First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 23, no. 23 (May 23-June 13, 2011): 5. Surname 蘇 (Su in Mandarin, So in Hokkien) ranks 41st in China among Chinese surnames and 17th among Chinese in the Philippines. The origin of surname Su is quite interesting. It is linked to the herb su chao (蘇草), literally […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 23, no. 22 (April 19-May 9, 2011): 5. The surname 葉 (Ye in Mandarin, Yap in Hokkien), ranks 42nd among surnames in China and 16th in the Philippines. This is deceiving because there are actually more of the clan members than meets the eye. The surname’s origin underwent […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 23, no. 20 (March 22-April 4, 2011 Tulay Fortnightly): 5-6. Various family associations in the Philippine Chinese community represent more than one surname. Yet, only one of them truly represents two surnames where clan members actually descended from a common ancestor: Chan (曾) and Cu (邱). This is […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 23, no. 18 (February 15-March 7, 2011): 5. Although Chinese surname 莊 (Ching in Hokkien, Zhuang in Mandarin) ranks outside the 100 most populous surnames in China, it ranks 12th among Chinese in the Philippines. We can trace its origin to Chu Zhuang Wang (楚莊王). He was king […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 24, no. 24 (May 22-June 12, 2012): 5. Chinese surname 丁 (Ting in Hokkien, Ding in Mandarin) ranks 28th among Chinese in the Philippines and 48th in China. The Chinese character 丁 is quite simple: the capital letter T with a hook at the bottom of the vertical […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 24, no. 22 (April 24-May 7, 2012): 5. Chu in Hokkien, Zhu in Mandarin, 朱ranks 27th among the Chinese in the Philippines. In China, it ranks 13th, mainly because Zhu is the imperial surname during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). China’s emperors had tens or even hundreds of wives […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 24, no. 20 (March 20-April 9, 2012): 5. Chinese surname 顏 (Yan in Mandarin, Gan in Hokkien) ranks 26th among Chinese in the Philippines. However, in China, it ranks 112th, according to identification cards of the Ministry of Public Security in 2009, probably because 90 percent of Tsinoys […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 24, No. 18 (February 21-March 5, 2012): 5. The surname Yao (姚) has same pronunciation in Mandarin and Hokkien. It is the 62nd most populous surname in China, and ranks 25th among Chinese in the Philippines. The history of the surname Yao has to do with well-known and […]
First published in Tulay Fortnightly, Chinese-Filipino Digest 23, no. 15-16 (January 18-31, 2011): 5. Desperate times call for desperate measures. When enemies come, there are many ways to protect oneself: run away and hide, change your name, wear a disguise, and so on. These practices are as old as time, especially in China. Self defense […]
In 1948, a few years after the close of World War II, the number of the Chinese in the Philippines decreased in proportion to the country’s total population. Of the 121,702 Chinese in the Philippines, 2,126 were cooks and 963 were carpenters. Interestingly, there were 1,114 Chinese bankers, 1,669 domestic helpers, 181 family drivers, 99 […]