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Post by David Wong on Jan 20, 2006 15:48:20 GMT -5
I don't know how many of you know about generational poems. I first ran into it last year onto a website whilst I was doing some research on my family name. Originally I thought it was just a chant or the usual Chinese ausipicious stuff ... but it's more than that. Much more. Apparently, every generation in a particular clan is given one character from the Generational poem. So a succeeding generation is given the next, and so on. So sometimes you find people of the same clan years apart in age, but belonging to the same generation! So what happens to the last recipient on the list, when there are no more chinese characters to be assigned? My understanding is that a "new" list were to have been issued by imperial decree (  i don't know). My kids are the last of our family line's generational poem. I would love to have had known of this information before we gave them Chinese names ...but I do also know that they usually adopt the GP name when they reach adulthood. Now, I don't know if there is a female equivalent... Interesting stuff. Now when I meet a person with a same surname and a middle name similar to a family member, I now know that not only are we related, but I know which generation they are from! Check out some of this fascinating stuff at Henry Tom's and Erik Huang's websites: mysite.verizon.net/vzepzaui/genealogy02.htmlwww.geocities.com/bx_huang/ancestral_poem |
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Post by Raymond on Jan 20, 2006 16:14:25 GMT -5
I read somewhere on the internet perhaps that once a Chinese family clan's generational poem has been exhausted of generation names, the poem is simply repeated. I'm assuming that the length of the poem would preclude any confusion since the span of time elapsed would entail hundreds or even several thousand years before generation names are repeated for a clan. Also, it appears to me that Chinese females also have some sort of structured naming system. I've run across too many Chinese female siblings with the same middle name, and this is not a likely coincidence. Verifications are needed on these two subjects.
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Post by Henry on Jan 20, 2006 16:31:47 GMT -5
Gentlemen ( Ray & Vancouver ),
I believe what Ray says about repeating the poem may be true,but, what, I think is more likely is that there probably is a clan convention and a new poem is adopted. Unfortunately, generational characters (bon-pie) from the generational poem is not really followed in China anymore - currently, it seems that the overseas Chinese are more concerned about their genealogy & heritage than Chinese on the mainland.
Henry
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Post by Henry on Jan 20, 2006 17:16:09 GMT -5
As I understand it, the characters in a generational poem represent generations in a vertical manner ( inter-generational), while the same character (not a character from the generational poem) is used horizontally across a generation for siblings of either gender and for first cousins (intra-generational) . This is true in my family, however, I do not know if there is a generational poem that covers this horizontal naming convention.
Henry
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Post by David Wong on Jan 21, 2006 18:57:27 GMT -5
Generation name ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generational_name ) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Generation name is half of the two-Chinese character given name given to newborns in the same generation of one surname lineage. It is called banci in China and haengnyeol ireum in Korea. (See also Chinese name, Korean name, and Vietnamese name.) Often, the banci was usually given to only males in a generation, although this practice is different from family to family and has changed over time. In Chinese practice, generational names are not universally used although they are quite common. The generation name is written in one character and is typically prescribed by a generation poem (banci lian or paizi ge in Chinese) written centuries ago. Each of the poem's characters is to be a generation name. After the last character of the poem is reached, the poem may be extended, or (more usually) the generation cycle is reset and the first character is reused. The poem varies in length from two dozen characters to a hundred characters. In Chinese practice, the banci was shared by a lineage having a common ancestor and generally originating in the same Chinese location. Thus a single Chinese surname has many different generational names associated with it, and people not sharing the same banci are seen as coming from different families. The common generation character may be either the first (more common) or second one of the two-character name, but it is in the same position for everyone who shares it. For some families, the position switches from generation to generation, so that one generation will share the same first character in the given name, while the next will share the same second character. Futhermore, branches of the same family who are in different locations tend to share the same radical in the third character. |
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Post by David Wong on Jan 22, 2006 15:41:59 GMT -5
I thought I'd try something intriguing ... What would happen if I googled my family name and Chinese generation character? Using my trusty MAC, I placed the inquiry in both English and Chinese...
Well ... other than my family members, I found a few folks around the world who shared my family and generational names! I've sent off emails to these people to see if we're related. And the locales of these people are in the places where my grandmother had told me when I was a youngster - various places our ancestors had relocated over 100 years ago.
I will keep you updated on my search.
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Post by Raymond on Jan 24, 2006 15:58:12 GMT -5
Vancouver,
The result of your Google query so far absolutely amazes me! But on second thought, this makes good rational sense. I guess the amazing element is the fact that you can do this on a simple Google search. I hope this inquisitive exercise is the beginning of new and welcomed adventures in reconnecting long-lost cousins for you!
Raymond
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Post by David Wong on Jan 27, 2006 15:40:39 GMT -5
Thanks Raymond. I'll inform you of my search results.
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dada
Member
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Post by dada on Apr 16, 2006 4:17:30 GMT -5
Hi! I am new in this forum. This is my first message.
Our family has a 20 character generational poem. I am the 12th. It is said that the poem started with the 16th generation. So I am the 27th generation. Although there are still 8 characters after me, representants of the clan has proposed another 20 character poem on 1993. The final version has been adopted on 2001.
I am overseas, so am very happy to have these information. I would like to return to my natal village to get more information on the clan.
Only the first 3 generations have the generational character in their name. Starting with my grand-father, the first character of the two-character name is different from that of the poem, but still used horizontally. But the horizontal sharing is very difficult due to the dispersion of the clan.
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i don't know). My kids are the last of our family line's generational poem. I would love to have had known of this information before we gave them Chinese names ...but I do also know that they usually adopt the GP name when they reach adulthood. Now, I don't know if there is a female equivalent...
