To Use or Not Use Modern Place Names on Inscriptions

[ALing]

Although my Chinese is quite limited, I am helping my relative with a headstone inscription.

Should the traditional place names be inscribed to reflect the historical usage; or would more modern nomenclature be more practical for later generations to search their family roots?

From the Village Database:

Province: Guangdong
Heung: Yuet Shan
Market: Sui Hou
Village: Siu Long Lay


This was the original proposed inscription “廣東開平單水口月山鄉肇龍里” but it did not make any sense to my younger Chinese speaking cousins. They say that Heung is no longer used and that Markets are not official designations.

I should note that Kiu Tau Village (also in the Village Database) was left out from the proposed inscription due to lack of space.

They say that this “廣東開平月山鎮橋頭村肇龍里” would be more official according to current maps.

So according to them:

Province: Guangdong
Town: Yuet Shan
Village Area: Kiu Tau
Subvillage: Siu Long Lay

The differences seem very minor but my young cousins were truly confused. Any Chinese genealogy perspectives would be appreciated. Once the headstone is engraved, it will be forever.

Thank you.

[Henry]

ALing,

I am certainly no expert in setting up the the headstone inscription, but, I have used the inscriptions from headstones to identify & locate ancestral villages where the village genealogy book could be found to trace out the family lineage.

For my mom's grave stone, I used all Chinese traditional characters in accordance with the geographic administration divisions.

My view is that Chinese born in China prior to 1960, the inscriptions should be comparable to what you would find in the Village Database, easier to identify & locate villages.

For those born in China after 1960, use simplified Chinese characters and contemporary geographic designations.

Henry

[gckimm]

Hi Aling:

That is a very interesting question, and I don't think there is necessarily one correct answer.

Because administrative divisions in China have changed so often over time, headstone inscriptions vary in terms of how accurately they reflect the geographical location of someone's ancestral place. For example, my great-grandfather's headstone says that he was born in Toishan County. It was called Toishan at the time of his death, but at the time he was born, the county was still called Sun Ning.

Sometimes, the identification of the ancestral place depends on who is writing the inscription and how much information that person has about its current (at the time of death) location.

Many Chinese of older generations, even those born in the U.S., learned from their elders a certain way of naming their ancestral places. In my own record keeping, I use these characters, if I have them, even if the places named no longer exist under those names. I also record the present location, if I know what it is.

I think what goes on a headstone inscription is really a matter of personal preference. While I agree that the present location may help younger generations to find the place more easily, I am planning to use the older place names on my own headstone, as a way of showing respect for our family history. At the same time, I will make sure that younger members of my family have information about the present location.

Greg

[ALing]

Thank you, Henry and Greg, for your perspectives and explanations. Very helpful.