Posted by Raymond (72.234.177.249) on December 31, 2006 at 20:16:42:
In Reply to: Different Surname posted by Hon on December 31, 2006 at 13:42:50:
Hon,
Chinese family names are patrilineal, meaning father to children......versus matrilineal, meaning mother to children. Many ethnic societies are patrilineal. However, there are some that are matrilineal. For a more extensive discussion of these terms, see http://www.netipedia.com/index.php/Patrilineal and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilineal_descent
Raymond