Chapter 7

Chinese Personal Names

14 April 1961

Central Intelligence Agency

 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-2

Washington, D.C.

This document represents one of a series of completed foreign names studies compiled by the Central
Intelligence Agency. There have been many contributors to this project, too numerous to mention, including
government linguists and language experts of the academic community.

The Agency is grateful for all the assistance it has received from individuals within and outside of the U. S.
Government since this unique undertaking would not have been possible without their professional
contributions.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

This online version was prepared by Professors Emeriti Edwin D. Lawson and Richard F. Sheil, State University
of New York, Fredonia. It is faithful to the original with some minimal editing except that evaluations by
experts in the field were added to aid the reader along with maps.
 Chinese Personal Names 7-3

Russian Federation

KazakstanUrumqi Mongolia
•
Shenyang
•
•Kashgar N. Korea
• Beijing*
Yinchuan

TIBET Xi'an•
Nanjing•
Pakistan Shanghai• Japan
•
•Lhasa Chengdu Wuhan•
Nep
al

•
Ba

Guangzhou Taiwan
My

•Ho
ngl

ng
an

Vie s
Ko
n
La o
a

g
ma
des

tna
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Map: People's Republic of China and neighboring countries

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Evaluation and Comment

There have been quite a number of publications about Chinese names, whether
surnames or given names, or both. Chinese Personal Names is a very unusual in that it
gives a careful and in-depth study and a comprehensive description of Chinese names
neatly and clearly.

To understand Chinese names, it is necessary to know the language. That is the

approach Chinese Personal Names has. The Part I, The Chinese Language, gives a brief
description of the Chinese language and thus readers are led to a very good preliminary
but necessary understanding and knowledge of Chinese names. This part clearly tells the
reader that in the Chinese language, “The written form doesn’t depend on phonetic
equivalent; it is for the eye only, just as the spoken form is for the ear.” (p. 10). Thus the
written characters carry much more weight than the spoken sounds.

As there are no declensional and inflectional systems in the Chinese language, words
depend on order and combination of characters for meaning. So meanings that are held
in Chinese names are determined by the way the usual two characters of given names
are arranged. If one exchanges the order of the last two characters of a given name,
different meanings may appear, and Chinese people set high value on the meaning of a
name.

Likewise, the tonal inflection is also important. As Part I points out, different tones
may have different meanings, and one character in one tone may even have many
different meanings. When readers have this knowledge, they will be naturally careful
when they come to the pronunciation, tone and the ordering of Chinese names. Readers
know, with the pre-knowledge of the language, they may address a different person in a
different tone and different order. That is very important in dealing with Chinese names.

Chinese Personal Names also explains the confusion of Chinese names Westerner
over the many dialects. There is not only the official dialect; there are also several major
dialects on the basis of areas. The explanation of dialects paves the way for the
importance of the use of telecodes in dealing with Chinese names. Since one character
may have several pronunciations and tones in terms of dialects, there is only one
telecode for one character, and the telecode system will surely help identity names.

Part I clearly tells the helpfulness of Wade-Giles in the transcription of Chinese

names, and it also reveals its paleness. A W-G form alone cannot identify a Chinese. As
the example given shows, “WU is W-G for four different characters representing four
different surnames. One needs to know which character may distinguish WU (0124) from
WU (0702), WU (2976) and WU (6762).”

Part II goes on to five further information about the formation of Chinese personal
names, in which we can find the order of recording of names, the structure of names,
and the numbering of family members. When talking about the number of names a
 Chinese Personal Names 7-5

person may have, Chinese Personal Names provides readers with milknames,
nicknames, diminutives, pet names, courtesy names, Pseudonyms and adopted names,
etc. It tells not only about surnames and given names; it also tells about generation
names, a very unique naming practice in the world. It gives detailed information not only
of male names, but also information about female names. What is good is each type of
names is accompanied by examples. Much space is given to transcription of names.
There is Wade-Giles system of transcription, and there is also the use of the Library of
Congress Russian-English Conversion Table for Chinese syllables.

In addition to information about names, Chinese Personal Names provides detailed

knowledge about titles. Readers are given not only professional and administrative titles,
such as titles of doctors, officials, managers, but military titles as well. There are terms
used in familiar address, and also terms used in polite address. It contains almost the
whole society.

What deserve special mention are the appendixes. There are six appendixes and
each is important. Readers will learn about the language reform that is going on in
mainland China and what is meant by Pin-yin (there is a sample page of conversion table
between Wade-Giles transcription and Pin-yin transcription). This appendix is good. It
helps both the old and the young when they are confused about the old transcription of
Wade-Giles and the new way of Pin-yin.

Appendix B shows the dialects spoken by Overseas Chinese. It tells roughly how
many Overseas Chinese speak which dialect and where. Appendix D provides readers
with information on the most common family names are being used. This information is
followed by an appendix meant to provide evidence of the need for using Wade-Giles
romanization and telecode numbers as a standard point of reference. An appendix of
common family names used as given names finalizes the appendix part. So, to sum up,
all the six appendixes are important. They serve very well as supplement, giving
necessary additional knowledge to people who deal with Chinese names in work and in
life.

Chinese Personal Names is a well-organized report about Chinese names. It is based

on wide reading and substantial examples of Chinese names as well as knowledge about
the Chinese language. It is believed that if it is published, it will attract a lot of readers
who have interest in China and those who handle Chinese names in work, especially
those who have interest in Chinese names. As it is difficult to write about a complicated
naming system, it is more so if the naming system exists in a difficult language as the
language of Chinese. Chinese Personal Names will be a good contribution to onomastics.

Li Zhonghua
Professor
Department of English, College of Foreign Languages
Ocean University of China
Qingdao, China
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lizhonghua_pro@[Link]
 Chinese Personal Names 7-7

Chinese Personal Names

CONTENTS
Part 1. The Chinese Language

A. Scope
B. Description
1. General
2. The Written Language
3. The Spoken Language
C. Use of Telecodes
D. Transcription
1. Use of Wade-Giles
2. Use of Library of Congress Russian-English Conversion
Table for Chinese Syllables

Part II. Chinese Personal Names

A. Formation of Chinese Personal Names

1. Order of Recording
2. Structure
3. Numbering of Family Members

B. Number of names an Individual Chinese May Have

1. Names at Birth and Childhood Names
2. Courtesy Names Compared with Official Names
3. Adopted Names
4. Other names, alongside China Names
5. Names Used, not as Courtesy Names, but in Lieu
Of Official Names
6. Local Romanizations

C. Identification of Name Elements

1. Surnames
2. Given Names

Part III. Titles

A. Terms Used in Familiar Address

B. Terms Used in Polite Address
C. Professional and Administrative Titles
D. Military Titles
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-8

Appendixes

A. Language Reform and its Implications

B. Dialects Spoken by Overseas Chinese
C. Russian-English Conversion Table for Chinese Syllables
D. Common Family Names
E. Romanization of Eleven Common Family Names
F. Common Family Names Also Used as Given Names
 Chinese Personal Names 7-9

Part 1. The Chinese Language

A. Scope

More people use Chinese as a primary language that any other language in the world.
It is spoken by 94% or more of the estimated 650 million people of China 1 [Ed. Note:
There are endnotes following Part III Titles.] and also by 10 or 12 million Overseas
Chinese, chiefly in Southeast Asia. In areas like Thailand where Overseas Chinese
practically control commerce, many natives make Chinese their second tongue. Chinese
words color the vocabularies of the Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Thai, Lao, and
others, who have been in close contact with Chinese civilization or influenced by Chinese
literature–in volume alone, the most important in Asia

B. Description

This brief description of the Chinese language is intended to impress upon those
dealing with Chinese names that the written characters, not the spoken words, are
consistently in one form, and are therefore the stable representations of names despite
all individual and regional dialect versions. These remarks should thus provide a basis for
understanding the necessity, first, to get the characters and, secondly, to apply our
standard dual transcription system.

1. In General

Even for the Chinese, the language is complicated. Efficiency in it requires much time
and rote memory. There is a marked difference in the written and spoken forms of the
language. The written form doesn’t depend on phonetic equivalents. 2 it is for the eye
only, just as the spoken form is for the ear. There are so many different dialects that no
one knows how many there are. Many are virtually foreign languages.

2. The Written Language

There is no alphabet. Each character represents not a letter but a word. These
symbols, virtually the same for more than 1500 years, have undergone so few changes
since remote antiquity3 that lettered Chinese can understand pre-Christian era texts
almost as easily as modern ones. 4 The written language thus has had a long continuity–
and equally great unity, since (unlike the spoken language with its many dialectal
barriers) the written language is commonly understood wherever it is read. But lettered
Chinese have always been few and today the low literacy rate bothers the Communist
Government. (In China where everyone recognizes a few characters, illiteracy is a
peculiarly relative term.)

