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After a thousand years, a Chinese clan was finally permitted to use its original family name.
Members of this small group of 16 Chinese families in Henan province in China were unhappy with the name they carried since the 10th century. That name is Gou. Gou means "careless" or "negligent." It sounds the same as "dog." It's hard to get respect when you are called a dog.
The family name wasn't always Gou. Originally it was Jing.
The word Jing means respect. It is a good character and has a good sound for a family name. However, the right side of the jing character looks similar to the fan character, which means "revolt" or "rebel." In the late Tang dynasty, use of any name that was considered offensive by the imperial court could result in imprisonment or execution. A government official at that time with the family name Jing decided to remove any chance that he might be accused by political enemies of secretly planning to revolt. He removed the right component of the jing character, changing his name to Gou.
A thousand years later, in 2005, the Gou clan petitioned and was finally permitted by the Chinese government to change its name back to Jing.
In olden times, Chinese practiced bi hui, avoiding the use in one's personal name of any character already used in the name of one's elder. Bi hui is the reason Chinese people typically do not name their children after themselves or one of their elders.
The Chinese Year of the Dog will start on January 29, 2006.
December 2005
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