A legend

Emily 

I was called Xiaomei, which means little sister of the dawn before I was six years old. When I started going to elementary school, my mother changed my name to Wenhua, which literally means culture brilliance.

For me, Xiaomei was really an ugly name. It is so common, not unique. Though Wenhua was kind of rare, it is not a beautiful girl’s name. Both boys and girls could be named Wenhua. It is neutral. What was worse, Wenhua was pronounced the same as the word of culture in Chinese when it was spoken in Jiaodong dialect. I was often laughed at by my classmates. They always song that “No culture, too terrible” to me for fun.

On the middle school registration day, I was told my official name on my household register was 文化, which means culture in Chinese, not 文华 that means culture brilliance. What had the household register clerk done to my name? I guess my father didn’t speak Mandarin but a dialect to the clerk which mislead the clerk to put in the wrong character in the registration system. The Jiaodong dialect we speak, 文华 has the same sound as 文化. 

Thirty years ago, it was so difficult to get a child’s name changed. There were no standard and professional procedures about this issue. My father went to different offices repeatedly trying to get my name corrected and changed. Obviously, he encountered much difficulty. He complained about the officer he met that day every time he came back home. However, one day he came back so delighted because a young female officer helped get my name corrected. Until now, my father still remembers this helpful officer and praises her every now and then.

My father is very proud of his efforts to get my name changed. Should I be proud of my name? Maybe yes.