RED CHAMBER — NAME AND ADDRESS CARD Edition / translator / chapter: Exact form used in this passage: Chinese form, if checked: Person it refers to: Personal name / style / kinship address / household title / nickname: Who uses the form, and to whom: Relationship established by the chapter: Short passage or page reference: What the label adds in this scene: What remains uncertain: Keep aliases under one person; do not invent a missing given name. RED CHAMBER — TWO-EDITION LABEL CHECK Same chapter and corresponding scene: Edition A / translator / exact label: Edition B / translator / exact label: Chinese reading text and edition, if checked: Same referent established by context: Different spelling / translated title / translated nickname / text variant: Relationship information each wording preserves: Short quotation and page or paragraph reference: Difference still unresolved: Do not use a spelling difference alone to add a new character. SCOPE: Chapters 2–3 only. Names and labels refer to the inspected reading texts. Separate family name, personal name and style name Chapter 2 provides a particularly useful explicit example: Lin Ruhai is described as having the family name Lin, the personal name Hai and the style Ruhai. The short Chinese distinction is 姓林名海，表字如海 . Joly likewise distinguishes his family name, name and style. Lin Hai and Lin Ruhai therefore do not introduce two fathers for Daiyu. Do not make the same classification from the number of syllables alone. Daiyu is the two-character name 黛玉 used for Lin Daiyu; its syllables do not become an English first name and middle name just because an edition spaces them apart. Read the text's explanation when it supplies one. Selected identities and label distinctions in chapters 2–3 Chinese form Reference spelling Identity or label Check before adding another person 林黛玉 Lin Daiyu Lin-family daughter arriving at her maternal grandmother's household. 黛玉 is the name used for this girl; 林姑娘 is an address for her in context. 賈寶玉 Jia Baoyu Son of Jia Zheng and Lady Wang; Daiyu's cousin. 寶玉 can appear without 賈; sister/cousin wording is not a sibling proof. 王熙鳳 Wang Xifeng Jia Lian's wife, introduced in chapter 3 under this school name. The Lian sister-in-law and Fenglazi labels in the greeting refer to her. 王夫人 Lady Wang Jia Zheng's wife and Baoyu's mother. This title does not identify her as Wang Xifeng or supply a personal given name. 賈母／史氏太君 Grandmother Jia / the Shi-family matriarch Daiyu's maternal grandmother and Baoyu's grandmother. A Jia-household title and a Shi-family identification are not two grandmothers. 林海／林如海 Lin Hai / Lin Ruhai Hai is the personal name; Ruhai is the style explicitly given in chapter 2. Keep both under Daiyu's father. 賈政／存周 Jia Zheng / Cunzhou Chapter 3 introduces Zheng and his style Cunzhou. The style is another label for Zheng in this introduction. 襲人／珍珠 Xiren / Zhenzhu The servant whose earlier name and renaming are explained in chapter 3. The passage identifies one servant, not a newly arriving pair. This table is deliberately selective. An unexplained title can remain an unexplained title until the chapter or your edition supplies the information. You do not need to create a full personal name for an elder whose given name the passage does not provide. A kinship address depends on who is speaking In chapter 3 , Daiyu arrives as a relative who needs to learn the household's relationships. The introductions are useful evidence: Grandmother Jia identifies Daiyu's aunts and a cousin's wife, while other young relatives explain that Xifeng is the Lian sister-in-law. Track those introductions before reading an English “sister” or “sister-in-law” as a literal family-tree line. Forms of address in the chapter 3 scenes Form in the reading text Person in this scene Who uses it or supplies it What to keep distinct 林姑娘 Lin Daiyu The household announcing or addressing the arriving girl. Surname plus an address; not another character named Miss. 老太太／老祖宗 Grandmother Jia Servants and relatives in the household scenes. A household/elder address, not a newly supplied personal name. 璉嫂子／嫂 Wang Xifeng The young relatives identify her; Daiyu then addresses her. Jia Lian is Daiyu's cousin; do not invent a biological brother from “sister-in-law.” 鳳辣子 Wang Xifeng Grandmother Jia jokingly tells Daiyu what to call her. A nickname in this exchange, not Xifeng's surname or another woman. 妹妹／林妹妹 Lin Daiyu Baoyu in their first conversation. Younger-sister wording can address this cousin; the relationship must come from context. 