Names
The Iu Mien - 12 Clans
When talking about the original twelve clans, it is difficult for almost any Mien to name all of them since a few of the clans got lost or left behind when escaping from mainland China many generations ago. Another complicating factor is that the names that the Thais gave to each clan (which are the basis for today's Mien surnames in Thailand and the United States) not only depended on what each Thai interviewer heard their clan name to be, but also differs from the names that Miens call themselves. For instance, Ann (Saefung) and Laosan (Saefong) spell their official last names differently, yet each will identify themselves as a member of the Bungz (pronounced Bpung) clan. Notice that when Ann introduces herself, she first says her Thai name, then her Mien clan (in this case calling it La Bpung), then finally her Mien given name.
Read more about this topic: Iu Mien American
Famous quotes containing the word names:
“It was a poetic recreation to watch those distant sails steering for half-fabulous ports, whose very names are a mysterious music to our ears.... It is remarkable that men do not sail the sea with more expectation. Nothing was ever accomplished in a prosaic mood.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Every man who has lived for fifty years has buried a whole world or even two; he has grown used to its disappearance and accustomed to the new scenery of another act: but suddenly the names and faces of a time long dead appear more and more often on his way, calling up series of shades and pictures kept somewhere, “just in case” in the endless catacombs of the memory, making him smile or sigh, and sometimes almost weep.”
—Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)