China Business Blog and Podcast

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The scholar Confucius was an interesting guy … he was also a bit of a worry-wart. Certainly, there was a lot to be worried about … Kingdoms were fighting Kingdoms, people were starving, there was a general lack of education across the land. And the rulers hadn’t even gotten into building ridiculous architecture like the Great Wall. So ol’ Confucius was scratching his head for a solution but he was a pretty bright guy. Part of what he came up with revolved around names … he said, “You know, the problem is that a ruler is not acting like a ruler; a father is not acting like a father; a son is not acting like a son.” And like other famous people that need only one name – Madonna, Sting, Cher – he was also pretty good at marketing, or at least his students were. So in succeeding generations, there have been vast campaigns to get people to act in ways consistent with their names.

We Westerners, on the other hand, are not smart in this way. We tend to follow William Shakespeare who asked, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. But maybe he wasn’t so smart … after all, he had to keep his first name in his brand.

But I have been thinking a lot about names recently and how important they are here in China. Chinese names are beautiful, rich in symbolism and possess a sense of history that places the bearer securely within the culture. Finding an appropriate Chinese name for a foreigner is, perhaps, even more difficult than it is for the native-born. Many opt for the easy way out – simply translating the sound of their name into Chinese phonemes. Of course, that means the Chinese characters are devoid of meaning. Most foreigners don’t mind, but if you want to belong then you should find a “real” name.

So if you want to make sure you have a good Chinese name, you’ve got to approach the situation not unlike your China business strategy – you need to take some control and work with people you trust. My Chinese name was chosen many years ago by a committee formed by my closest Chinese friends. Their mission: to find a name that matched my personality. However, the most appropriate, “Donkey-Face-Monkey-Boy’”, does not translate well in Chinese so instead they chose 高 德凯 or Gao Dekai. Gao is a traditional family name, but it also means “tall” and therefore alludes to my height. De means “morality” and Kai, “victory”, which says something about my successful struggles with sin (or pokes fun at my many failures). In short, Gao Dekai is a nice, solid, very Chinese name.

I am never embarrassed when presenting my business card to Chinese people and they always comment on my name – “Oh … very nice name. Very strong!”

Every once in a while, my Chinese friends ask me to help choose an English name for themselves or even their first child. This makes me feel most uncomfortable. The responsibility is too great and a wrong choice can mark a person with bad karma for life. I have trouble choosing a necktie, never mind something as serious as a name.

I once knew a young man surnamed Zhou, who approached me one day and said: “Mr. Kent, I want you to help me pick an English name.”
“OK,” I said, my voice aquiver, “have you anything in mind?”
“Well, I like the name Satellite,” he said, with a proud grin.
“Um… ‘Satellite Zhou’? Are you sure about that?” I asked.
“Yes” he said. “Satellites are very modern and are very strong. And I want to be modern and strong. Besides, my best friend said it was a good name for me.”
“Who is your best friend?” I asked, fearing the answer.
“Oh,” he said, “his name is Auditorium Li.”

Which reminds me, in China, everything is possible but nothing is easy.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 6th, 2009 at 1:08 pm and is filed under China, podcast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.