Chinese names(xing ming) are different from Western ones.

和西方人的习惯不一样。

The family names(surnames) come first and given names come last.

中国人的姓名是姓在前，名在后。

People usually ask each other’s ‘xing ming’ when they meet. If they share the same family name,they believe that their ancestors were relatives,500 years ago.

在两个中国人见面的时候会问起对方的姓氏，倘若同姓，两人就会很高兴地说：“咱们 500 年前是一家”。

The family of Confucius is an example of Chinese family names.

孔子家族是中国姓氏的标本。

A young man can trace his family line to an ancestor who lived 2,500 years ago.

它可以让一个今天的青年人一代代追溯到 2500 年前的祖先。

It is like a tree: leaves,branches and roots are connected by the family name.

这就像一颗大树，从一片叶子到根茎，联系他们之间关系的就是姓。

There are supposedly more than 20,000 family names in China.

据说，中国有两万个姓。

The secret of where your ancestors came from and what they did are concealed in ‘xing ming’.

祖先从哪里来，为什么来到这里，他们是干什么的，这些秘密都藏在姓名里。