Generation poem

Generation name
Chinese name
Chinese	字辈 or 班次
Hanyu Pinyin	Zìbèi or bāncì
Jyutping	baan1 chi3
Korean name
Hangul	돌림자 or 항렬자
Hanja	돌림字 or 行列字
Revised Romanization	dollimja, hangnyeolja
McCune–Reischauer	tollimcha, hangnyŏlcha

Generation name, variously zibei or banci, is one of the characters in a traditional Chinese name, and is so called because each member of a generation (i.e. siblings and cousins of the same generation) share that character, unlike surnames or given names.

Where used, generation names were usually given only to males, although this varies from lineage to lineage and has changed over time.

The sequence of generation is typically prescribed and kept in record by a generation poem (bāncì lián 班次聯 or pàizì gē 派字歌 in Chinese) specific to each lineage. While it may have a mnemonic function, these poems can vary in length from around a dozen characters to hundreds of characters. Each successive character becomes the generation name for successive generations. After the last character of the poem is reached, the poem is usually recycled though occasionally it may be extended.

Generation poems were usually composed by a committee of family elders whenever a new lineage was established through geographical emigration or social elevation. Thus families sharing a common generation poem are considered to also share a common ancestor and have originated from a common geographical location.

Important examples are the generation poems of the descendants of the Four Sages (), Confucius, Mencius, Zengzi, Yan Hui, the Kong, Meng, Yan, and Zeng families. During the Ming dynasty, Emperor Jianwen respected Confucius and Mencius so much that he honored their families with generation poems. These generation poems were extended with the permission of the Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming dynasty, the Tongzhi Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the Ministry of Interior of the Beiyang government.

...
Wikipedia