics about Chinese names. As the great Chinese philosopher Confucius himself once said, “if you don’t get the names right, you cannot speak properly.”
One major difference between Chinese and Western names is that Chinese family name comes before given name - so John Doe in the U.S. would be Doe John in China. For a better example, consider Hu Jintao, the current president of China. Hu is the man’s family name and Jintao his given name (Jintao literally means “Colorful Waves”). With very rare exceptions, Chinese family names have only one syllable in them, like Hu, or Mao; many given names, on the other hand, contain two syllables, like Jintao or Zedong (“Benefits the East”). So that’s one way to tell the difference between someone’s family name and his given name. This rule has its limitations, however, as there are many one-syllable given names. There was, for instance, the great Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai, or his contemporary, another great poet, Du Pu – Li and Du are their family names and Bai and Pu their given names. When in doubts, do ask, so that you don’t mix up someone’s family and given name. Li Bai the poet would not be very happy if some addressed him as Mr. Bai; that is the equivalent of calling Joe Smith Mr. Joe. (That Li Bai was a terribly arrogant man anyway; it is said that he once made a eunuch favored at the imperial court to take off boots for him as he got himself comfortable to draft a letter for the emperor)
Just as in the West, addressing a Chinese by his given name only indicates familiarity. If a tourist feels he knows a Chinese well or is on friendly terms with someone, he can certainly get on the first-name basis. Just don’t do that with a person whom one hardly knows or who is senior in age or status. Formality or respect can be shown by addressing a person by surname with prefixes such as Mr. or Ms. Chinese words for Mr. and Ms. are respectively “Xiangsheng” and “Nushi.” For example, Wang Xiaosheng (Mr. Wang) or Chang Nushi (Ms. Chang). One can also, of course, address people with their official titles – “Director Wang” or “Professor Liu” – just don’t call people with their surnames only, with nothing attached to them, which is a kind of rude, as if it were an English nobleman speaking to his servant.
With regard to ladies, one particular thing we should note is that Chinese women keep their maiden names after they marry; as a rule they don’t adopt their husbands’ family names. So, young woman Yao Caihong who marries Dong Jianhua is still Yao Caihong; she does not become Dong Caihong. One should not, therefore, try to deduce a Chinese person’s surname from his or her spouse’s surname. In this regard the practice in Taiwan is somewhat different; there some Chinese women do add their husbands’ surnames to their own full names; so Yao Caihong over there may become Dong Yao Caihong after she marries Dong Jianhua.
Back to formality and familiarity: a Western tourist may notice that sometimes Chinese address their friends and colleagues their surnames with terms such “Lao” or “Xiao” added - “Lao Dong” or “Xiao Dong,” for example. Lao means “old” and Xiao means “little” or “young.” Someone who’s younger than Dong may call him “Old Dong” whereas someone who’s younger than him may call him “Little Dong.” Seniority is recognized to a greater extent in China than in the West, so people don’t mind the age reference implied in these names. It is not very endearing, of course, to remind a woman of the fact that she’s getting on age-wise; certain matters are just the same everywhere.
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