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Chinese Research and Bibliographic Methods for Beginners: Biographical Resources

Databases

Off-campus access to some resources is limited to UNC faculty, students, and staff.

World Biographical Index
Includes over 70,000 Chinese names and 86,000 Japanese names. Provides a brief bio and citations to other sources. Search Chinese/Japanese names in romanized forms.

China Biographical Database Project (CBDB)
A database hosted by Harvard Univ., including biographies of over 112,000 individuals from the seventh to nineteenth centuries. In both English and Chinese.

Chinese Biographical Database
A database for Chinese biographical, supporting searching by names and career, and origins.

Ming-Qing Archives Name Authority File 明清檔案人名權威資料庫
A searchable and cross-referenced database of biographical information for personal names in the Grand Secretariat and Grand Council archives held at Academia Sinica and National Palace Museum in Taiwan.

Chinese Names

In the ordering of Chinese names, the family name precedes the given name.

Basic structure of Chinese names:

One Character Family Name (姓) with One or Two Character Given Name (名)

Example: Zhang, Ziyi (章子怡)

One Character Family Name (姓) with More than Two Character (rare) Given Name (名)

Example: Fang, Yongzhengze (方永正则)

More than One Character (rare) Family Name (姓) with One or Two Character Given Name (名)

Example: Sima, Xiangru (司马相如)

More than one character (rare) Family Name (姓) with More than Two Character (rare) Given Name (名)

Example: Zhuge, Yongzhengze (诸葛永正则)

 

Alternative Names

Milk Name (乳名): Upon birth, the parents often use a "milk name" before a formal name is settled upon. The milk name may be abandoned but is often continued as a form of familial nicknames, typically including diminutives like 小(little) and 宝(baby) or doubled characters.

  • Examples: 淘宝,妮妮,小白

Style Name (字): A style name is assigned in place of one's given name as a symbol of adulthood and respect. Using style names has been fading since 1919.

  • Examples: 老子,字伯阳;孔子,字仲尼;曹操,字孟德。

Pseudonym (号):

  • Examples:

Posthumous Name (谥号): A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others. In ancient China, after a person's death, pseudonyms are used almost exclusively instead of one's personal name or other official titles during his life.

  • Examples: 孝钦慈禧端佑康颐昭豫莊诚寿恭钦献崇熙配天兴圣显皇后 (慈禧皇后)