Aha, you've encountered the same confusion I met with early in my stay here. Enough of those whom I met seemed keen on being called by their family name that I finally thought to ask.
In our homeland, one tends to have either two or three names, depending on whether or not a person is born into wealth or gentry status (most often the two overlap).
The family name comes first, that which one's title is attached to. Then comes one of two names - the given name or courtesy name.
One who was born into wealth or gentry has both. It's often the length that tells you which is which. Given name tends to be one syllable, while the courtesy name is two, with few exceptions. As such, Jiang Wanyin prefers use of his courtesy name, while Jiang Cheng (his given name) is how he is known among family.
One who is born outside of such circumstances tends only have a family name and a given one, which can be either length. My given name is Xingchen. I have no courtesy name.
I hope that I've cleared up your understanding, Xiao Xingchen
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Aha, you've encountered the same confusion I met with early in my stay here. Enough of those whom I met seemed keen on being called by their family name that I finally thought to ask.
In our homeland, one tends to have either two or three names, depending on whether or not a person is born into wealth or gentry status (most often the two overlap).
The family name comes first, that which one's title is attached to. Then comes one of two names - the given name or courtesy name.
One who was born into wealth or gentry has both. It's often the length that tells you which is which. Given name tends to be one syllable, while the courtesy name is two, with few exceptions. As such, Jiang Wanyin prefers use of his courtesy name, while Jiang Cheng (his given name) is how he is known among family.
One who is born outside of such circumstances tends only have a family name and a given one, which can be either length. My given name is Xingchen. I have no courtesy name.
I hope that I've cleared up your understanding,
Xiao Xingchen