Of the 50,000 characters developed by the Chinese during several centuries, only
about 10,000 are used today and an average person will use no more than 5,000.
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-10

There is no grammar in the traditional sense but there are many complicated rules.
Without declensional and inflectional systems, words depend on order and combination
of characters for relational meaning: on coupling of characters for nuances and
distinctions in meanings: and on signs or keys for the various tones which make one
character several words.

The complex writing system has been a hindrance to general education. Few scholars
have been willing to sacrifice the individualism of the characters for a writing system
suitable for the masses.

The statement in Part I, Section B., Description, above, that the “written
characters . . . are consistently in one form” should be qualified to distinguish 3 styles.
Other distinctions will have to be made, as the simplified characters become more and
more used. In general, the shape of the characters varies according to the style in which
they are written. (1) Print or block style (called K’ai-shu) is used for printed works –
newspapers, books, etc., as well as for handwritten documents and papers, formal
letters, and sometimes for signatures. Handwritten print style differs from printed print
style very, very slightly. Handwritten characters are often a little smoother. Two other
styles for handwriting are: (2) the running style (Hsing-shu) with more rounded, less
plainly delineated characters and (3) the cursive (Ts’ao-shu) or “grass” style, a careless,
casual writing almost like shorthand. The accomplished reader of Chinese printed texts
cannot always decipher the cursive characters, but must refer to a Chinese handwriting
expert or to a dictionary on cursive writing (few of these are complete). Signatures in
cursive (“grass”) can be especially difficult, as they are often intentionally mysterious to
prevent imitations.

These three styles are illustrated in the characters, arranged horizontally in each
instance, which represent the name of former Chinese Ambassador to the United States,
Wellington V. Koo – Ku Wei-chün (7357, 4850, 6874):
Print or block style, K’ai-shu

Running style, Hsing-shu

Cursive or “grass” style, Ts’ao-shu

Simplified characters derive (frequently from the running and cursive styles so that
names signed in simplified characters are likely to be close to one of these forms.

3. The Spoken Language5

Tonal inflection, the preeminent trait of spoken Chinese, inheres in meaning. (It is not
for emphasis or emotional coloration.) The number of tones varies. Mandarin has 4
tones; 6 Cantonese, 9; the dialects of Shanghai, 7; and the dialect spoken in the upper
regions of the Yangtze, about 5. Tones lessen but do not remove difficulties arising from
homophonous names.
 Chinese Personal Names 7-11

While one character may have several tones and an equal number of meanings, one
character in only one tone may have many different meanings, and for other tones
another set of meanings.7 Poverty of sounds or vocables (to distinguish them from tones)
accounts for this peculiarity. The Peiping dialect has not nearly as many phonemes
(single speech units) as English. (The highest number of distinct vocables allowed for
Peiping speech by Sir Thomas Wade is 420. Apparently referring to vocables and tones,
some authorities count 1300 different “syllables” in the normal Peiping dialect of a total
4,700, as opposed to 8,000 distinct syllables commonly used in English of close to
158,000 [figures “unverified].)

Comprehension of a single Chinese word may depend, therefore, on the tone in which
the word is read or pronounced, occasionally on the coupling of one character with
another, and on the order, as well as the combination, of characters.

a. Dialects
The spoken language is further complicated by many distinct differences traceable to
historical circumstances or mere geographical isolation of sections of the country over
long periods of time. Classification of the better known dialects is imprecise, and there is
no reliable estimate of the total number of dialects. Without fine and accurate
distinctions, the important groups are” Mandarin, Wu (shanghai), Cantonese, 8 Amoy-
Swatow,9 Foochow, and Hakka – and possibly the Anhwei group. Within these are many
subdialects.

b. The Official Dialect

In imperial times, the Peiping dialect called by the Chinese kuan-hua, and by
Westerners Mandarin, was the standard spoken language, but only among officials and
the people of Peiping. Around 1920, the government agreed to use the Mandarin
vernacular instead of traditional literary language and to declare Peiping Mandarin the
national dialect (kuo-yü). Actually “kuan-hua” or “Mandarin” is an impure lingua franca
of northern China, but “kuo-yü” or the national dialect is a made language with official
standard pronunciations which are a combination of northern and southern Mandarin.

Mandarin is now not only the basis of the official language, with the Peiping
pronunciation as the official standard, but is the most widely used dialect. Even so, if the
highest estimate (80%) of people within China who use Mandarin is correct, there would
remain about 123½ million using other dialects (about 2/3 as many people as in the
United States). If the lowest estimate (66%) is correct, there would remain 210 million
people using other dialects (about 30 million more people than are in the United States.
Many of the over 10 million Chinese or Taiwan, who regularly speak Taiwanese, can use
Mandarin. Probably less than 15% of Overseas Chinese regularly use it.

c. Dialect Areas within China

(a) Mandarin is usually subdivided into:
(1) Northern Mandarin, which is spoken in Hopeh, Shansi, Shensi, Kansu, Honan,
and Shantung provinces and extends into Sinkiang, Inner Mongolia, and
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-12

Manchuria and also into Hupeh, Anhwei, and Kiangsu.

(2) Southern Mandarin, which is spoken in the lower Yangtze River Valley area
and in parts of the provinces of Hunan, Anhwei, and Kiangsi.

(3) Southwestern Mandarin, which is spoken in Szechwan, Yünnan, Kweishow

provinces, and in parts of Hupeh and Kwansi.

(b) Wu Group – in the southern Yangtze River area.

(c) Cantonese – in Kwangtung and Kwangsi provinces.

(d) Amoy-Swatow (a group of separate dialects)–southern part of the province of

Fukien, the northeastern part of Kwangtung, in Taiwan, and Hainan and parts of
the Luichow Peninsula.

(e) Foochow Group – in central and northern part of the Fukien province and in the
southern part of Chekiang.

(f) Hakka – in the provinces of Kwangtung, Fukien, and Kiangsi, and in Taiwan.

(g) Anhwei – in the southern part of Anhwei Province and possibly in the
northwestern part of Kiangsi.

d. Dialects Spoken by Overseas Chinese

Larger numbers of Overseas Chinese owe their origins to China’s southern and
southeastern coastal provinces and cities (notably Foochow, Chuanchow, Amoy,
Changchow, Ch’aochow, Swatow, and Canton) than to northern China. The dialects of
these areas (of the larger emigrations) are naturally found in greater numbers abroad
than is Mandarin. Concentrations vary. In some settlements, Mandarin is probably
ascendant. Not unusually, a Chinese knows more than one dialect with Mandarin a
second or third tongue. Also, Mandarin is much used as the language of commerce,
especially by Chinese engaged in foreign trade.

For rough estimates as to the dialect pattern of the Chinese overseas, see Appendix
B. (As Victor Purcell in his valuable works 10 points out, it is difficult to define “Chinese,”
because of varying degrees of assimilation, and “enumerations” in these areas are of
varying value.)

C. Use of Telecodes

Early in the twentieth century, the interest of Chinese officials in wireless telegraphy
prompted the development of a telegraphic code for Chinese characters. The
development was a practical necessity, as Chinese characters were ill-suited for
telegraphy. The characters most likely to be used in communications of this kind were
 Chinese Personal Names 7-13

arranged by radical and stroke order and assigned consecutive numbers from 0001 to
9759. Telecode books were issued to telegraphic offices by the central government. This
system, with a few changes in the assignment of numbers, is used today by the Chinese
Communists, whose official version is known as the Standard Telegraphic Code (STC) or
Piao-chun Tien-ma-pen; by the Chinese on Taiwan whose system, known as the Chinese
Telegraphic Code (CTC) or Ming-ma Tien-pao Shu, varies in only minor ways from that of
the Chinese Communists; and by Chinese elsewhere. Like the characters of the Chinese
language, the telecode numbers have no reference to dialects. The code provides
precise and unambiguous “numerical transcriptions” of the characters treated.

Telecode books are sold in areas where large numbers of Chinese live. No edition is
satisfactory unless it has cross-references to the differences between the code as used
by the Chinese Communists and as used by the Nationalist Chinese and also contains
revisions through 1956. Many of these books are pirated and therefore show no place,
date, or printer.

To use a telecode book with assurance one should have some competence in the
Chinese language; however, some people have found it possible to master the minimum
necessary for this particular purpose in less than two weeks’ instruction. The steps
required for obtaining telecodes for a character are:

1. Identify the radical. (A radical is a basic root of all Chinese characters. There are
214 radicals, all in fixed order.)
2. Note the section of the telecode book where characters based on that particular
radical are grouped.
3. Identify the character and thereby find the telecode number.

D. Transcription11

There are as many different methods of romanizing Chinese as there are languages in
which it is written–and more. Of the numerous English language systems, the widely-
used Wade-Giles (W-G) system12 has been officially adopted by Great Britain and the
United States for geographic and personal names.

