Why did people in China adopt Russian names?
When Chinese people study Russian at university in their home country, they adopt Russian names. Why do they do this and where did this tradition come from?
Liu Wenfei, a Chinese-Russian translator and professor at the Institute of Foreign Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, tells us the following:
“This tradition exists among Slavists and it dates back to the 1950s. At that time, there were many Soviet teachers in China. They often weren’t even Sinologists, but simply taught Chinese students Russian. It was easier for them to remember Russian names than Chinese ones, so they literally forced students to become ‘Mashas’, ‘Lenas’ and ‘Vityas’.
“Over time, the need for Russian names disappeared and it simply became a good tradition. Students also liked adopting another name – it was exotic, a mask of sorts or simply an interesting role. When I was a student, I refused to adopt a Russian name. Because of this, I even quarreled with my teacher, who, because it sounded like my name, came up with the name ‘Fedya’ for me. At that time, I had only read Russian works in translations and noticed that ‘Fedya’ was usually an uninteresting hero, a simple guy who lives in a village or works in a store. At that time, I knew little about Dostoevsky, although I guess I could have been called like him."
