<p>I suggest just explaining the origin:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>曾子曰：「吾日<strong>三省吾身</strong>：為人謀而不忠乎？與朋友交而不信乎？傳不習乎？」——《論語·學而》</p>
<p>The philosopher Zeng said, &quot;I <strong>daily examine myself on three points</strong>: whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful; whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere; whether I may have not mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher.&quot;</p>
<p>——&quot;Xue Er&quot; in <em>The Analects</em> (Confucianism). Translated in English by James Legge.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, you can say something like</p>
<blockquote>
<p>陈是耳东陈，省身是「(吾日)三省吾身」的「省身」。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I think Chinese <em>should</em> at least know the idiom <code>三省吾身(sān xǐng wú shēn)</code>, if not, it's an opportunity to teach them :)</p>
<p><em><strong>PS for pedants</strong></em>: yes, yes, I know 陈 is not composed of 耳 and 东: 耳 should be 阜/. However in common saying, people just say so and everyone can understand!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-14T21:04:29.517Z
Oh my.  Very nice!
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T00:26:04.387Z
is there any other chen2 that can be a surname? I thought you only had to break down surnames when there was a possibility of confusion...
Master Sparkles
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T00:32:44.140Z
@MasterSparkles  There is no other chen2 nearly as common as this, but there are 谌 and 軙 and who knows how many more rare.
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T02:05:06.247Z
@S.Rhee just left the PS in case of any challenge on that issue :) I've once encountered that. Anyway in my opinion, pedants' doubt on the standard makes some sense, "if `耳东陈` is acceptable, why is `木易杨` so controversial?" (similarly the doubt is also on 口天吴, 草头黄, etc.)
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T02:10:35.980Z
@ColinMcLarty 谌 is common, but 軙 as an old variant of 陳 is very probably (if not completely) obsolete now.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T09:42:38.473Z
三省吾身 That is the kind of teaching that kills our poets. We need to re-learn from noble savages to be free, joyful, and overflowing with heath, and above of all, to be spontaneous.
George Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T12:09:47.577Z
@GeorgeChen I don't quite get it. What kind of teaching? I believe every language has their idioms. Idioms don't have the power of killing poets.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T13:13:43.743Z
I see. You mean teaching the idiom, not the practice.
George Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T14:45:03.327Z
为了把耳部首区分于“阝”部首，后者通常叫做＂双耳部＂。另外尽管部首“阝”实是“左阜右邑” （见比如说http://www.douban.com/group/topic/11816760/ ）可是鉴于＂教学汉字规范手册＂中的＂汉字的部首及部首名称＂列表，该部首无论是左或右只有一个名称即＂双耳部＂（为了区别于单耳部，例字：即、印、却）。
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-14T17:51:32.823Z
2015-01-14T17:51:32.823Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Stan
<p>耳东陈 (er3 dong1 chen2)</p>

<p>反省的省 (fan3 xing3 de5 xing3) or 省察的省 (xing3 cha2 de5 xing3)</p>

<p>身体的身 (shen1 ti3 de5 shen1) or perhaps more adequate 捨身的身 (she3 shen1 de5 shen1)</p>

<hr>

<p>For some common surnames, watch <a href="http://kid.chinese.cn/rhymes/article/2011-02/23/content_229522.htm" rel="nofollow">this video</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-14T16:11:58.143Z
2015-01-15T05:48:04.800Z
2015-01-15T05:48:04.800Z
imrek
<p>Shiing-shen Chern, 陈省身 (1911--2004), is a famous geometer.  When taking about him with Chinese people who do not study math and have not heard of him, how can I best describe which characters 陈, 省, and 身 these are?</p>

<p>Yellowbridge has many two-word phrases with 省 and I guess 反省 would be relevant.  But I am not confident whether it would be a good way to explain it.   </p>

<p>I guess 身体的身 would work well for 身.  </p>

<p>Would 普通的陈 work to say it is the most common name Chen?  Would it sound polite?</p>

<p>I do not think I could draw any of these on my hand well enough for anyone to understand! </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T15:42:48.470Z
Another suggestion: If the people to whom you talked do not know 陳省身, then you might try to mention the name "華羅庚 (Hua Luogeng)", who was a great analytic number theorist. Prof. Hua was a classmate and a colleague of Prof. Chern and is possibly way more renowned than Prof. Chern in China.
Yes
<characters><character-identification>
How to describe 陈省身's name
# How to describe 陈省身's name

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-01-14)

Shiing-shen Chern, 陈省身 (1911--2004), is a famous geometer. When taking about him with Chinese people who do not study math and have not heard of him, how can I best describe which characters 陈, 省, and 身 these are?

