Chop chop

On Wednesday I went back to the art shop to pick up my new chop. I took a distinguished colleague along, and she ordered four chops for friends and relatives. The laoban served tea and gave us tea packets to take home. He said that I already have a chop, but it has my old Chinese name on it. I wanted to get a new Chinese name because my old Chinese name (wu pei fu, 吴佩芙) has the same sound, although different characters, as a Chinese warlord （吴佩孚） who was the enemy of the Chinese Communist Party, in the early part of the 20th Century. When people heard my name, I suppose their reactions were similar to a Chinese student telling us their English name is "Benedict Arnold," although I haven't heard of a student with that name...yet. I was not too broken up about it, but I asked my Chinese teacher for a new name last semester.

The new name (wu bi fu, 吴碧芙） is much more effective. It means "Emerald Lotus." I put it on my school email signature, and a number of Chinese people whom I have emailed, have replied and then written "PS- Your Chinese name is very beautiful." The new chop I got was big, and so the artist added the character yin, which means "stamp" or "chop."


The only problem with my new name is that it sounds like "beef" in English. I'll just continue to use whichever one is more convenient at the time.

-吴佩芙