1. Use of Wade-Giles
Although Wade-Giles represents a phonetic transcription of the Mandarin dialect only,
in our practice it is applied only to characters (telecodes). Therefore, once the characters
are obtained for any dialect, conversion to Wade-Giles is possible. It is of no use for
transcribing speech alone, or for phonetic spellings. Since one Wade-Giles is used for
several different characters, a Wade-Giles form is not reversible, unless accompanied by
telecodes. Mandarin is not identical with the national dialect (kuo-yü), the modern form
of which it predates. But the Key to Wade-Giles brings many variations in line with kuo-
yü.
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-14

A phonetic spelling alone, unless accompanied by other substantial data, is nothing

but a puzzle. Most Chinese have had no occasion to “spell” Chinese, and those who have
practically never use W-G as the preferred spelling of their own names (many have never
even heard of it), and, as a rule, they use no particular system. This is true even for
those Chinese (a significant number) who engage in overseas trade and often use other
languages as well as Chinese. Asked to “spell” their names, they usually do it
phonetically. The result may be a spelling in Dutch of a Chinese name Amoy, Cantonese,
or another dialect.

Even as one is told, on good authority, that he has a W-G form, this form alone will
not identify a Chinese. For example, WU is W-G for four different characters representing
four different surnames. One needs to know which character may distinguish WU (0124)
from WU (0702), WU (2976) and WU (6762). Appendix D shows many another W-G form
which represents several different characters (and underscores the need for telecodes
along with W-G).

In addition to transcription systems of their own, the French, Germans, and others
when writing already romanized forms of names (for instance, W-G forms) usually
“corrupt” the romanizations by their own spelling and phonetic practices. For instance, in
German, names beginning with CH (CHANG) may be spelled with initial TS (TSCHANG)
and the letter J may be substituted for I and Y, with YEH becoming JEH and YI or I
becoming JI. Similarly, French listing of names romanized to begin with CH may use
either initial T or TZ, CHAO and CHENG (both W-G) becoming TSHAO and TCHENG and
CHOU (W-G) becoming TZOU. Similar practices of course occur in other languages.

Wherever characters are simplified (see Appendix A), once it is established what
former character the new one stands for, the Telecode Book can be used to find the
Wade-Giles form. Where simplified characters are accompanied by Telecodes, this is no
problem. Users of the Telecode Book should insert in the proper boxes simplified forms
as they occur.

Where Pin-yin (Chinese Communist Phonetic Latinization system-See Appendix A) is

used, one can also convert to Wade-Giles by using the Comprehensive Conversion Table
for the Pin-yin.

2. Use of the Library of Congress Russian-English Conversion Table for Chinese Syllables
When Russian transcriptions of Chinese names must be transliterated into English,
and one does not have access to Chinese characters (unfortunately, often the case), the
Library of Congress Russian-English Conversion Table for Chinese Syllables, printed in
Appendix C, should be used. This table represents an extension of its predecessor, the
Nielsen Table, checked against C. G. Allen’s table, Journal of Documentation, June 1960
(which had been checked against the phonetic table of I. M. Oshanin’s Russian-Chinese
dictionary and the readings given in H. A. Giles’ Chinese-English dictionary, 1912 edition
by Kelly and Walsh) with known variants added. This work presupposes that the Russian
 Chinese Personal Names 7-15

transcriptions represent the standard Chinese language and the English equivalents are
in terms of Wade-Giles conventions.

If one has Chinese characters or telecodes along with the Russian transcriptions, he
would apply the standard modified Wade-Giles forms, plus telecodes, or as a substitute
submit the Chinese characters accompanied by the Russian forms.
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-16

Part II. Chinese Personal Names

A. Formation of Chinese Personal Names

(P - Surname; X - Given Name; T - Title)

1. Order of Recording

A Chinese name (unless Westernized) is written with the family or surname first,
without a comma. Name order for indexing Chinese names (unless Westernized) will
follow the Chinese order exactly as given. (Name order for Westernized Chinese names
will be the same as for English names.)

Example:
*WONG Jung-pao (3076, 2837, 1405)
P X X

2. Structure

a. The simplest Chinese name has a one-character surname and a one-character

given name.
*CHANG Hua (1728, 5478)
P X

b. Each part of the name may have two characters, or even more. A name with a
single surname and a double given name is the most common type. Four
characters are not unusual but 5 or more are infrequent.

*[Ed. Note: It is not clear what the asterisk is for. The original CIA document does not
explain.]
 Chinese Personal Names 7-17

Examples:

(1) Double Given Name (the most common type)

CHOU En-lai (0729, 2869, 0171)
P X X

(2) Double Surnames, which may have single or double given names.
SZU-T’U Ch’ing (0674, 1778, 2348)
P P X

SZU-MA Wen-sen (0674, 7456, 2429, 2773)

P P X X

(3) See examples under (d) below for 5 and 6 elements. 14

c. A woman’s maiden name is often followed by the element Shih (3044). This
expression is used by ladies signing their names, where they use only the surname
as

CH’EN Shih (7115, 3044) – a woman of the CH’EN family

P T
(But Shih may be used to mean an older woman, and it can also mean a man or a
group of persons with the same surname.)
Another character for Shih (1102), one meaning of which is scholar, is used
with Nu (1166), meaning woman or lady, in the combination Nu Shih (1166, 1102).
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-18

Example: CH’EN Nu Shih (7115, 1166, 1102) - Miss CH’EN.

This term is used in addressing a letter, in introducing a woman speaker (“the
distinguished or scholarly lady”), or much like the word Madam, when one speaks
politely to a woman but does not know whether she is married or single.

d. A married woman’s name is usually in this order:

Husband’s surname (HP) Maiden Surname (MP) Given Name (X)
TAI YEN Ling (2071, 7051, 4340)
HP MP X
T’ANG YANG Ching-pin (0781, 2799, 2529, 2430)
HP MP X X
OU-YANG CHANG Mei-ying (2962, 7122, 1728, 2734, 5391) (5 elements)
HP MP X X
OU-YANG SZU-MA Mei-ying (2962, 7122, 0674, 7456, 2734, 5391) (6
elements)
HP MP X X

A married woman who has become well known by her maiden name may
prefer to retain it. This is often the case for Communist women officials.

Example:

HO Hsiang-ning (0149, 7449, 0413) (former Chairman, Overseas Affairs

Commission for the Chinese Communist Government, whose real
name is Mrs.
LIAO Chung-k’ai (1675, 0112, 1956)
Traditionally, a woman when repudiated by her husband was sent back to her father and
resumed her own name. Now, if she has custody of the children, she probably retains her
married name; if not, she may revert to her maiden name. Probably, if she remarries,
she would use her maiden name and her new name.

3. Numbering of Family Members

Chinese frequently refer to members of their family by number – brothers, sisters,

aunts, uncles, and cousins.15 The males are usually numbered separately from the
females. Within the family, however, each member refers to every other member in
terms of his own position. The same male, for example, may be referred to by his
younger sister as third older brother and by another sister as second younger brother.

Cardinal Numbers Brother, Sister

I (0001) - first Ko (0766) - older brother16

(but Ta (1129), big, is used) Ti (1717) - younger brother
Erh (0059) - second Chieh (1195) - older sister
San (0005) - third Mei (1188) - younger sister
 Chinese Personal Names 7-19

Ssu (0934) - fourth

Wu ( 0063) - fifth
Liu (0362) - sixth
Ch’i (0003) - seventh
Pa (o360) - eighth
Chiu (0046) - ninth
Shih (0577) - tenth

Examples:
First older brother - Ta Ko (1129, 0766)
Second older brother - Erh Ko (0059, 0766)
Seventh younger sister - Ch’i Mei (0003, 1188)

B. Number of Names an Individual Chinese May Have

The traditional practice of using numerous names, not only in official life but generally,
appears to be falling out of use and especially in Chinese Communist circles. The
Communists appear to drop alternate names and to use publicly the name under which
they are popularly known, although they may still use others in private. (For instance,
MAO Tse-tung (3029, 3419, 2639) is known privately as Jun Chih (3387, 0037).) The
Chinese Nationalists and other Chinese overseas within their own communities continue
to use alternate names. Chinese biographies, except Communist-printed ones, carefully
list and identify an individual’s various names, giving particular attention to generation
names, which once assumed on marriage or earlier never change and must be used in
social address, even though not the best known name of a particular person. English
renditions refer to many of these alternate names as courtesy names. (For Chinese
terms for various types of names see Ming (Name) pages 633-634, of Mathews Chinese-
English Dictionary (Cambridge 1960).)

In dealing with Overseas Chinese – and occasionally Communist–names, one may find
it necessary to be familiar with the types of alternate names and their uses. To identify
the various names will often require research or expert knowledge. The system of
alternate names presented below by no means exhausts the subject; it merely consists
of a sufficient number of major categories to alert one to the many possibilities that
exist. (A Chinese person may choose a different name on acquiring wealth, and the
name may even indicate the degree of affluence.)

