ThenamesofChinesepeoplehavetheirownuniquecharacteristicsandtraditions.Mostnotably,andoppositetoWesternnorms,aperson鈥檚familynamewillcomefirstanditisthenfollowedbytheirgivenname.Thisgivennamewillnormallybemadeupofoneortwocharactersthathaveauniquemeaning.Inmanycases,thegivennamesarealignedwithfamilynamingtraditionsthatarepasseddownthroughgenerations.
BecauseChinesegivennameshavespecialmeaning,itthusbecomesobviousthatChinesenamescannotsimplybetranslatedintootherlanguages.WhenyoudomeetsomeonewithaWesternname,thisnameisusuallygiventotheChinesepersonbyanelderrelativeorteacherwhentheywereyoung,or,insomecases,selectedbythepersonthemselveslaterinlife.
Addressingpeoplecorrectly
Whatisslightlymorecomplicatedandimportant,however,istorealizethatinformalsituations,likebusinessmeetingsornegotiations,addressingyourChinesecounterpartscorrectlyiskeytomakingtherightfirstimpressionandfosteringgoodrelationships.SocialstatusandrankingisstillimportantinChineseculture,andthisisdemonstratedinhowpeopleaddresseachothertodayinformalsettings.
Whileitiscommonforfriendstoaddresseachotherbytheirgivennamesoraffectionatenicknames,itisonlyadvisedtodosoifone鈥檚Chinesecounterpartspecificallyadvisesapreferenceinthisregard.Otherwise,theyshouldalwaysbeaddressedbyasfollows:Theirsurnamefollowedbyprofessionalworktitleoroccupationalposition.
CertainvocationscarryahighsocialstatusinChina,andthesetypesofprofessionalsaretraditionallyaddressedbytheirjobtitles,suchasdoctor(yisheng),lawyer(lushi),judge(faguan),professor(jiaoshou)orPh.D.holder(boshi).Peoplecanbeaddresseddirectlybythesetitlesorwiththeirsurnameplacedbeforethetitleaswell.
Itisinterestingtonotethatinrecentyears,thetitleofteacher(laoshi)hasevolvedfarbeyonditsoriginalliteralmeaningof鈥渟choolteacher.鈥漁utsideofeducation,itisnowcommonlyusedincompanies,themedia,andentertainmentindustriestorespectfullyaddresssomeonewhohasexpertiseorknowledgeinaspecificfield.
Nameandtitleorder
Inbusiness,aswiththeaforementionedjobswithhighsocialstatus,surnamesareplacedbeforetheirorganizationalrankwhenaddressingcolleaguesorcounterpartsinformalsettings.Typicalbusinessrankswouldbedirector(dongshi)ormanager(jingli).
Anothertermwhichhasbecomepopularoverthelastdecadeistheabbreviatedtitleofchief(zong).Itiseffectivelytheshortenedversionofchairman(zongcai),generalmanager(zongjingli),orchiefengineer(zonggongchengshi)andsoon.Again,suchapersonwouldberespectfullyaddressedwiththeirsurnamebeforethistitle.Nowadays,thetitleisusedtoaddressanyonewhoholdsarelativelyhighpositionwithintheirorganization.
Inaddition,thereistheChinesetermformaster(shifu)which,liketheabovetitles,isnotgenderspecific.Thetitleisarespectfultermforpeoplewithatechnicalskillorcanalsobeusedtoaddressablue-collarworker.Aneverydayexampleofthiswouldbeusingthisterminaddressingataxidriver.
Inthisarticle,wehavecoveredonlyafewofthemostcommonprofessionalandbusinessrelatedtitles.AddressingpeopleinChinacanthusbeconfusingwhentakingintoaccountthemanydifferentsocialcontextsandsituationsineverydaylife.Whenindoubt,thesafestwouldbetousethetitlesofmadam(nushi)forfemalecounterpartsorsir(xiansheng)whenaddressingmeninformalsettings.
TheauthorJonNewtonisaShanghai-basedentrepreneur,Chinastartupspecialist,keynotespeakerandAdjunctProfessorofChinesebusinessatSKEMABusinessSchoolinChina.HecanbecontactedatoronLinkedInat:www.linkedin/in/jonnewton/