姐姐 Xiren Daiyu when Xiren enters to speak with her at night. An address in this interaction, not proof that the girls have the same parents. The same elder is grandmother to different younger relatives through different branches. “Grandmother” can therefore identify the person without giving the complete relationship route. Daiyu's link runs through her mother Jia Min; Baoyu's runs through his father Jia Zheng. The title stays the same while the route differs. If an address changes during a scene, keep the speaker and situation next to it. An introduction, a joke and a formal request can use different labels. A reader can notice the change without claiming that one Chinese word always has the same social force in every scene or translation. Different spellings, translated labels and text variants are different problems First compare the same chapter and scene. A different spelling can refer to the same name; a translated title can conceal the personal name; a genuine difference in the underlying reading text may need an edition note. Keep those possibilities separate rather than treating every mismatch as a typo or a new character. Pinyin reference forms beside inspected Joly forms This guide's reference Joly form in the selected passages How to use the comparison Lin Ruhai Lin Ju-hai Different romanization of the style name; the chapter also gives the personal name Hai. Lin Daiyu Lin Tai-yü / Tai Yü Spacing, hyphenation and spelling vary; use the daughter/arrival scene to confirm the referent. Baoyu Pao-yü The personal name may appear without the family name; context supplies the Jia-family connection. Wang Xifeng Wang Hsi-feng The school-name introduction identifies the same woman. Xiren Hsi Jen Use the servant and renaming passage, rather than the sound of the English spelling alone. Zhenzhu Chen Chu An earlier name of that servant, not a second maid in this explanation. Pinpin (顰顰) P'in P'in, with “knitting brows” Baoyu offers this as a style after Daiyu says she has none; preserve the conversational context. Our pinyin forms omit tone marks for the reference list. “Pinpin” has no final g in either syllable. The Chinese form 顰顰 is more useful for matching this label than guessing from a remembered English sound. This table is a small bridge, not a complete romanization-conversion system. A translated meaning is a separate matter. The explanatory phrase “knitting brows” is not the surname of a new person. Likewise, an English household title should be checked as a role/address before being copied into the personal-name column. Use the map for an unfamiliar label in your own copy. These examples cover chapters 2–3; the map does not supply missing kinship or later plot information. For a classroom quotation, keep your edition's exact wording, translator and page reference. Use this guide for identification, then return to the assigned text. Do not silently replace a quotation with our reference spelling and still present it as your translator's sentence. ANSWERED CASES 1. Chapter 2 gives Lin's personal name as Hai and his style as Ruhai. Should your list contain two separate fathers for Daiyu? No. Keep Hai and Ruhai under the same person. The passage explicitly distinguishes personal name and style. The same-person connection is established by that introduction, not guessed from similar sounds. 2. Daiyu addresses Xifeng with sao after relatives identify her as the Lian sister-in-law. Does this prove Daiyu has a biological brother married to Xifeng? No. Follow the extended relationship stated in the chapter. Xifeng is the wife of Jia Lian, the son of Daiyu's maternal uncle Jia She. The address must be read with that cousin connection rather than forcing a narrower English family-tree assumption. 3. Lady Wang and Wang Xifeng share Wang in their labels. Are they the same woman? No. The chapter identifies different roles and shows them speaking to each other. Lady Wang is Baoyu's mother and Xifeng's aunt; Xifeng is Jia Lian's wife. A shared surname does not merge their identities. 4. An older translation writes Wang Hsi-feng while this guide writes Wang Xifeng. Should you add another character because the spellings differ? No. Compare the same introduction and referent first. The inspected Joly passage gives Wang Hsi-feng as the school name of Jia Lian's wife. The reference pinyin and older spelling are different forms for the same identified name. 5. Baoyu proposes Pinpin after Daiyu says she has no style. Can you describe it as an independently verified formal naming ceremony? No. Describe the style offered in that chapter 3 conversation. The passage gives a proposal and exchange, including Tanchun's challenge. It does not justify importing a universal ceremony or authenticating Baoyu's book citation as a checked historical source. 6. The chapter says Xiren was previously named Zhenzhu. Should both names be counted as separate servants? No. Record the earlier name under Xiren's card. The narration explicitly connects the former name, Hua surname and renaming explanation to the same servant. Keep other edition differences separate rather than treating every unfamiliar spelling as another person. Sources checked 31 October 2026: https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E7%B4%85%E6%A8%93%E5%A4%A2/%E7%AC%AC002%E5%9B%9E https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E7%B4%85%E6%A8%93%E5%A4%A2/%E7%AC%AC003%E5%9B%9E https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/9603/pg9603-images.html https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9603 Chinese chapters read in full. Joly header and selected naming passages inspected; not the whole book.