Harmony's history

[Marion]

I need some help and advice and I'm hoping someone on the forum might be able to supply it.
I have come to a point in my latest story - currently called 'Wild Justice', but that's not cast in stone - where I want Harmony to get involved with a mission.
I have to admit I tend not to use Harmony much, simply because I can't satisfy myself over one point:
Her name is given as CHAN KWAN (this is Original CS, of course) and I can't ascertain which of those is her family name and which her given name - or if it even matters.
Most fan fic uses Chan as her given name (what might also be called her 'christian' name - just to make myself clear), but places on the Internet - notably Wikipedia and 'name your baby' sites - tend to suggest the tradition in China is to have the Family name (Surname) first. Although, this has shifted slightly with Chinese people living in the West.
So - if anyone is still awake and reading this - my question is:
Is Harmony's 'given name' KWAN or Chan?
I've gone along with the accepted way usually, but Harmony is now about to get involved with other Chinese people as part of the story - and they'd get it right, of course.
I'm sort of tempted by a host of red faces on Cloudbase when she explains that they've all been calling her by her surname for years - kind of like Ensign Ro Laren in ST:TNG. Plagiarism? No - a hommage
Any one got any thoughts on this - or doesn't it matter in the great scale of things?

[gojohnniegogo]

Sorry I cant actually provide an actual answer to your question, but I do know of the way some cultures tend to use the surname first, I know the Turkish are good examples of this. Being a Blackburn Rovers fan I was somewhat confused about our Turkish footballer Tugay Kerimoglu, until I saw a match programme which placed in bold player's family names and was a little miffed to see, what appeared to be his first name in bold, so I'd assume that would be the case with Harmony!

[Sage]

Short answer is that I always figured her first name was Kwan, going by the Asian naming system. And because Chan is a common Chinese surname.

More detailed name-geeky answer is on the fanfic forum.

[Marion]

Thanks guys - I appreciate it.
I found this on a TravelChina Guide:

The full name of a Han Chinese person is composed of two parts: the surname (family name) and the given name.

Today, there are 3,050 surnames in China. Among them, surnames like Zhang, Wang, Li, Zhao and Liu are the most popular. The surname, which comes first, is often passed down from father to son. It is generally composed of one word. There are also two words surnames, or compound surnames, such as Oyang, Zhuge and Sima.
Unlike people in western countries, Chinese women always retain their family name even after marriage.

The given name, which contains one or two words, follows the surname. Take Chairman Mao's name for example: his name is "Mao Zedong". "Mao" is his surname and "Zedong" is the given name.

A full Chinese name normally has two or three words. Full names containing four words can also be seen because of a compound surname and two syllable given names.

Addressing a Chinese person directly by his (her) given name is considered to be offensive, unless you are longtime friends. The proper way to address a person is by his (her) surname (family name), followed by XIANSHENG (Mr.) for men and NVSHI (Mrs.) or XIAOJIE (Ms.) for women.

Similarly, the professional/functional title is also used after the family name when addressing an important person.


I guess I could just have them call her Ms Chan... or Chan, Ms - if you know what I mean...

[gojohnniegogo]

Interesting piece, we're getting cultural lessons now!

[Sage]

Cool, I find all these bits of trivia facinating. Good to know you're getting it sorted.

[Marion]

gojohnniegogo said:

Interesting piece, we're getting cultural lessons now!

Sorry - I am a terror for researching stuff to the nth degree. I blame it on my profession... I'll shut up now.

[gojohnniegogo]

Oh, I'm not complaining at all Marion! I quite enjoy learning new things!

[Sage]

Ditto
I enjoy well researched stories, those details add a sense of 'authenticity' and that the writer really cares about their work. They're also entertaining and educational, which is always good.

I'll research a lot too, as a concious thing, but really I'm always on the lookout for anything that could be interesting and relevant to include somewhere.

[Marion]

Help. I've done it again. I've got myself bogged down in character histories.
The 1967 CS annual says about Harmony:

Only daughter of a wealthy flying-taxi service owner (Peking Taxi Corps), she grew up in a world of high speed jets.

It goes on to speak of her education (Tokyo and London, then Tokyo University) and how she liked to fly planes. It tells of her rescuing men from a burning ship on her solo round the world flight and then it says she turned her father's company into - 'the largest and fastest flying taxi service in the world' within a year of her father's death.
She'd reached the grand old age of 26 in 2068, by the way.
how did they all manage to pack so much into their lives?
Anyway, this is my quandry - what happened to the global empire that was the Peking Taxi Corps when Harmony joined Spectrum?
Might there have been a much younger brother to take over control?
After all, Destiny and Melody were both revealed as having younger sisters not mentioned in their original biographies... although Melody's 4 older brothers all copped a mention, as did Green's numerous siblings and the Svenson youngsters... so it could be a possibility...
I shall have to put my thinking cap on and see if I can unravel my plot enough to sort it out.
I hate it when plot bunnies get ensnared in the tangle of Anderverse continuity.
Any thoughts?

[Sage]

I don't know, it's all very crazy.
Doubt someone could own & run such a big company by themself, so maybe there were business partners who took it over. Or she sold it.

The bio says she's an only child, which I generally go with.

[Marion]

The '67 bio says only daughter - not only child. Is there another source that says 'only child'?
I know consistancy wasn't Anderson's strong point...

[Sage]

You're right, yes. I haven't read anything else to suggest she was an only child; just interpreted it that way.
Hmm very true.

[Parker Gabriel]

Strange--I'd always believed her full real name was Chan Akiki Kwan, and that "Chan" was her personal name.

Close, but no coconut?

[chrisbishop]

Where does Akiki come from?