Imagine being told by the United States government that you have to change your last name. Regardless of the reasoning behind the mandate, how would swapping your surname for a new one make you feel? Would you fight the change, viewing your last name as part of your families heritage? Or embrace it, adding new, unusual edits to the branches of your family tree?
Folks in a small village in Shandong province, China are facing this exact dilemma. Because their last name contains an extremely unusual character not typeable or recognizable by Chinese computers, the government has systematically changed 200 last names from Shan to Xuexin.
Apparently, the amount of people stepping up to support these "Shans" is much more than the government expected. "'They embody so much history," [Zhang Shuyan, a researcher and language expert at China's education ministry] told state television. 'If they are changed, the history of a people will be lost.'" (Chinese villagers forced to change untypable name)
However, there isn't much that can be done to resolve the issue. The conversion from paper to electronic has already been implemented, and there is no going back. "'Nobody wants to do it, but under the circumstances we have no choice,' villager Xian Xuexin told state television, using the new, easy to type family name he has been compelled to adopt."
I can actually relate to this story on a personal level. My maiden name had an apostrophe in it. If the government would have told me we are getting rid of apostrophes in names, I would have honestly been delighted. Dealing with folks thinking the first letter of my last name was my middle initial took up way too much of my unmarried life. I personally would be fine telling my children and grandchildren (if I had any) how the apostrophe got eliminated. It would have added a unique story to an otherwise ordinary genealogy.
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