The Name

Ok, first of all, if you know my record with baby names from the past, you know that names are very important to us. We love giving our kids names that reflect our prayers for them, what God has done in our lives through them, and what we want our kids to know about God. This one is no different!

I love Chinese characters. Like a lot. It really seems like they took the meaning of the characters straight from the Bible sometimes. From the way they are drawn, to the different parts that make up the character as a whole, to the meaning there is so much truth wrapped up into Chinese characters. And I love the emphasis that the Chinese put on naming their babies!

 Now, as a disclaimer, I will never be able to know the full truth of his name and why the person who named him chose the name. All I can do is take what is in front of me and make the best guess that I can, and after speaking with my Chinese tutor who knows a little more about the culture than I do, this is what I feel like has been laid on my heart.

Qi Long's full name is Chen Qi Long (陈其龙). The first character, Chen, is a very common surname here in China. In fact, most surnames are pretty common. It is almost as if everyone here is either named Smith, Jones, Williams, Brown or Miller. If you took the Top 25 most seen last names in America, 90% of China would have one of those names. The family name runs deep here and because of that, and also because China is not a melting pot like America, the surnames have been pretty well preserved through the years. But even though it's a common name, I still find great joy in the meaning of the character. Chen means to display, to exhibit, to narrate, to state, to explain, and to tell. I don't know if he had a note with him that said his name, I don't know if he was named after someone in the orphanage, but I do know that in our family, the purpose of our lives is to display the glory of God. How beautiful that out of the many surnames that are common here, this one was chosen for him.

His second character, Qi, was an odd character for me to figure out. It literally means his, her, he, she, or it, referring to no definite person or thing. When I first read this character, my initial reaction was that they thought he was a nobody, because he was abandoned. How awful. And my heart broke. But when we add the last character, it changes the meaning a little.

The third character is Long, a very important character in China. It means dragon. Throughout Chinese history, the dragon has had many roles, such as power, strength and good luck. But the most notable role of the dragon began in the Ming Dynasty as a symbol of the Emporer, a symbol of royalty. Even today, the dragon is considered the most revered zodiac of the 12 Chinese zodiacs. Anything good that happens, marriage, birth of children, a new business, buying a new house, etc...you want it to happen in the year of the dragon. The dragon represents the unrelenting spirit of the Chinese people and it evokes a sense of pride, much like the bald eagle does for us.

When the character Qi was combined with the character Long, my tutor pointed out that the Qi referring to no one definite was not meant for the boy himself, but who he belonged to and where he came from. By combining Qi and Long, his name is actually full of dignity. Because it indicates that yes, there is a mystery about this little boy and where he comes from, but also, that he belongs to someone very special and important.

The person that found him may have not known where he came from or what his name was, but we know that from the very beginning, from before the time that he breathed his first breath, Qi Long belonged to someone very important. He has always belonged to the very One that created him. We may never know why God chose Qi Long to have the story that he has, but we do know that God intends his story to be used for good. And he will now grow up in a loving home with a family that will always tell him how special he is and how he will always has been and always will be HIS dragon.