Talk:Yīn (surname)

China: Surnames List‑class Mid‑importance

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There is a proposal to create a precedent that names are not encyclopedic. Articles about names regularly show up on various deletion pages and are summarily deleted. Perhaps - since you've been working on an article about a name, you hold a different opinion that you'd like to express. Please do: Wikipedia:Deletion policy/names and surnames SchmuckyTheCat 17:05, 19 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

is 'gn' yin as well? Chensiyuan 18:43, 29 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No. Yin can be spelled In, Eun, Oon, An, Yan. But "Gn" or "Ng" is probably instead Wu.

The first entry needs a citation for what the pictogram was meant to represent. In my family, the pictogram has been explained as a hand holding a writing brush, which correlates with the notion that the person holding the title was someone learned/literate. I don't have any documentation of this, not being a scholar of ancient Chinese text, but someone out there must be...? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Likeasimile (talk • contribs) 23:59, 15 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I am looking for a proper citation online for the symbol originally being a pictogram of a royal headdress. The closest thing I've found online is here: http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterASP/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=%E5%B0%B9&submitButton1=Etymology This is especially true for the Bronze era and Seal usage (1122 - 221 B.C. ). An explanation of Bronze and Seal characters can be found here: http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterASP/why_study.aspx#bronze and here: http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterASP/why_study.aspx#seal It is interesting to note that the original meaning of the word was to "govern," and later, as the surname was taken on by learned scholars who became high-ranking Imperial Magistrates, the meaning also became to "rule." Earlier forms of the surname were slightly more complex and did indeed resemble a headdress. However, as the pictogram evolved over time, it began to resemble a hand holding a sceptre or stick, and later the stick was curved to become writing-brush-like. It could well be the case that the meaning of the symbol evolved over the course of time and the interpretation of the pictogram simply followed suit. Mouseydung (talk) 14:53, 24 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]