1. Names at Birth and Childhood Names

a. Family and Generation Names

When a Chinese boy or girl is born, his family name (his father’s surname) and
his generation name are already established. The generation name will not be
used, however, until years later. Through the generation name it is possible for
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-20

a Chinese person (or anyone versed in the system) to trace a Chinese person’s
ancestry, for several centuries. Each generation in the male line, and
occasionally in the female line, of most Chinese families (especially of the
traditionally upper class) carries the common generation name, and the same
reading for the first or second character of a given name generally indicates
relationship.

Examples (with generation name underscored):

CHIANG Ching-kuo (5592, 4842, 0948)
(sons of CHIANG Kai-Shek (5592, 0094, 4258)
CHIANG Wei-kuo (5592, 4885, 0948)

An illustration of the choice by parents of a different generation name for daughters

from that for their sons is seen in the names of three sisters of the internationally known
SUNG family:
SUNG Mei-ling (1345, 5019, 7881) – Madam CHIANG Kai-shek17
SUNG Ch’ing-ling (1345, 1987, 7881) – Madam SUN Yat-sen
SUNG Ai-ling (1345, 5676, 7881) – Madam H.H. Kung

and their three brothers:

SUNG Tzu-wen (1345, 1311, 2429 –[Link]

SUNG Tzu-liang (1345, 1311, 5328)
SUNG Tzu-an (1345, 1311, 1244)

b. Milkname
The individual name a child is first given is his milkname. He is called by this
name until his first social contact outside his family–usually, his entering school. By
that time, his parents will have decided on his official given name. If he is the child of
a peasant or fisherman he may be called by his milkname throughout his life. (Thus, a
man may go through life with the name, Mr. Yellow Dog or Mr. Golden Rat.) In the
case of middle class and upper class families, the milkname may drop out when the
child goes to school. It will certainly drop out when he marries.

c. Additional Childhood Names: Nicknames, Diminutives, and Pet Names

For a child’s given (or milk) name, the parents may quickly substitute a
nickname, pet name, or diminutive, which may become the name used by intimate
friends and members of his family circle throughout his life–or at least though his
childhood. Such a name often begins with Hsiao (1420); for example, Hsiao Mao (1420,
3029) (Little Hair); Hsiao Ch’uan (1420, 3689) (little Dog); Hsiao Kuei (1420, 7607) (Little
Devil), and Hsiao Kuai Kuai (1420, 0041, 0041) (Little Darling). [Cf. French names such as
Mon Petit Chou – Literally My Little Cabbage – or Mon Petit Ange – My Little Angel.] Very
common nicknames are Ta P’ao (1129, 4276) (Big Gun) as in WANG Ta-p’ao (3769, 1129,
4276) (Big Gun WANG) or CHANG Ta T’ou (1728, 1129, 7333) (Big Head CHANG).
Chinese Personal Names 7-21
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-22

2. Courtesy Names Compared with Official Names

Courtesy names are reserved for social usage. A Chinese retains throughout his life
the official given name chosen by his parents sometime between his birth and his first
going outside his family circle. He also retains his surname and his generation name. The
official given name and family surname, and for a woman, her husband’s family name,
constitute one’s official or public name. But, for various occasions, a Chinese adopts
courtesy names, or such names are conferred upon him by others.

The occasion for the adoption of the first courtesy name, usually, is on marriage. In
some instances courtesy names will have been adopted by those entering college or a
university. After marriage, additional courtesy names may be chosen on entering upon a
profession, a business venture, or a career in writing, art, the theater, etc., or for any
change in status.

Courtesy names may be conferred upon a man by others to honor his position, a
particular success, or eminence in a special field. They may merely describe the place
from which he comes (as, the “One from Shanghai”). As noted, courtesy names any be
little used among the Communist Chinese, but they are still used in Taiwan and among
the Overseas Chinese.
Examples:
In the case of Dr. SUN Yat-sen (1866, 1925), as an ordinary individual he used the
name SUN I-hsien; when he became a revolutionist, he took the given name Wen–instead
of I-hsien; and when he had become known as the “Father of the Revolution” and had
become provisional president of the New Republic, he assumed the given name Chung-
shan (“the central mountain”), or Dr. SUN Chung-shan. Similarly, President CHIANG
(5592) used Kai-shek18 (0094, 4258) as his given name until he gained great recognition.
Then he became CHIANG Chung-cheng (5592, 0022, 2973), (meaning “upright”). Chung-
cheng is the name he uses in signing government papers, and among his own people,
this is the name used in referring to him publicly as well as socially.
The official name of a famous writer, behind the scenes political advisor to Chiang Kai-
shek and proponent of vernacular writing, was WU Ching-heng (0702, 2417, 1854). He
was best known, however, by the courtesy name WU Chih-hui (0702, 4442, 6540).
(Whenever a courtesy name is the best known name, indexing should be under it with
the official name treated as an AKA.)

3. Adopted Names

When a child is adopted, he usually takes the adoptive parent’s name. When he is
brought up by someone other than his parents for charitable or other personal reasons,
the child may keep his own family name or assume the adoptive parent’s name,
depending on the circumstances.
Adoption or foster parentage, it should be noted, is very common, particularly in the
case of girls. A man without an heir has almost an obligation to adopt a son of his
brother or a friend, and even a man with an heir may adopt any number of boys or girls.
 Chinese Personal Names 7-23

4. Other Names, alongside China Names

Chinese living overseas often adopt another whole name, usually a local name, or a
combination of local and Chinese. The following illustrations will be found in directories of
Overseas Chinese.

Examples:
W-G Form of China Name Other
Bangkok

CH’EN Ch’ao Lai (7115, 3390, 0171) BOON Mar T.

CH’EN Pao Sheng (7115, 0202, 3932) POH Mongkochup
CH’EN Tao Sheng (7115, 6670, 3932) TANTSRETHI Yom
CH’EN T’ung Shun (7115, 2717, 7311) CHANTARATHIG Soonth
CH’EN T’ung Shun (7115, 2717, 7311) SOONTHORN Chanta
CH’EN-YU Chin (7115, 1785, 3237) YOK Kin D
LIN Lin Shu (2651, 7792, 2579) NIM Boon Chai

Philippines

WANG Hsiao Hui (3769, 1321, 1882) ONG Angel DeLeon

WU Ch’ing Shui (0702, 3237, 3055) GOCHENGSUY Ricardo
YANG Kuang Jung (2799, 0342, 2837) John D. Young
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-24

Indonesia

YU Shui Ch’ing (0151, 3055, 1987) IE Tywie Khing

(Local romanization see Para 6, below)
Singapore

HU Wen Pao (5170, 2429, 6283) AW Kow

HUANG Nu Jung (7806, 1166, 2837) LIM Boon Eng
CH’EN Hui Tang (1478, 1920, 2768) SUN Wai Tong
YIN Kuan Lin (1438, 7070, 7207) WAN Yoon Lam

Western World

LO Hsueh-lien (5012, 6541, 6647) LOWE, H. Shelley

Or combination form Lo, H. Shelley
Another effect of Western influence is seen in the use of initials for the Chinese
name when romanized.

Examples;
YEN Hui-ching (7346, 1920, 1987) – [Link]
SUNG Tzu-wen (1345, 1311, 2429 ) – [Link]
5. Names Used, not as Courtesy Names, but in Lieu of Official Names
a. Aliases
For special reasons, Chinese individuals not infrequently adopt different names.
These are used clandestinely and therefore with deliberate intent to establish an
identity separate from their official identity.
The clandestine name, or alias, of the Communist Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs is
CHANG Han - fu (4545, 3352, 1133). His real name is
HSIEH Chi-t’ai (6200, 0796, 3141)

b. Pseudonyms

Chinese who are well-known by their official names may adopt pseudonyms for use
as writers, musicians, artists. These are generally to be distinguished from courtesy
names which are mainly in social communication. Pseudonyms are publicly used names.

Example:

SHEN Yen-ping (3088, 0068, 6921) – a Chinese author living in Communist China.
Pseudonym: MAO Tun (5403, 4163)

6. Local Romanizations (See also Appendix E.)

The Chinese themselves, in China or elsewhere, it is emphasized, do not feel bound to

 Chinese Personal Names 7-25

any particular system of romanization and practically never use the W-G form as their
preferred spelling of their own names. Therefore, different local romanizations of the
same name will be found in a given area, as well as from area to area. For instance, two
Fukienese in the Philippines romanize the same surname LI (2621) as DEE and DY: a
Cantonese romanizes CH’EN (7115) as CHAN and a Fukienese as TAN; a speaker of Amoy
romanizes MAO (3029) as MO and MAO (5403) as BIAO. The name (in W-G) CHANG Hsi-ta
is found in the Thailand Business Directory as TEO He Tuk and TIA Hee Tak. The name
WU Wen Sheng (0702, 2429, 3932) is found in Indonesia as GOUW Boen Seng and the
name WU Wen Cheng (0702, 2429, 8220) is found in the Philippines as PO Bon Teng
(note the first two names of each of these have the same characters). Similarly, the
same romanization is often found for a number of different characters. An example is the
romanization NG (which is not a W-G form), locally used for LAN (5663) in Bangkok;
LIANG (2733) in Singapore; HUANG (7806) in Singapore, Bangkok, and Indonesia; and for
WU (0124) and WU (0702) in Singapore and Indonesia. (This list does not exhaust the
uses of NG.) For a better comparison of variants from area to area, see the area spellings
of 11 prominent surnames in Appendix E.
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-26

C. Identification of Name Elements

1. Surnames

Since the surname is the first recorded element in a “China” Chinese name, there is
no problem in determining what the surname is, except when it is composed of more
than one element and the hyphen or apostrophe is omitted.

