The 3-Stroke Surname That’s Tripping Everyone Up: One Girl’s Frustrating Struggle to Get it Right
Life Center/Reported by Hu Zhixin
Before the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors (5,000 years ago), there were surnames in China. There were quite a few Chinese surnames, definitely not just Baijia surnames. All surnames have a long history. However, many embarrassing situations often happen to people with special surnames.
School has started, and many new students have to introduce themselves. A little girl’s name is “Zihan”, a common name for the post-90s and post-00s generations in China. However, her last name is “彡”, pronounced as ”ㄕㄢ”. Compared to “Zihan”, the word “彡” is too uncommon, and fewer people know it.
When Zihan introduces herself at the beginning of school, her special surname often causes difficulties. The teacher often struggles to call her by name smoothly. She even laughed to herself and said, “Few people pronounce it correctly” and “Some people call me Sanzu”. Many netizens shared similar experiences, saying they have never seen this surname before or used it in daily life.
The “Revised Mandarin Dictionary Re-Edited by the Ministry of Education” explains the pronunciation and meaning of the word “彡”. The surname “彡” can be traced back to the Han Dynasty, originating from the Qiang people in Longxi. The pronunciation of the character “彡” is “ㄕㄢ”, and it can be interpreted as the pattern drawn by the head or the way the hair grows.
Many people shared that they also have special surnames, which opened the eyes of many netizens. For example, there are people with surnames such as “Kuai”, “Ai”, “Xian”, and “It”, which are very rare.