Yellowbridge has many two-word phrases with 省 and I guess 反省 would be relevant. But I am not confident whether it would be a good way to explain it.

I guess 身体的身 would work well for 身.

Would 普通的陈 work to say it is the most common name username_4? Would it sound polite?

I do not think I could draw any of these on my hand well enough for anyone to understand!

**Tags:** characters, character-identification

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Another suggestion: If the people to whom you talked do not know 陳省身, then you might try to mention the name "華羅庚 (Hua Luogeng)", who was a great analytic number theorist. Prof. Hua was a classmate and a colleague of Prof. Chern and is possibly way more renowned than Prof. Chern in China.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-01-14. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

I suggest just explaining the origin:

> 曾子曰：「吾日**三省吾身**：為人謀而不忠乎？與朋友交而不信乎？傳不習乎？」——《論語·學而》
>
> The philosopher Zeng said, "I **daily examine myself on three points**: whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful; whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere; whether I may have not mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher."
>
> ——"Xue Er" in *The Analects* (Confucianism). Translated in English by James Legge.

So, you can say something like

> 陈是耳东陈，省身是「(吾日)三省吾身」的「省身」。

I think Chinese *should* at least know the idiom `三省吾身(sān xǐng wú shēn)`, if not, it's an opportunity to teach them :)

***PS for pedants***: yes, yes, I know 陈 is not composed of 耳 and 东: 耳 should be 阜/. However in common saying, people just say so and everyone can understand!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Oh my.  Very nice!  
> **username_3**: is there any other chen2 that can be a surname? I thought you only had to break down surnames when there was a possibility of confusion...  
> **username_0**: @username_3  There is no other chen2 nearly as common as this, but there are 谌 and 軙 and who knows how many more rare.  
> **username_2**: @S.Rhee just left the PS in case of any challenge on that issue :) I've once encountered that. Anyway in my opinion, pedants' doubt on the standard makes some sense, "if `耳东陈` is acceptable, why is `木易杨` so controversial?" (similarly the doubt is also on 口天吴, 草头黄, etc.)  
> **username_2**: @username_0 谌 is common, but 軙 as an old variant of 陳 is very probably (if not completely) obsolete now.  
> **username_4**: 三省吾身 That is the kind of teaching that kills our poets. We need to re-learn from noble savages to be free, joyful, and overflowing with heath, and above of all, to be spontaneous.  
> **username_2**: @username_4 I don't quite get it. What kind of teaching? I believe every language has their idioms. Idioms don't have the power of killing poets.  
> **username_4**: I see. You mean teaching the idiom, not the practice.  
> **username_5**: 为了把耳部首区分于“阝”部首，后者通常叫做＂双耳部＂。另外尽管部首“阝”实是“左阜右邑” （见比如说http://www.douban.com/group/topic/11816760/ ）可是鉴于＂教学汉字规范手册＂中的＂汉字的部首及部首名称＂列表，该部首无论是左或右只有一个名称即＂双耳部＂（为了区别于单耳部，例字：即、印、却）。  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2015-01-14. Score: 3

耳东陈 (er3 dong1 chen2)

反省的省 (fan3 xing3 de5 xing3) or 省察的省 (xing3 cha2 de5 xing3)

身体的身 (shen1 ti3 de5 shen1) or perhaps more adequate 捨身的身 (she3 shen1 de5 shen1)

---

For some common surnames, watch [this video](http://kid.chinese.cn/rhymes/article/2011-02/23/content_229522.htm).


---