All Chinese surnames probably number no more than slightly over 5,000. Of these,
approximately 150 are the ones most commonly used. Appendix D presents 240, listed
alphabetically, with characters and telecodes. Names on this list also used as given
names are listed in Appendix F. Of the 240 common surnames (Appendix D or pages A
and B of our telecode book), a list of the eleven that are probably the most common
both in China and overseas are included in Appendix E, with the variant romanizations
found in a number of areas. The first five of these names are probably the equivalents,
as far as frequency alone is concerned, of Johnson, Smith, Jones, Black, and Brown in
America.

Given the character one refers to Appendix D (or to pages A and B of the telecode
book) will in the majority of cases be able to identity and record the surname before
him, regardless of the dialect.

2. Given Names

Given names are generally recorded after the surname without a comma and,
except for initial letters, are written in lower case. Although some surnames are also
used as given names (as Appendix F demonstrates), given names are usually
distinguishable from surnames. Even so, it is necessary to show where a multipart
surname ends and a given name begins. Given names should, of course, be recorded
with a character and telecode and romanizations in W-G with other romanizations.

The only limit to the number and variety of Chinese given names is the
inventiveness of the parents who make these names up for their children by combining
words that have a pleasant meaning, call up memories of famous men, or express
some sentiment or aspiration of the family. Those familiar with the language can
usually distinguish masculine from feminine given names by the meaning of the
characters. Names chosen for men suggest manly attributes of bravery, fearlessness,
courage, scholarliness, etc. Those chosen for girls are often the names of flowers or
things that connote delicacy, beauty, and other desirable feminine attributes.
Examples, all the names of actual temporary persons, follow:

NAME TELECODE SEX MEANING OF GIVEN NAME

CH’IEN Chun-jui 6929/0193/3842 M Distinguished and auspicious

HAN Lien-ch’eng 7281/4886/2052 M Well experienced or well trained
LI Kuang-yao 2621/0342/5069 M Illustrious or well-known
 Chinese Personal Names 7-27

LIU Ch’ang-sheng 0491/7022/0524 M Ever victorious

WU Chung-hsin 0702/1813/0207 M Loyal and trustworthy
HO Ch’eng 6320/6134 M Sincere
HSIAO K’o 5618/0344 M Capable
HUANG Chieh 7806/3381 M Pure, incorruptible
LEI Chen 7191/7201 M Awesome, thundering
WAN I 5502/3015 M Resolute, determined
CHOU Mei-yu 0719/5019/3768 F Beautiful jade, as beautiful as jade
LI Te-ch’uan 2621/1795/0356 F Completely virtuous, possessing
all the virtues
LI Li-hua 2621/7787/5478 F Beautiful and splendorous
LIN Te-chen 2651/1795/6297 F Virtuous and chaste
YANG Su-lan 2799/4790/5695 F White orchid, as beautiful as white orchid
HU Hsien 5170/0103 F Immortal, angel
LIN Tai 2651/7818 F Beautiful as wearing proper make-up
KO Lan 5514/5695 F Orchid, as beautiful as orchid
TS’AI Ying 5591/3841 F Gem, as beautiful as gem
YU Min 1429/2404 F Clever, smart
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-28

Part III. Titles

Note: The word titles is used here, to cover descriptive names, as well as distinctions of
rank, etc. The “titles” mentioned here are by no means a comprehensive list.

A. Terms Used in Familiar Address

1. Hsiao (1420), meaning little, the first part of a pet name; and, in the combination
Hsiao Chieh, is used to address an unmarried woman (5. below).
2. Lao (5071), meaning old, a term denoting intimacy or affection (cf. U meaning old, for
age or respect, in Burmese names as in U NU). The term Lao Yeh (5701, 3639), meaning
old gentleman, also denotes intimacy or affection as does Lao Tsung (5071, 4920),
meaning old chief soldier. Lao precedes the surname; for example, Lao CHIANG (Old
CHIANG). Lao Yeh and Lao Tsung follow the surname; for example, CHIANG Lao Yeh and
CHIANG Lao Tsung. (These forms will be found in North China especially.)

3. A or AH (7093) is a diminutive form, most commonly used for laborers and domestics
and is always in combination with another character as in A Ma (7093, 1265) (the maid).
(This form is particularly characteristic of the Central and South Coastal Areas of China.)

B. Terms Used in Polite Address

1. For men, the most common form of polite address is Hsien Sheng (0341, 3932)
and, for a married woman, T’ai T’ai (1132, 1132), both of which follow the surname.
WANG Hsien Sheng–Mr. Wang (3769, 0341, 3932)
WANG T’ai T’ai–Mrs. WANG (3769, 1132, 1132)
2. For unmarried females, the polite form of address is Hsiao Chieh (1420, 1195).
TS’UI Hsiao Chieh – Miss TS’UI. In addressing a letter, one may use Nu Shih
(1166/1102) for Miss (as noted in Part II, A, 2.c).
3. The equivalent of the English term Master which is occasionally used in addressing
a young boy, the term is Shao Yeh (1421,3639). In addressing a formal letter to a
young boy, the term is Chün (0689).

CHIANG Shao Yeh (5592, 1421, 3639) or CHIANG Chün (5592, 0689 – the Young
Master CHIANG or Master CHIANG
Chinese Personal Names
7-31

4. Polite form of address used by Chinese Communists is T’ung Chih (0681, 1807),
meaning
Comrade. It also follows the surname.
MAO T’ung Chih – Comrade Mao (3029, 0681, 1807)
5. When a full name is used, all of these forms of polite address follow the full name.
WEI Tao-ming Hsien Sheng (7614, 6670, 2494, 0341, 3932)
YEH Li-sheng T’ai T’ai (5509, 0632, 3932, 1132, 1132)
MAO Tse-tung T’ung Chih (3029, 3419, 2639, 0681, 1807)
 Chinese Personal Names 7-29
P X T

C. Professional and Administrative Titles

(Like all common forms of polite address, these follow surnames or full names when
given).

1. Po Shih (0590, 1102) - Doctor (other than medical)

2. Tai Fu (1129, 1133) - Doctor (medical)
3. Shen Fu (4377, 3637) - Father (for a Roman Catholic Priest)
4. Mu Shih (3668, 1579) - Pastor
5. Chiao Shou (2403, 2219) - Teacher or professor. The term Hsien Sheng, meaning
Mister, is also
used to mean professor.
6. Pu Chang (6752, 7022) - Department or ministry head
7. Ch’u Chang (5710, 7022) - Office chief
8. Chü Chang (1444, 7922) - Agency or bureau chief
9. K’o Chang (6143, 7022) - Chief of section or branch
10. Tsu Chang (4809, 7022) - Chief of section
11. Chu Jen (0031, 0117) - Manager, chief officer
12. Fu Chu Jen (0479, 0031, 0117) - Vice manager, deputy chief officer
13. Hui Chang (2585, 7022) - Head of group, as in chamber of commerce head, council
head
14. Wei Yuan Chang (1201, 0765, 7022) - Head of Committee, head of council
15. Wei Yuan (1201, 0765) - Committee member, council member
16. Chu Hsi (0031, 1598) - Chairman
17. Fu Chu Hsi (0479, 0031, 1598) - Vice chairman
18. Tsung Li (4920, 3810) - Premier
C. Professional and Administrative Titles (Concluded)

19. Fu Tsung Li (0479, 4920, 3810) - Vice Premier

20. Tsung Mi Shu (4920, 1378, 2579) - Secretary General
21. Mi Shu (1378, 2579) - Secretary

D. Military Titles
Chinese Nationalist Chinese Communist

1. Ta Yuan Shuai Grand Marshal (Army)

(1129, 0337, 1596)
2. Yuan Shuai Generalissimo Marshal (Army)
(0337, 1596)
3. Ta Chiang Senior General
(1129, 1412)
4. Shang Chiang General, Admiral Colonel General,
(0006, 1412) Admiral
5. Chung Chiang Lt. General, Vice- Lt. General, Vice-
(0022, 1412) Admiral Admiral
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-30

