My Chinese name

China — A Name in Another Language
In September 2002 we made a major journey through China. We began in Shanghai and travelled on to Beijing, took the train to Chengde and back, endured a twelve-hour train journey to Taiyuan, flew to Xi’an to see the extraordinary Terracotta Army, and then continued south to Guilin before ending our journey in Hong Kong.

As so often happens when I travel, simply visiting the country was not enough — I wanted to understand something of the culture behind what I was seeing. Somewhere along the way I decided that I wanted to have my own name translated into Chinese and create a Chinese business card. Finding someone who could help me with the translation and then designing the card became a small adventure of its own — and, typically for me, an opportunity to learn something new.

It introduced me to the fascinating world of Chinese writing, names and surnames. I also discovered how important the exchange of business cards traditionally was in Chinese social and business culture. A card was not something to be casually handed over and immediately pushed into a pocket. It was customary to present and receive it respectfully, using both hands, and to take a moment to read it before carefully putting it away. The way you treated someone’s card reflected, in a small but meaningful way, the respect you showed its owner.

What fascinated me even more was the importance of the family name. Unlike the usual Western order, the Chinese family name traditionally comes before the given name. It connects the individual to earlier generations and carries something of the history and continuity of the family.

Perhaps that particularly appealed to the genealogist in me. Here I was, thousands of kilometres from Zeeland, discovering a completely different naming tradition — yet one in which family, ancestry and continuity through generations were every bit as important.

And somewhere in China, amid temples, trains, unfamiliar characters and an entirely different culture, Cees Kloosterman briefly acquired a Chinese identity — complete with his own business card.

My surname “Kloosterman” is derived from two Dutch words.
The first word, “klooster”, means “cloister” or “monastery”.
The second word, “man”, simply means “man”.

So “Kloosterman” literally means “man from the cloister”.

So my Chinese name is:

Sì Kâi. 
Prorounced as: “ssshoe cai”

“Sì” (寺) means “temple” and is also found as a Chinese family name.
“Kǎi” (闓) means “to open” or “to open up” and can also carry associations with brightness
and harmony. Its pronunciation, Kǎi, also appealed to me because it has something of the sound of my first name, “Cees.”

Taken together, I like to interpret Sì Kǎi poetically as “the man from the temple who opens the way.”

On my business card, my name “Sì Kǎi” is followed by “yīxué bóshì”, referring to my title as a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.).

I also added the coat of arms of the city of Dordrecht, which gives the card a suitably impressive appearance!
The background has a gold gradient, symbolizing prestige, prosperity, wealth and good fortune.

“The Ancient Mariner would not have taken so well
if it had been called The Old Sailor.”
Samuel Butler