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Post by lianhua88 on Jan 20, 2023 16:33:49 GMT
Family In Chinese culture, ... – Dage 大哥 Big Brother Boss, Eldest Brother, Big Bro Ge / Gege / Xiong 哥 / 哥哥 / 兄 Elder Brother Older Brother, Big Brother, Big Bro Di / Didi 弟 / 弟弟 Younger Brother Little Brother Jiemei 姐妹 Sister – Dajie 大姐 Big Sister Eldest Sister, Big Sis Jie / Jiejie 姐 / 姐姐 Elder Sister Older Sister, Big Sister, Big Sis Mei / Meimei 妹 / 妹妹 Younger Sister Little Sister Xiaojie 小姐 Miss – NOTES Shushu 叔叔 ... immortalmountain.wordpress.com/glossary/terms-of-address/Do you call eldest brother "dage" even when there's a sister who is older? Or is the form of address numbering consistent for all in the sibling group? Like in a family of a big sister and two big brothers then you, is it Dajie, then Dage, then Erge, you or is it Dajie, then Erge, Sange, you.
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Post by siuyiu on Jan 20, 2023 22:22:32 GMT
it depends how traditional the family is: the very traditional families numbered the girls and boys separately by sex, so yes, the oldest sister is dajie, the oldest brother is dage, even if dajie is older than dage. but most modern families aren't so misogynistic and so will number their children by birth order regardless of sex. so then you'd have dajie, erge, sange, etc.
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Post by lianhua88 on Jan 21, 2023 0:20:56 GMT
it depends how traditional the family is: the very traditional families numbered the girls and boys separately by sex, so yes, the oldest sister is dajie, the oldest brother is dage, even if dajie is older than dage. but most modern families aren't so misogynistic and so will number their children by birth order regardless of sex. so then you'd have dajie, erge, sange, etc. Thanks, I've seen both so it's been confusing me.
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Post by siuyiu on Jan 21, 2023 2:00:54 GMT
it depends how traditional the family is: the very traditional families numbered the girls and boys separately by sex, so yes, the oldest sister is dajie, the oldest brother is dage, even if dajie is older than dage. but most modern families aren't so misogynistic and so will number their children by birth order regardless of sex. so then you'd have dajie, erge, sange, etc. Thanks, I've seen both so it's been confusing me. well, both are correct, so it just depends on the family and time period--if it was ancient/dynastic times, then they numbered the kids separately by sex.
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Post by Admin on Jan 28, 2023 3:45:18 GMT
it depends how traditional the family is: the very traditional families numbered the girls and boys separately by sex, so yes, the oldest sister is dajie, the oldest brother is dage, even if dajie is older than dage. but most modern families aren't so misogynistic and so will number their children by birth order regardless of sex. so then you'd have dajie, erge, sange, etc. Wow. I didn't know that in modern families so they just number their children by birth order. I personally think it's weird. I mean...dage is dage...dajie is dajie...I can't call my dage as erge just because he's the second child in the family.It's not about being misogynistic or sexist, but What's the point of having the term brother and sister if they just number the children by birth order? If the gender and gender term are unknown, then I could understand if the order is just by birth order, for example: eldest sibling, second older sibling, etc.
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Post by chefying on Jan 28, 2023 14:35:49 GMT
it depends how traditional the family is: the very traditional families numbered the girls and boys separately by sex, so yes, the oldest sister is dajie, the oldest brother is dage, even if dajie is older than dage. but most modern families aren't so misogynistic and so will number their children by birth order regardless of sex. so then you'd have dajie, erge, sange, etc. My family practices the traditional style where sons and daughters are numbered separately.
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Post by reinafu on Feb 17, 2023 10:57:19 GMT
So, no names such as Hudie, or Meihua and so on ? That's sad to just be called as numbers, it reminds me of the series The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan...
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Post by reinafu on Feb 17, 2023 11:01:19 GMT
If I finally finish to write my wuxia story, I won't be able to use this tradition (even if I understand that it has to be respected in China), because Foreigners outside China wouldn't understand that my characters are called Big Brother, Third Sister and so on. But don't misunderstand me, I love watching wuxias and it doesn't distrub me to hear people addressing to each others as Big Grand-Uncle and so on, but I really prefer when the heroes have and use names such a the ones I mentioned above.
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Post by kyc on Feb 17, 2023 11:39:41 GMT
If I finally finish to write my wuxia story, I won't be able to use this tradition (even if I understand that it has to be respected in China), because Foreigners outside China wouldn't understand that my characters are called Big Brother, Third Sister and so on. But don't misunderstand me, I love watching wuxias and it doesn't distrub me to hear people addressing to each others as Big Grand-Uncle and so on, but I really prefer when the heroes have and use names such a the ones I mentioned above. The numbering tradition is generally only used among one's immediate family. If you are addressing someone outside your immediate family, you can say "Granduncle + name", "Uncle + name", "Aunt Meihua" etc. Sure, you can still use the numbering tradition within your clan outside your immediate family, but this can get confusing. Notice in Jin Yong, Huang Rong always addresses Guo Jing as "Elder Brother Jing" (靖哥哥). In Ba Jin's The Family, there is a character who is called Cousin Mei (梅表姐/表妹). In a strict Confucian family, or in ancient China, it is considered extremely disrespectful to address one's elders and seniors by name alone. A senior or elder can call you by your given name though.
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Post by chefying on Feb 21, 2023 12:13:08 GMT
If I finally finish to write my wuxia story, I won't be able to use this tradition (even if I understand that it has to be respected in China), because Foreigners outside China wouldn't understand that my characters are called Big Brother, Third Sister and so on. But don't misunderstand me, I love watching wuxias and it doesn't distrub me to hear people addressing to each others as Big Grand-Uncle and so on, but I really prefer when the heroes have and use names such a the ones I mentioned above. When writing a book, the character would be referred to by name, e.g. MeiHua or HuDie, as in, say, HuDie looked at MeiHua in full admiration of her courage. If HuDie is the eldest daughter and MeiHua the second daughter in the family, the prose would be something like... HuDie looked at MeiHua in full admiration of her courage, and said, "Second sister, I would never dare to do that!" MeiHua then replied to HuDie, "Eldest sister, I did not know what came over me to dare say those words, Father would punish me if he ever finds out!" In this manner, I think the the names of the characters in the story can be preserved, and at the same time, the cultural aspect is reflected as well. I know it can be a bit long winded, but as they say, if the reading is easy, the author spend much effort in the writing.
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