THE TRANSFORMATION OF NAMING PRACTICES IN CHINESE FAMILIES - SOME LINGUISTIC CLUES TO SOCIAL-CHANGE

Chinese family organization has undergone significant change, first as a result of the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 and more re cently as a consequence of the one-child policy initiated in 1979 and the declining influence of patriarchy. These changes have created dile mmas regarding appropriate forms for central family values and practic es. The problems inherent in this situation are illustrated through th e choice of family and given names for newborns. Traditionally, family names have been the principal symbolic means of reflecting the contin uity of kinship and the immortality of the ancestral family. Chinese g iven names also serve social functions as generation markers, as a pro jection of personal identity, a gender indicator and indirect reflecti on of social change. Evidence suggests considerable ambiguity and deba te among contemporary Chinese regarding the cultural guidelines for se lection of family and given names for newborns. These microsocial conf licts are consistent with observed structural discontinuities in famil y organization, illustrating the reciprocal relationship between insti tutional conditions and behavior.