Chinese Names in Writing
I cannot believe that its 2019 and I have to talk about this. PEOPLE, WHEN WRITING CANONICALLY CHINESE CHARACTERS PLEASE GIVE THEM NORMAL CHINESE NAMES.
Chinese names most commonly consist of a ONE-SYLLABLE SURNAME and a TWO-SYLLABLE FIRST NAME, in that order:
a) Lim (Last name/surname) Pei Ling (First name)
b) Tan (Last name/surname) Kim Hei (First name)
Here are some awful bullshit names I’ve had to come across in books before:
a) Ching Chang
b) Ling Ling
c) Sun. (Just. Sun. Real creative, people.)
Chinese people with a one-syllable surname and one-syllable first name DO exist, and these are most commonly found in China itself. But for the Chinese people outside of China (eg. Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, other Southeast Asian Countries) their names are most likely gonna follow the structure I just put as an example.
This is important because it leaks down into education systems too. I am in a predominantly Caucasian school, and most of my chinese friends have had to pick a syllable out of their name and go by it cause its “easier” to remember. In a few short words, they are being told that their heritage and their names aren’t important in this space, and it isn’t important enough for people to be educated about.
Please I’m begging yall, PLEASE make an effort to do this. Google is out there. It’s not that difficult. I want to see a generation of Chinese kids who are delighted to be called their actual, real, full first names in class, and don’t have to constantly correct their teachers and/or their peers.
Thank you guys for reading this long post and I love yall. gnite
