Chinese Family Tree
Talking about family members in Chinese is very complicated due to the Confucian emphasis on relationships and hierarchy. (See also Mates, Terms of Endearment, and Addressing Strangers).
For example, the English word “cousin” has 8 different Chinese translations depending on mother’s side or father’s side, older or younger, boy or girl. By the way, don’t be fooled when your Chinese friends appear to defy the One Child Policy and tell you about their 5 brothers and sisters. They frequently leave of the cousin-indicating prefix and just call their cousins “older brother” or “younger sister.”
To simplify the task of wading through the myriad of family terms, I’ve made a visual representation of the relationships and terms, which is available for download below (click on the picture).
Chinese Family Tree.pdf
(requires Adobe Reader, which is available here).
NOTE: To download the document directly to your computer without viewing it in your internet browser, right-click on the link and select “Save link/target as…”
You’ll notice it doesn’t include the great grandparents’ generation. This is because many Chinese don’t know the technical terms for great grandparents, such as “zēngzǔfù 曾祖父” (”great grandfather on father’s side”), and it would be easier just to say, “Grandfather’s father” in Chinese to get your meaning across.
In addition to the terms and tips on the Chinese Family Tree.pdf, here is some vocabulary I’ve found useful when talking about family members and relationships.
General Family Terms
qīnqi 亲戚 = relative
zǔzōng祖宗 / zǔxiān祖先 = ancestor
qīn gēge 亲哥哥 = real older brother (same parents)
qīn jiějie 亲姐姐 = real older sister(same parents)
xiōngdì 兄弟 = brothers
jiěmèi 姐妹 = sisters
xiōngdì jiěmèi 兄弟姐妹 = siblings
fùmǔ父母 = parents
zhàngfu hé qīzi 丈夫和妻子 = husband and wife
àiren爱人/ pèi’ǒu 配偶= spouse / lover
nǚpéngyou女朋友 = girlfriend
nánpéngyou男朋友 = boyfriend
yīng’ér婴儿 = infant / baby
xiǎoháir小孩儿 / háizi孩子 = child
Oh, by the way, I’ve left out the arsenal of in-law terms. If you’ve got a reason to learn those, well, you’re on your own.
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19 Responses to “Chinese Family Tree”
hanyu
said:
family tree?
i don’t find my family tree.
Comment date: Jan 11, 2007
Albert
said:
hanyu,
Please click on the picture above or the text “Chinese Family Tree.pdf” to download my document of Chinese family terms in the shape of a family tree.
It’s up to you to create your own family tree from there.
Comment date: Jan 11, 2007
Jason
said:
Excellent resource! Now how about if we throw step- relatives into the mix?
Thanks,
Jason
Comment date: Jan 11, 2007
Ingo
said:
Hi Albert,
are you living in southern china? I learned that airen = wife/husband, lover only in the south. Wrong?
Comment date: Jan 12, 2007
Dan
said:
丈夫和妻子=夫妻
Comment date: Jan 18, 2007
Albert
said:
Ingo,
I’ve heard from my friend in the Northeast that they also use “airen” there. Anyone else know if it’s universal or not?
Comment date: Feb 20, 2007
Mandarin
said:
Do you know who is ‘姨夫’?
Comment date: Jun 10, 2007
jonathan
said:
‘姨夫’is mother’s old sister’ husband
Comment date: Jul 17, 2007
sara
said:
airen is used by mainland chinese people. in taiwan, people tend to use tai tai, xiansheng…
Comment date: Nov 2, 2007
Kexin
said:
Where I am in northern China, people do use airen, but more common is duixiang (not common at all with southerners)
Comment date: Dec 11, 2007
Joel
said:
We hear ai4 ren2 (爱人) in Tianjin often. We often use Lao3 Po2 (老婆wife) and Lao3 Gong1 (老公husband). If I address Jessica as 老婆 with the right tone of voice in front of our Chinese friends it always gets a rise out of them. Our teachers have said that young marrieds sometimes use these to be cute or affectionate. I’m still not totally clear on all the various connotations.
I was planning to make a family tree, but you did all my work for me! Maybe I’ll take yours and expand it?
I wonder if any of these terms will fall out of use when the single child generation takes over.
Comment date: Dec 12, 2007
madarin
said:
The “Chinese Family Tree” illustration is great .. but is it missing any terms?? What about .. 姨丈,姑丈,姑爺,嫂子,家嫂, etc., I dont know how they are related and I cant find them on the family tree. It would be great if you could at some illustration with them.
Comment date: Jan 8, 2008
Sharon ZY
said:
爱人 refers to spouse, so the husband can introduce his wife to his friends saying that This is my airen; and the wife can also introduce her husband saying the same thing.
Comment date: Mar 9, 2008
I am looking for my airen...
said:
if you are got married then you can call your company is your “airen”, but if before wedding you couldn’t call “airen” , you should call your lover or boyfriend/girlfriend, as if a men said to you” this is my airen…” this means he loves and respects his wife very well.
Comment date: May 9, 2008
alchiang
said:
Hi madarin,
I’m from Malaysia and I’m a local Chinese.
姨丈 is your mother’s-sister’s husband,
姑丈 is your father’s-sister’s husband,
姑爺 ,if I’m not mistaken is usually address by servants/maids to their master’s daughter’s husband and
嫂子 refers to your elder brother’s wife,
and lastly 家嫂 is refered by elders to their family’s daughter-in-law.(Cantonese). Hope I’m right.
Comment date: Jul 27, 2008
alchiang
said:
For more details of The Chinese Family Tree,
Please visit my more detailed version of the Chinese Paternal & Maternal Family tree.
Link http://malaysian-cuisine.com/touristinfo/family_tree.htm
Comment date: Jul 31, 2008
Albert
said:
alchiang,
Wow! That’s an overwhelmingly awesome family tree. I only with it had pinyin.
Comment date: Jul 31, 2008
Alchiang
said:
Hi Albert
pinyin will be added soon
Comment date: Aug 12, 2008