Introducing my Chinese Name!

It's all the rage here to get your very own Chinese name. This way, you can get chops (aka stamps) made with your characters, how cool is that!

I just spent about 1 hour with the staff at my bushiban trying to come up with the perfect one. We wanted to keep some of the same sounds that are in my English name while selecting suitable characters for my personality, outlook, flare, etc, etc, etc.

And the final verdict was:

Ling2 Qiu1

Maybe a little bit of explanation is necessary. Firstly, this is written in 'pinyin' which is a system of phonetics I've been learning. The numbers represent the tones; 2: rising tone, 1: high tone. In terms of English phonetics my Chinese name sounds like "ling cho". There are a couple of reasons why we chose these sounds. First off, "ling" is the Mandarin version of "ring" (r and l are interchangeable). Secondly, "cho" is a version of "chel" (think 'Rachel'). So my Chinese name, with regards to phonics, is a combination of the first syllable of my last name and the last syllable of my first name. Cool eh?

Now for the meaning, the good stuff! Ling, in my opinion, is the best part. It means: spirit, soul, spiritual world, alert, departed soul, efficacious, quick, effective, intelligence, wonderful, wonder, mysterious, supernatural, divine, clever, nimble, sharp, with quick reflexes, good, excellent, work, witchcraft (as in shamanism). The character itself is quite complicated. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to post the characters so hopefully I'll be able to figure something out soon. It'd be great if everyone could have the visual experience in addition to the written explanation. The character for 'ling' has three sections. The first represents rain, the second symbolizes three mouths (lots of talking!), and the third represents the shaman's wisdom.

The second part of my name, "qiu", is really quite beautiful too. It simply means autumn (my favorite season), harvest, and ripening. I always looking forward to Autumn. Maybe this is because new events and experiences always start at this time: school, new jobs, new places to live, travel. I think that it's also a period of increased relaxation and introspectiveness. Plus which, it's a beautiful time of year!!! The character itself is also simpler. The left side represents wheat and grain while the right side symbolizes fire. Very appropriate because I can be pretty fiery and passionate.

So that's it! Let me know what you think of my new name. The characters are awesome so I'll have to post them somehow.

lots of love,
Rach