ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2527
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2527
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* NOTE: Later research turned up additional *
* information relevant to this report. *
* See the end of the letter for details. *
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25 Apr 2002
From: (Josh Mittleman)
Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You asked our help choosing a name appropriate for a Chinese woman living
during the Southern Sung [Song] Dynasty, 1127-1279, preferably using the
surname <Chang1> [Zhang1], which you chose for its meaning "to draw a bow".
Here's what we've found.
You've already read our previous reports 2342 and 2346 [1]; we will use the
same notation in this letter. The general remarks in those reports on the
Chinese name construction apply equally well to your period. The given
names and most of the surnames we discussed are appropriate for you, though
of course the selection of names we included in those reports was narrowed
by our clients' interests. There was a general trend from very simple to
more fanciful or specific names over time; your period is roughly in the
middle of that trend.
Chinese family names have been inherited, much as our surnames are today,
for thousands of years. The name <Chang1> is a good choice for your family
name. It is written with a character that means "to draw a bow" [3]. That
meaning was certainly apparent to literate people in the Middle Ages, and
it might have been used as the basis for word-play or poetic symbolism.
However, a person named <Chang1> was no more likely to work with bows and
arrows than a modern man named <Peter Archer>.
We have found three other women's names from your period [2]. Recall that
we give Wade-Giles transliterations first and then Pinyin in square
brackets. In the Wade-Giles forms, the character ^ represents a circumflex
(small upside-down 'v') over the preceding character. Our pronunciation
information includes numbers (1, 2, 3, or 4) at the end of most Chinese
syllables listed here. These numbers, usually superscripted in
word-processed documents, indicate a syllable's spoken tone. At their
simplest,
Tone 1 is high level
Tone 2 is high rising
Tone 3 is low dipping
Tone 4 is high falling
Tone combinations in polysyllabic words can be much more complicated.
However, such tone combinations can be _roughly_ approximated by
treating each syllable as a separate entity. You can learn more about tones
and pronunciation, through the web addresses below. (There are no blank
spaces in these addresses. If your font underlines web addresses, a space
that looks blank is actually a single underscore character.)
http://www.wellgot.ca/phonetic/preface-e.htm
http://icg.harvard.edu/~pinyin/
http://www.wannalearn.com/Academic_Subjects/World_Languages/Chinese
Ch'e^ng2 T'ien1 T'ai4 [Cheng2 Tian1 Tai4], 12th C.
pronounced \tch@ng tyen ty\ with the 'y' as in <my>. \@\ stands for the
sound of the <a> in <about>.
Probably a hao, apparently meaning "holding or enjoying supreme heaven."
Its bearer was an imperial concubine and also had a title that included
the word "consort," but her emperor called her by this name even in
public. Presumably "supreme heaven" refers to the emperor, so this name
is not suitable for Society use. But one could use it as a template for
creating another hao for the wife or concubine of a less exalted man.
For example, a name meaning "holding X" where X is a hao of the woman's
man, an inherited surname of her or his family, or title of a particular
lower civil office. The characters that compose the name are as follows.
Remember that this does not represent the meaning of the name.
ch'e^ng translates as "bear; hold; carry; to offer; to receive;
to enjoy;to undertake; to flatter"
t'ien translates as "heaven, the sky; a day; weather; celestial"
t'ai translates as "excessive; very; supreme; epithet of very
distinguished persons"
Kan3 T'ien1 [Gan3 Tian1], 12th C.
pronounced \gahn tyen\
Chinese name of a woman who was second sovereign of Western Liao Dynasty,
becoming sovereign in 1135 until succeeded by her son in 1142. She ruled
over some 85,000 warriors, which probably explains her name meaning
"influencing heaven". As far as we can tell, the Western Liao Dynasty
adopted and were eventually assimilated into Han culture. Many modern
people see little distinction between them and those who ruled the
Southern Sung [Song]. This name, in itself, is probably not suitable for
Society use since it carries such a strong implication of imperial rank,
but it can be used as a pattern for name construction. For example, a
name meaning "influencing X" where X is an inherited surname or a
particular lower civil office would be workable.
kan translates as "to influence; to be affected by; to be moved; to
excite"
t'ien translates as "heaven, the sky; a day; weather; celestial"
O2 [E2], 2nd C BCE to 16th C
pronounced \ah\ or \@h\
Chinese name of several women from ancient to early modern times.
Although our examples do not include a woman from the Southern
Sung Dynasty, we think it is likely that the name was used at that
time as well.
O translates as "beautiful, good".
If you are interested in using one of these names as a starting point
for your own name, we'll be happy to help you further. The name
<Chang1 O2> [Zhang1 E2] is a fine choice for your period.
We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any
questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by
Juliana de Luna, Yin Mei Li, Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, and
Aryanhwy merch Catmael.
For the Academy,
Arval Benicoeur
25 Apr 2002
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References
[1] Academy of Saint Gabriel reports 2342 and 2346
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2342
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2346
[2] Giles, Herbert A. A Chinese Biographical Dictionary, in two volumes.
Literature House: Taipei, Taiwan (1962). Republication of original edition,
Bernard Quaritch; Kelly Walsh Ltd: London; Shanghai (1898). Uses
Wade-Giles transliterations.
[3] The particular name <Chang1> is said to go back to Hui, 5th son of
Emperor Huang Ti [27th C BC], who is credited with inventing the bow. See
Sheau-yueh J. Chao _In Search of Your Asian Roots, Genealogical Research on
Chinese Surnames._ Clearfield Co./Genealogical Publishing Co.: Baltimore,
Maryland (2000), under <Chang1>. This story is probably just a legend, but
the name really is _very_ old.
[4] This Chinese \R\ is similar to one of two common American \r\
pronunciations. Many Americans pronounce it with the tip of the tongue
curled up and back, almost touching the roof of the mouth. This
pronunciation is similar to the Chinese sound that we've represented by
\R\. To make a good approximation to \R\, just curl your tongue back a bit
further than normal and increase the friction; the result should sound
almost like \zh\.
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Correction, Yin Mei Li & Arval, 19 Apr 2003: We originally included
<Shih> in the list of given names, with the following paragraph:
Shih4 [Shi4],
pronounced \shR\ [4]
A ming and tzu used from at least 2nd C BCE through 10th C AD.
Apparently given to a very important woman in a family, usually
the patriarch's mother, wife or favorite concubine, or a daughter
whose hoped-for marriage would greatly advance the family. Also
given to women who, through court positions end up teaching
imperial concubines or helping historians, and thereby gain honor
for their families. The character means "clan, family, sect."
Yin has since learned that <Shih> is a generic form of address meaning
"Ms.". We have removed it and replaced it with <O>, which Yin found
in subsequent research; and used <O> in place of <Shih> in an example
of an appropriate name.