6. Shao Chiang Major General,

Major General,
(1421, 1412) Rear Admiral Rear Admiral
7. Ta Hsiao Sr. Col., Sr. Capt.
(1129, 2699)
8. Shang Hsiao Col., Capt. (Navy) Jr. Col., Jr. Capt.
(0006, 2699)
9. Chung Hsiao Lt. Col., Commander Lt. Col., Commander
(0022, 2699)
10. Shao Hsiao Major, Lt. Major, Lt. Commander
(1421, 2699) Commander
11. Ta Wei Capt., Sr. Lt.
(1129, 2699)
12. Shang Wei Capt., Lt. (Navy) Capt., Lt. (Navy)
(0006, 1414)
D. Military Titles (Concluded

Chinese Nationalist Chinese Communist

13. Chung Wei First Lt., Lt. (j.g.) Jr. Lt., Sub-Lt. (Navy)
(0022, 1414)
14. Shao Wei Second Lt., Ensign Lt. Midshipman
(1421, 1414)
 Chinese Personal Names 7-31

Endnotes for
Chinese Personal Names
1
Languages spoken by the remaining 6% of the people of China according to 1951 estimates are: Thai - c.
2%; Tibeto-Burman languages–more that 1%; Miao-Yao - less than 1%; Turkic, Tungusic, and Mongolian
languages–not quite 2%; Austro-Asiatic, Russian, Japanese, English, and other–a small percentage.
2
Some compound characters are said to be “phonograms.” In such instances, one element of the character
will give a clue to the meaning and the other may give a hint as to the pronunciation of the word. No
characters, however, depend solely on pronunciation.
3
The historical linguists, A. Meillet and M. Cohen, in Les Langues du Monde (New Edition, Paris, 1952), at
page 540, attribute some of the first documents to the 13 th to the 11th centuries before our era. The
language, they state, “has changed only superficially since that period.” Characters have been developed
probably over the past 4,000 years.
4
These early texts, when read aloud, must be given modern pronunciation as there is meager knowledge
of ancient pronunciation.
5
"The spoken language is known from writings dating from the 8 th century of our era. Since that time, it has
been almost exactly as it is today.” –Meillet and Cohen, [Link]., p.601.
6
One character, written with different signs and pronounced in 4 different tones may be represented as
follows: m, má, m_, mà. In the order written, these words mean: mother, hemp, horse, curse.
7
Read in the first tone alone, the character for Chiang may mean a river, a person’s name, ginger, pus, a
bridle, reins, a boundary, or a small edible bean– and yet other meanings. Read in the third tone, the
same character may mean a name Chiang (as in Chiang Kai-shek), to explain or expound, the oar of a
boat, etc.
8
A related dialect, T’ai-shan, is spoken by many Overseas Chinese, particularly in the United States.
9
A term of convenience for separate dialects spoken by people of a general geographic area.
10
The Chinese in Southeast Asia (London, 1951); The Position of the Chinese in Southeast Asia (New York,
1950); The Chinese in Malaya (London, 1944); The Chinese in Modern Malaya (Singapore, 1956)–and
authorities he lists.
11
A transcription is a means of representing one writing system in terms of another. The writing in roman
script of material in the Cyrillic alphabet is transliteration. The writing in Cyrillic script of material in the
roman alphabet is also transliteration. The ideal transliteration system provides a one-to-one
correspondence with the symbols of the writing system being transliterated.
12
Developed in 1859 by Sir Thomas Wade (1818-95), for years a member of the British legation in Peiping,
and later modified by Herbert A. Giles.
13
Missing
14
Manchu or Mongolian names may have many elements. For many of these names, only a Chinese form is
known. Example: A-pu-tu-je-i-mu-li-t’i-fu (7093,0008,6757,3583,5902,2060.0500,2251,1133).
15
One regularly calls friends of one’s parents appropriate terms for aunt and uncle (Po Mu-0130, 3018) (Po
Fu-0130,3637) where there is no relationship at all. The system of numbering cousins is as confusing as
third cousin once removed, etc., in English and American usage and is omitted.
16
The Chinese call almost everyone brother. In writing letters, another term for “older brother” Hsiung
(0338) is used as a conventional term of friendly respect, without reference to relationship. Similarly, one
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-32
considers it polite to sign himself “younger brother”–Ti (1717).
17
Also referred to as CHIANG SUNG Mei-ling (5592,1345,5019,7881).
HP MP X X
18
CHIANG Kai-shek is a romanization of Cantonese pronunciation, the bearer having some into prominence
in Canton. If romanized from Mandarin, the surname would be the same (CHIANG,5592), but the given
name, Kai-shek, would be Chieh-shih (0094,4258).
 Chinese Personal Names 7-33

APPENDIX A
Language Reform and Its Implications

Only the extent and speed of language reform in China are uncertain. At least
experimentally, reform is underway.

Reform is not new. Past governments were indifferent to proposals (made as early
as the 17th century) to replace complex ideographs with more easily learned phonetic
alphabets until about 1894. At that time, China threatened war with Japan, reform was
considered as a possible means of more easily attacking mass illiteracy, a barrier to
national political unity, but reform was not undertaken. In 1919 the new Republic made a
change which the present regime perpetuates. In order to unify the spoken language, it
adopted the pronunciation of Peiping as the national standard. In 1920 it ordered
Government employees, teachers, and students to use this standard, and in 1930
directed that news media print the new phonetic symbols alongside traditional
characters. By 1940 this system was in use even in the villages.

Independent measures paralleling these official activities were advanced by

Communist party members in parts of China as early as 1928, linguists of the Soviet
Union assisting the Chinese Communist linguists. A 26-letter Latin alphabet 1 system,
devised by the Chinese and Soviet Communist linguists and favored by Mao Tse-Tung, is
the cornerstone of the current program. This alphabet is used for the transcription of
Northern Mandarin sounds. Except in sporadic instances, it has no indication of tones.

Shortly after the inauguration of the People’s Republic in October 1949, an

“official” committee was charged with devising a new writing system. Now official, the
Chinese written Language Reform Committee (CWLRC) is responsible for a program
which Chou-En-Lai outlined in a 10 January 1958 speech on “Current Tasks of Reforming
the Written Language.” This threefold program calls for (1) the extension of the Peiping
dialect as the national spoken language, (2) the simplification of Chinese characters, and
(3) the use of a romanization system known as Pin-yin. Chou-En-Lai stated the objectives
of this program as follows: (1) to remove dialect barriers but not to prohibit dialects, (2)
to popularize the common speech, (3) to provide a common basis on which the various
national

[Ed. Note. Endnotes for Appendix A are at the end of Appendix A.]
minorities2 may create or reform their written languages, (4) to help foreigners learn
Chinese and “thus to promote international cultural exchange,” and (5) to transliterate
the names of foreign persons and places and scientific and technological terms and the
names of Chinese persons and places (emphasis added).

Communist publications indicate that the plan for simplification of about 7,000
characters, although approved by the National People’s Congress in 1958, was already
being implemented as early as 1956. Some reports allege that over 2,000 of these new
characters are now being used in books and newspapers (some of the new characters
have eight strokes where formerly twenty were used, six instead of sixteen, etc.). Many
prominent Communists have adopted the new form, a notable one being General HSIAO
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-34

Hua (5618,5478). Two types of lists of simplified characters have been published in
Communist Chine: lists of officially approved characters and lists of characters in
circulation on a trial basis. Once the experimentation period is over, the Government will
issue new official lists. To the displeasure of Communist officials, some individual
experimentation has occurred. Chou-En-Lai, in his 10 January 1958 speech on language
reform, made a point of denouncing the practice by certain individuals of coining
characters that no one besides the coiner would be sure to understand.

In working with the new simplified characters, A Dictionary of Simplified Chinese,

compiled by Ronald Hsia and Peter Penn, (Hong-Kong: Oriental Book Company, 1959) will
be helpful. A page from that dictionary follows: (s - simplified character; O.F. - old forms;
N. L. - new Latin spellings; W.G. - Wade-Giles Transcription with tones; R - Radical; G -
Group Designation: 1 - First group of 1 February 1956; *1 - Supplement of May 15, 1958;
2 - Second group of 1 June 1956; and 3 - Third group of 15 May 1958.
 Chinese Personal Names 7-35

Editorial Note. We regret that we were unable to include the Chinese characters here and in other tables
at this time. Our apologies.

Sample Page from A Dictionary of Simplified Chinese

 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-36

1There is much speculation that the Pin-yin system, also called latinhua
(latinization), may eventually replace the characters.

A conversion table for Pin-yin showing for each character the Wade-Giles as well as the
Pin-yin romanization is available. Here is a sample page from this table:

Wade-Giles Character Pin-yin

a 阿 a
ai 愛 ai
an 安 an
ang 昂 ang
ao 奧 ao
cha 炸 zha
ch'a 差 cha
chai 豺 zhai
ch'ai 拆 chai
chan 展 zhan
ch'an 產 chan
chang 章 zhang

Xhang
ch'ang 常

Endnotes for APPENDIX A

1
Communist leaders have attributed their preference of the Latin over the Cyrillic alphabet to the wide use
of the Latin alphabet, especially in scientific and technical writings.
2
Of the nearly 50 Nationalities in China, said Chou, a large number still have no written language of their
own. Some of them have written languages which need improvement. Those having written languages use
many different alphabets—the Tibetan, Mongolian, Arabic, Korean, and other “alphabets”. He warned: “It is
an immensely difficult task to unify the dialects of the 600 million Han people. To make it a reality, long
and tireless efforts are required. Just how long it will take will depend upon how we work and how
communications, economy, and culture develop.”

