Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, many families in ancient mainland China have begun to revise their family trees and compile words or sentences with better meanings to distinguish generations for each generation of the family.
As a member of the family, whenever a newborn baby is born, parents will add the word generation to the name when choosing a name.
The practice of repairing genealogies has spread to modern times, and many people have stopped following genealogy, and even the custom of repairing genealogy has stopped in many places.
Young people are no longer naming their children according to their generation, which is worrying.
If there is no genealogical constraint, and the name is no longer taken according to the regulations, then the next generation of babies will be named, and what can be done if the name is the same as that of the ancestors?
1. The origin of genealogy
Before the Tang Dynasty, the government had a special agency to record the genealogy of each family.
At that time, the genealogy was written by the government, on the one hand, to ensure the authority and authenticity of the genealogy, and on the other hand, to facilitate the inspection in case of emergency.
There are some similarities between this genealogy body and the household registry that is now responsible for registering the family register.
After the Song Dynasty, the role of genealogy in the upper echelons gradually weakened, and in order to save human and financial resources, the government began to hand over this work to private writers, generally by the eldest or most authoritative person in the family.
During the Qing Dynasty, when the Manchus were in power, the government began to pay attention to genealogy again due to factors such as the election of officials and in-laws.
Although the government has fixed the text and format of the family tree, the family tree is kept by each family and sent to the government for examination when necessary.
Genealogy has had many names, genealogies, genealogies, etc. throughout history. Nowadays, most people in the city have no family tree.
In many remote mountain villages on the mainland, there is still a tradition of repairing a family tree, and once a newborn baby is born, his name is given to the person in charge of writing the family tree. Only when a newborn is on the genealogy can he be considered a member of the village.
2. Names are taken according to generations
In these villages, where the custom of cultivating genealogy continues, children are generally named according to their generation, and most names are three-character names.
The surname is added to the generation and the first name, and only the last word is the name given to him by his family.
There are many people in a village, most of them go out to work all year round, and only go home during the Spring Festival, and many villages still continue the custom of worshipping ancestors.
At this time, almost all the people in the village will gather together, and many people have not met.
But as long as the name is spoken, everyone will tacitly understand who is the elder, the peer or the junior.
You can tell the other person's seniority from the name, and when talking to him, you can also use more accurate words to not offend the elders as a joke.
With the continuous progress of society, many young people have accepted new patterns of behavior, no longer follow the rules step by step, and do not follow the generations when naming their children.
In addition, there is no requirement for the practice of family tree cultivation in the society, and many villages have not continued to repair family trees for two or three generations.
As a result, many young people return to the village, unable to distinguish what to call the villagers, and refuse to attend the various gatherings organized by the villagers.
3. Duplicate the name with the ancestors
What's more, these young people know what their grandfather's name is at most, and they don't know the names of their ancestors at most.
Often when naming the next generation, there is a high probability that the ancestors will be renamed.
In ancient times, juniors and elders could not have the same name, which was a great disrespect to the elders, and the juniors needed to take another name.
Now that there is no constraint on genealogy in society, my family members do not know the names of their ancestors, and they naturally do not have so many scruples about naming the next generation.
As the saying goes, those who don't know are not guilty, and now society does not attach importance to these, and even if they get the same name as their ancestors, it will not affect the next generation to continue to use this name.
From another point of view, the name of the ancestor is used by the juniors, which is not the so-called blood inheritance, when the name is mentioned, you can think of the ancestors, so as to remember the ancestors.
However, if it is for the sake of observing customs, you can also choose to change the child's name, but you need to go to the household registration office where the household registration is located to register and change the name.
A child under the age of 18 needs the consent of a guardian to change his or her name, and he or she must go through the corresponding procedures with him. If an adult who has reached the age of 18 changes his or her name, he or she only needs to apply to the place of residence in person.
Summary:
In many rural areas and remote mountain villages on the mainland, it is common for a village or even several surrounding villages to have the same surname. If you go back several generations, you will find that almost all of these people with the same surname in the village are blood relatives.
In fact, the act of repairing family tree is also a kind of traditional culture in the mainland, and the family tree not only reflects the family culture, but also contains the process of historical changes. Museums in many countries still have a part of the genealogy of the mainland, and the genealogy is a powerful evidence for us to trace our roots.
In recent years, due to the lack of family tree, many people have lost their sense of identity with the concept of family and neglected family culture and family inheritance.
In contemporary society, although no one is forced to repair the family tree, the act of repairing the family tree is still a very meaningful thing.
Do you think the custom of genealogy should be passed on?
References:
1. The Great Spectrum Artist V 2020-08-11--- The Editing of the Great Spectrum Master's Genealogy: The Meaning and Role of Family Tree
2. Write and read the Spring and Autumn Period2020-10-18--In the past, people were popular to "name by generation", why are they reluctant now? The reason is very realistic
3. Chinese family tree 2018-11-01--- The format, compilation and preservation of genealogy, the most complete knowledge points are here