Learn about the Chinese naming system and some of the issues concerning names that are being encountered today.

Learn about the Chinese naming system: there's a method to the madness!

The Chinese naming system is very complex. It follows precise rules, stating the differences between a person's last name, given name and courtesy name. In particular, the difference between the last two is strictly connected with the rituals that used to bring a child from childhood into adulthood in ancient China.

Chinese last names worked in a different way in the past than they do now. Chinese children used to get their mother's last name. That is because Chinese ancient society was matriarchal and divided into clans.

Through a detailed report of the Zhou Dynasty's history, we discover how the Chinese last name system worked and what has changed over the years and become today's practice.

This interesting discussion on the origins of Chinese last names and clan names shows how the tradition has evolved from the matriarchal to the patriarchal practice.

This interesting discussion on the origins of Chinese last names and clan names shows how the tradition has evolved from the matriarchal to the patriarchal practice.

This interesting discussion on the origins of Chinese last names and clan names shows how the tradition has evolved from the matriarchal to the patriarchal practice. This segment explores a few common family names- their origins, whether they were last or clan names, etc.

This interesting discussion on the origins of Chinese last names and clan names shows how the tradition has evolved from the matriarchal to the patriarchal practice. This segment looks into the selection of Chinese names. How can one find a good name with strong virtue?

This interesting discussion on the origins of Chinese last names and clan names shows how the tradition has evolved from the matriarchal to the patriarchal practice. This segment continues to explore Chinese names with specific attention on Jia Bao Yu, a character in the Hong Lou Meng movie.

Master Tang Han explains the importance of character meaning as well as character tone when giving names and how to revise a problematic name.

Master Tang explains the significance of the name. How does the name of a business determine its destiny?

Master Tang further explains how the name of an enterprise embodies its guiding principles and how our names must not be taken lightly.

This video tells the legend behind the Chinese firecracker.

In this episode, the origins of the Chinese characters for "illness" are explained.

This video explains how the character for illness evolved into its present form.

This video explains the origins of the Chinese character for pain.

Knowing the basis of the Chinese character for illness opens the door for learning many more characters.

The video describes the many ailments that can be treated with pine and cedar trees, the origins of Chinese medicine.