APPENDIX B.
Dialects Spoken by Overseas Chinese

Although taken from printed sources, this information is somewhat dated and/or
based on unverifiable estimates. It should serve to give a general idea of the situation in
an area new to a reader and to invite corrections from more up-to-date and definitive
sources.

The bridge from these various dialects to our system consists of Chinese
characters.
 Chinese Personal Names 7-37

[Ed. Note. We assume that c. below in the following entries stands for circa
meaning that the number of speakers is estimated to be about that number.]

Country Chinese-Speaking People Dialects

Africa c. 10,000 Cantonese

British Borneo c. 70,000 The “Amoy-Swatow”
dialects
Burma c. 230,000 In Northern Burma,
chiefly the
Yunnanese, form of Mandarin; In
Rangoon and other coastal cities,
Fukien (largely that of Amoy),
Cantonese, and possibly others.
Europe c. 5,000 Chekiang dialect and
Mandarin
India and Pakistan c. 15,000 Mandarin
Indonesia c. 2,300,000 Fukien (Hokkien) Mandarin,
Hakka, Cantonese
Japan c. 40,000 “Amoy-Swatow” dialects, Mandarin
Korea c. 80,000 Mandarin
Malaya c. 1,900,000 Fukien (Hokkien) Tiechiu (Ch’ao
Chou),
Hakka, Cantonese, Hainan,
Southern
Mandarin
Oceania, including c. 55,000 Cantonese, Hakka
Hawaii

Dialects Spoken by Overseas Chinese Continued

Country Chinese-Speaking People Dialects

Philippines c. 300,000 The “Amoy-Swatow” dialects,

Cantonese
Singapore* c. 750,000 The “Amoy-Swatow” dialects
Cantonese, Hainan, Hakka,
Fukien (Kokkien) Others
Thailand* c. 2, 900,000 Teochiu (Ch’ao Chou) Hakka
Hainan, Cantonese, Fukien
(Hokkien), Taiwanese
U.S., Canada c. 185,000 Cantonese
and Latin America (mostly T’ai-Shan)
USSR c. 30,000 Mandarin
(1951 estimate)
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-38

Vietnam** c. 850,000 Cantonese, Mandarin, Trieu,

Chau (Teochiu, Ch’ao Chou).
Fukien (Hokkien), Hainan,
Hakka
 Chinese Personal Names 7-39

APPENDIX C
Working Table

Library of Congress. Processing Department

Cyrillic Bibliographic Project
Russian-English Conversion Table for Chinese Syllables

For this, the second edition, the table has been checked against that of AID, based
on I. M. Oshanin’s dictionary, as well as against C. G. Allen’s (Journal of Documentation,
June 1960). Known variants have been added.

A A BEN PÊNG GOU KOU

A{A
AI BEN* PÊN GU KU
N
AN ANG BYN* PIEN GUA KUA
AN* AN BYO PIAO GUA{ KUAI
KUAN
AO AO VA WA GYAN
G
GUAN
BA PA VA{ WAI KUAN
*
BA{ PAI VAN WANG GU{ KUEI
BAN PANG VAN* WAN GUN KUNG
BAN* PAN VO WO GUN* KUN
BAO PAO V%{ WEI G% JO
BE PIEH V%N WÊNG G%{ KEI
V
BEN PÊNG WÊN G%N KÊNH
%N*
BI PI GA KA GEN* KÊN
BIN PING GA{ KAI GY{ CHIEH
BIN* PIN GAN KANG DA TA
BO PO GAN* KAN DA{ TAI
BOU POU GAO KAO DAN TANG
BU PU GEN KÊNG DAN* TAN
B%{ PEI GO KUO DAO TAO

Russian-English Conversion Table for Chinese Syllables (Continued)

 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-40

KUAN
DE TIEH JO JO K’UAN
*
DJAO TSAO JOU JOU KU{ K’UEI
DJEN* CHÊN JU JU KUN K’UNG
DVY CHIA JUAN* JUAN KUN* K’UN
KU%
DI TI JU{ JUI K’UEI
{
DIN TING JUN JUNG K% K’O
DO TO JUN* JUN K%N K’ÊNG
DOU TOU J% JÊ K%N* K’ÊN
DU TU J%N JÊNG LA LA
DUAN
TUAN J%N* JÊN LA{ LAI
*
DU{ TUI I I LAN LANG
DUN TUNG IN YING LAN* LAN
DUN* TUN IN* YIN LAO LAO
D@ TI IO YO LE LIEH
D% TÊ KA K’A LI LI
D%N TÊNG KA{ K’AI LIE LIEH
D& TIU KAN K’ANG LIN LING
DYN* TIEN KAN* K’AN LIN* LIN
DYO TIAO KAO K’AO LO LO
E YEH KO K’UG LOU LOU
JAN JANG KOU K’OU LU LU
LUAN
JAN* JAN KU K’U LUAN
*
JAO JAO KUA K’UA LUN LUNG
JEN* JÊN KUA{ K’UAI LUN* LUN
K’UAN
JI JIH KUA{ L@N LÊNG
G

Russian-English Conversion Table for Chinese Syllables (Continued)

L% LÊ M%{ MEI NEN* NÊN
L%{ LEI M%N MÊNG N& NIU
 Chinese Personal Names 7-41

L%N LÊNG M%N* MÊN N&E NÜEH

LO LIU M@ MIU N&{ NÜ
LOAN
LÜAN MYN* MIEN N&% NÜEH
*
LOE LÜEH MYO MIAO NYN NIANG
L@{ LÜ NA NA NYN* NIEN
LY LIA NA{ NAI NYO NIAO
LYN LIANG NAN NANG O O
LYN* LIEN NAN* NAN OU OU
LYO LIAO NAO NAO PA P’A
MA MA NGO NGO PA{ P’AI
MA{ MAI NE NIEH PAN P’ANG
MAN MANG NI NI PAN* P’AN
MAN* MAN NIN NING PAO P’AO
MAO MAO NIN* NIN PE P’IEH
ME MIEH NO NO PI P’I
MI MI NOU NOU PIN P’ING
MIN MING NU NU PIN* P’IN
NUAN
MIN* MIN NUAN PO P’O
*
MO MO NUN NUNG POU P’OU
MOU MOU NUN* NUN PU P’U
MU MU N@N NÊNG P@N P’ÊNG
M@N MÊNG N%{ NEI P@N* P’ÊN
M@N* MÊN N%N NÊNG P%{ P’EI
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-42

Russian-English Conversion Table for Chinese Syllables (Continued)

P%N P’ÊNG S%N* SÊN TUN T’UNG

P%N* P’ÊN S& HSIU TUN* T’UN
SOAN
PYN* P’IEN *
HSŬAN T% T’Ê
PYO P’IAO SOE HSÜEH T%N T’ÊNG
SA SA SO{ HSÜ TYN* T’IEN
SA{ SAI S&N HSIUNG TYO T’IAO
SAN SANG S&N* HSÜN U WU
SAN* SAN S&% HSÜEH FA FA
SAO SAO SY HSIA FAN FANG
SE HSIEH SYN HSIANG FAN* FAN
SI HIS SYN* HSIEN FE{ FEI
SIN HSING SYO HSIAO FO FO
SIN* HSIN TA T’A FOU FOU
SIU HSIU TA{ T’AI FU FU
SO SO TYN T’ANG F@N FÊNG
SOU SOU TAN* T’AN F@N* FÊN
SU SU TAO T’AO F%{ FEI
SUAN
*
SUAN TE T’IEH F%N FÊNG
SU{ SUI TI T’I F%N* FÊN
SUN SUNG TIN T’ING XA HA
SUN* SUN TO T’O XA{ HAI
S@ SSŬ TOU T’OU XAN HANG
S@N* SÊN TU T’U XAN* HAN
TUAN
S% SÊ *
T’UAN XAO HAO
S%N SÊNG TU{ T’UI XO HUO
 Chinese Personal Names 7-43

Russian-English Conversion Table for Chinese Syllables (Continued)

