A girl in Ningbo named Zhang Ping and her boyfriend Li Ming (both pseudonyms) decided to get married two years into their relationship.

But when their families gathered to talk about the wedding, the subject of what surname Zhang and Li's children should take caused a lot of controversy.

Zhang is an only granddaughter, and her grandfather wanted any baby to continue their family line. But the parents of Li Ming refused the proposal, saying, "We'd prefer them to split up than let the baby take it's mother's surname."

Li Ming said he didn't mind what surname their baby would have, since they loved each other so much. But he is also an only child, and he couldn't convince his parents, who saw it as a matter of family prestige.

That children should take their father's surname is traditional in China as in many other places, but the law allows them to inherit either parent's family name. Now that the only-child generation, resulting from the family planning policy in place since the 1970s, has grown up and is getting married, a dilemma over whose surname a baby should take has ensued.

One solution was found by another Zhang family in Ningbo City. When their baby was born it took its mother's surname, because hers was more unusual and all agreed it projected a more individual personality.

The baby's father said, "We should protect rare surnames that would otherwise die out."

An online survey of around 200 readers of Zhejiang-based Contemporary Golden Newspaper found that most men thought children should take their father's name, but this traditional attitude was increasingly questioned by women.

Another possible solution is to use a composite surname, using both the father's and the mother's names together. A Mr. Jin said, "By this means, the new name will serve both families desires, represent the couple's love and avoid having the same name as other people. That kills three birds with one stone."

When a man called Li married a woman called Lou they found a third creative solution to the problem. Since the Chinese character for Li is made up of two other characters, mu and zi, and the Lou character is composed of mu and lou, they share a mu element. So they decided to piece together the two mu to make another Chinese character -- Lin -- to be the baby's surname. 

Chu Jiakang, a specialist at the Ningbo Academy of Social Sciences, said that with the large number of only-children getting married and having children, arguing over surnames will continue to be a problem. But with greater tolerance from young people, there is a more prevalent attitude that, no matter what surname is taken, the most important thing is making sure they bring their baby up well.

(China.org.cn by Chen Lin, January 24, 2005)