The Value of My Name

ENG 101
Prof. Dowling
Lorita Zhen Chen
Early Memory
03/03/07

“Zhen Chen” is my name given by my grandmother. In Chinese, trueness, puerility and vivacity are the meanings of “Zhen.” However, I used to complain to my parents, why they didn’t give me a more famine name like the name related to the meaning of prettiness or adoration. The answer was always the same. I was not a good looking baby when I was born. As they described, my forehead was narrow; my face was square; and my little nose was flat without a bridge. In my grandma’s eyes, I was not a good looking baby, so she didn’t expect me to be a pretty girl in the future, but she wanted every dream of mine to come true. In her mind, the significant meaning of “Zhen” suited me perfectly. As parents and grand ma wished, I was a vivacious, active kid, and everything went smoothly in my childhood.

However, not long after, I began to dislike my name. In the 80’s, Hong Kong’s movies were very popular in mainland China, especially action movies. They never failed to fascinate people. There was a famous active movie called “Jing Wu Gate.” The story of the movie was about a national hero called “Wuo Yuan Jia.” His Chinese Kong Fu was so amazing that he could beat several enemies at one time. He had a lot of students that practiced Chinese Kong Fu. Among those students, a young guy called “Zhen Chen” (yes, don’t be astonished, his name is the same as mine), was the best student who inherited all of Wuo Yuan Jia’s tour de force. From then on, my classmates in elementary school began to make jokes with my name. They laughed at me behind my back, calling me “Jing Wu Gate Zhen Chen” or “Wuo Yuan Jia’s student Zhen Chen.” Even friends of my parents also called me “little Zhen Chen.” Finally, I could not tolerate it anymore so I told my parents that I wanted to change my name.

I wondered my name whether was a good name for a girl. When I heard somebody called me “Jing Wu Gate Zhen Chen", I always asked for my dad to give me a unique name that would not overlap someone else. Nonetheless, no matter how I begged my dad, usually, I was educated that a name is only an appellation for a person. He said the real reason for people to respect you is not your name but your personally moral character. My parents edified me that if I learned how to behave with decorum, people would like me as they did the Zhen Chen of the movie “Jing Wu Gate.” But i thought even though he is a national hero, I would never be a hero.

Despite my negative attitude toward my own name, dad and mom never considered a change one for me. “Zhen Chen” accompanies me until now, and as I have grown up, I have realized that how significant my name is. The real world is much more intricate than the one in our innocent image. Famine, warfare, rivalry, poverty etc. exist in the world here and there. When we experience more, our nice expectation toward the world might diminish as we get older and older. On the other hand, some people might learn wisdom by follies of others. They might look at the society from different angle so that they know how to think rationally. I realize that the latter one is what my parents expect me to be. Like an old saying, that is good wisdom which is wisdom in the end.

Now, I am not that such ugly girl any more. My facial features have elongated to fit my face. But sometimes I still hear friends calling me “Jing Wu Gate Zhen Chen.” I feel affable rather than disagreeable because I begin to understand why my parents insist on keeping this name on me. Puerility, trueness and vivacity are so precious in the real world. Now, I understand the significance of my name much more than I did before.