XO{ HUI HZAO TSAO HZY CHIA

XOU HOU HZE CHIEH HZYN CHIANG
XU HU HZEN TSÊNG HZYN* CHIEN
XUA HUA HZ{ CHI HZYO CHIAO
XUA{ HUAI HZIN CHING HI CH’I
XUAN HUANG HZIN* CHIN HIN CH’ING
XUAN
HUAN HZO TSO HIN* CH’IN
*
XU{ HUI HZOU TSOU HO TS’O
XYN HUNG HZU TSU HOU TS’OU
XYN* HUN HZUAN* TSUAN HU TS’U
XY%{ HUI HZU{ TSUI HUAN* TS’UAN
X% HO HZUN TSUNG HU{ TS’UI
X%{ HEI HZUN* TSUN HUN TS’UNG
X%N HÊNG HZ@ TZ’Ŭ HUN* TS’UN
X%N* HÊNG HZ% TSÊ H@ TZ’Ŭ
HA HZ%{ TSEI H% TS’Ê
TS’A
HA{ TS’AI HZ%N TSÊNG H%{ TS’EI
HAN TS’ANG HZ%N* TSÊN H%N TS’ÊNG
HAN* TS’AN HZ& CHIU H%N* TS’ÊN
HAO TS’AO HZ&AN* CHÜAN H& CH’IU
HE CH’IEH HZ&E CHÜEH H&AN* CH’ÜAN
HZA TSA HZ&{ CHÜ H&E CH’ÜEH
CHIUN
HZA{ TSAI HZ&N H&{ CH’Ü
G
CH’IUN
HZAN TSANG HZ&N* CHÜN H&N
G
HZAN
TSAN HZ&% CHÜEH H&N* CH’ÜN
*
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-44

Russian-English Conversion Table for Chinese Syllables (Continued)

H&% CH’ÜEH CJUAN* CHUAN QAN SHANG

HY CH’IA CJU{ CHUI QAN* SHAN
HY{ CH’IAI CJUN CHUNG QAO SHAO
HYN CH’IANG CJUN* CHUN QEN SHÊNG
HYN* CH’IEN CJ% CHÊ QEN* SHÊN
HYO CH’IAO CJ%N CHÊNG QI SHIH
CA CH’A CJ%N* CHÊN QO SHUO
CA{ CH’AI CI CH’IH QOU SHOU
CAN CH’ANG CIN CH’IN WU SHU
CAN* CH’AN CO CH’O QUA SHUA
CAO CH’AO COU CH’OU QUA{ SHUAI
CEN* CH’ÊN CU CH’U QUAN SHUANG
QUAN
CJA CHA CUA CH’UA SHUAN
*
CHA{ CHAI CUA{ CH’UAI QU{ SHUI
CH’UAN
CJAN CHANG CUAN QUN* SHUN
G
CJAN* CHAN CUAN* CH’UAN Q% SHÊ
CJAO CHAO CU{ CH’UI Q%N SHÊNG
CJEN CHENG CUN CH’UNG Q%N* SHÊN
CJI CHIN CUN* CH’UN % Ê
CJO CHO CUO CH’UO %N ENG
CJOU CHOU C% CH’Ê %N* EN
CJU CHU C%N CH’ÊNG %R ERH
CJUA CHUA C%N* CH’ÊN & YU
CJUA{ CHUAI QA SHA &AN* YÜAN
CHUAN
CJUAN QA{ SHAI &E YÜEH
G

&{ YÜ
&N YUNG
&N* YÜN
&% YÜEH
Y YA
Y{ YAI
YN YANG
YN* YEN
YO YAO
Chinese Personal Names 7-45
The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-46

APPENDIX D
Common Family Names
 Chinese Personal Names 7-47

APPENDIX D
Common Family Names Concluded
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-48

APPENDIX E

Romanization of Eleven Common Family Names (as Found in the Directories for Singapore,
Bangkok, the Philippines, and Indonesia)
The purpose of this Appendix is to provide evidence of the need for using Wade-
Giles romanizations and telecode numbers as a standard point of reference.
Unquestionably, the forms by which a person is known in whatever area(s) he may be
are also necessary.

I 張 CHANG (1728)
Singapore Bangkok Philippines Indonesia
1. Chan
2. Chang Chang Chang Chang
3. Cheang
4. Cheong Cheong
5. Cheung Cheung Cheung
6. Chiang Chiang
7. Chiong
8. Chong Chong
9. Diong
10. Djang
11. Nai
12. Tea
13. Tee
14. Teo Teo
15. Thio Thio
16. Thiong
17. Tia
18. Tiao
19. Tiew
20. Tijo
21. Tin
22. Tio Tio Tio Tio
23. Tiong
24. Tiow
25. Tjiong
26. Tjong Tjong
27. Tiu

APPENDIX E Continued
Romanization of Eleven Common Family Names
 Chinese Personal Names 7-49

II 王 WANG (3769)

Singapore Bangkok Philippines Indonesia

1. Ang
2. Dy
3. Eng
4. Han
5. Hang
6. Hen Hen
7. Heng Heng
8. Huang Huang
9. Ngo
10. Ong Ong Ong Ong
11. Tiu
12. Tjung
13. Wan
14. Wong Wong Wong Wong
15. Wuan

[Ed. Note. Parts III and IV not on original.]

V 劉 LIU (0491)

Singapore Bangkok Philippines Indonesia

1. Chaya
2. Kung
3. Jao
4. Lao Lao
5. Lau Lau
6. Lauw
7. Law

8. Lew
9. Li
10. Lieu
11. Liew
12. Lioe
13. Liu Liu
14. Loh
15. Lou
16. Low Low
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-50

APPENDIX E Continued
Romanization of Eleven Common Family Names

VI 林 LIN (2651)

Singapore Bangkok Philippines Indonesia

1. Lam Lam
2. Liem Liem
3. Lim Lim Lim Lim
4. Limpe
5. Lin Lin Lin Lin
6. Ling
7. Lio
8. Lum Lum
9. Nim

VII 陳 CH'EN (7115)

Singapore Bangkok Philippines Indonesia

1. Cha
2. Chan Chan Chan Chan
3. Chen Chen Chen Chen
4. Cheng
5. Cheong
6. Chia
7. Chin
8. Ching
9. Chun
10. Dan
11. Heng
12. King
13. T.
14. Tam
15. Tan Tan Tan Tan
16. Tang
17. Than
18. Tho
19. Tjhen
20. Tjhin Tjhin
 Chinese Personal Names 7-51

21. Ting
22. Tong

APPENDIX E Continued
Romanization of Eleven Common Family Names

VIII 黃 Huang (7806)

Singapore Bangkok Philippines Indonesia

1. Aei
2. Ang Ang Ang
3. Bong
4. Chan
5. Eung
6. Go
7. Hang
8. Him
9. Hong
10. Huang Huang Huang Huang
11. Hwang Hwang
12. Lim
13. Ng Ng Ng Ng
14. Oei Oei
15. Oeij Oeij
16. Oey
17. Oij
18. Ong Ong
19. Ooi
20. Oun
21. Sia
22. Thawi
23. Ueng
24. Ung
25. Urn
26. Urng
27. Uy Uy
28. Wai
29. Wang Wang
30. We
31. Wee Wee
32. Whang Whang
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-52

33. Woel
34. Wong Wong Wong Wong
35. Yuang

APPENDIX E Continued
Romanization of Eleven Common Family Names

IX 梅 MEI (2734)

Singapore Bangkok Philippines Indonesia

1. Boey Boi
2. Bui
3. Buay
4. May
5. Mei
6. Moy
7. Mui
8. Muy
9.

X 伍 WU (0124)

Singapore Bangkok Philippines Indonesia

1. Gow
2. Ng Ng Ng
3. Ngo Ngo
4. Ngow
5. Wu Wu
6. Yam
7. Yap
 Chinese Personal Names 7-53

APPENDIX E Concluded
Romanization of Eleven Common Family Names

XI 葉 YEH (5509)

Singapore Bangkok Philippines Indonesia

1. Cheap
2. Eok
3. Ham
4. Hiap
5. Iap
6. Jap
7. Yah
8. Yap Yap Yap Yap
9. Yeap
10. Yeh Yeh Yeh Yeh
11. Yiap
12. Yih
13. Yip
14. Yit
 The Onomastic Treasure of the CIA 7-54

APPENDIX F
Common Family Names Also Used as Given Names
(See Appendix D or our Telecode Book, pages A and B)
CHANG (4545) HUNG (3163)
CH’ANG (1603) SHIH (4258)
CH’ENG (2052) JAO (7437) SHUI (3055)
CH’ENG (4453) JEN (0117) SU (5685)
CHI (0679) JUNG (2837)
CHIEN (4675) T’IEH (6993)
CHIN (6855) KAN (3927) T’IEN (3944)
CHING (5427) K’ANG (1660) TING (0002)
CHO (0587) KAO (7559)
CH’UAN (0356) KU (6253) WAN (5502)
CHUN (6511) LUNG (7893) WEN (2429)
WEN (3306)
FANG (2455) MEI (2734)
FENG (6265) YEN(0917)
FU (1381) NAN (0589) YEN (7346)
FU (4569) NIEN (1628) YING (2019)
YUEH (2867)
HUA (5478) PAI (4101) YU (3266)
Chinese Personal Names 7-55