b
◎ jíguàn
[the place of one's birth or origin; native place] ancestral home or the place where one was born
Edit this paragraph Place of birth
It is a required field in many forms, like gender and occupation. In modern Chinese, place of origin usually refers to "the place of one's birth or ancestral home". Nowadays, the common so-called place of origin should be the place of ancestral home. In layman's terms, it is the birthplace of my grandfather.
Here the place of birth is unique, while the place of ancestral home is a more flexible concept. For example, if a person's clan is in Jiangxi, but his great-grandfather and grandfather were both born and lived in Hunan, and his father and himself are in Guangdong, then which of the three places becomes the person's place of origin mainly depends on his parents (who will live in his future). as an adult) and his own understanding of the word "native place".
The most mainstream practice now is to use the place of origin of a person's father as his or her place of origin, rather than the person's own place of birth. Since reporting one’s place of origin has been in mainland China for less than a century, most people’s place of origin is usually the birthplace of their paternal ancestors who were born in the early 20th century.
Therefore, the modern place of residence should be the legal place of residence of the parents at the time of birth.
For example: A’s parents were originally from Nanhai, but they lived in Beijing due to work and moved their household registration to Beijing at the request of their employer, and then transferred to Hong Kong. The following year, they gave birth to a son, A, in Hong Kong. Because the child's parents' household registration was in Beijing at that time, his place of birth was Beijing, not Hong Kong or Nanhai where he was born.
Reason: Although A’s parents were originally from Nanhai, their household registration moved to Beijing due to work. That is, the Nanhai record is “the household registration moved from Nanhai to Beijing in a certain year and month”, and the Beijing record is “a certain year”. In a certain month, the household registration was moved from Nanhai to Beijing." Although he was later transferred to Hong Kong, his household registration was not moved again, so their son A settled in Beijing with the same registration as his parents, and his birthplace was Hong Kong.
Household registration is unchangeable from the time it is recorded, so parents and ancestral home can be checked. It is expressed as "Guan", which means continuous without interruption.
Checking household registration can solve many hidden theories, rights and responsibilities issues, so it is still necessary today with a large population.
Origin of the word
In ancient times, Ji refers to the type of corvee that a person's family bears to the court, that is, to the occupation in which he is engaged, such as "salt household" (specialized household) Those who boiled salt for the imperial court to serve), "military households", etc. In the Northern Wei Dynasty poem "Mulan Shi", Mulan's family is a military household, so "yesterday I saw the military post, the Khan ordered the troops, and there are twelve volumes of military books, each with the name of the father." Households with the same type of household service are all classified into one A book.
Guan refers to a person's birthplace, such as "xiangguan" and "liguan". "Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi" "The people who have no identity, and those who are not registered in Lezhou County, are called floating people." Bai Juyi's poem "Xinfeng Broken Arm Weng": "Weng Yunguan belongs to Xinfeng County, and he was born in the Holy Age without fighting. . ”
Place of birth together refers to the registration document of a person’s place of birth (place of birth) and type of family service (registration). "Book of Wei·Biography of the Twelve Kings of Jingmu": "Taixing's younger brother Yao... moved to Jizhou to be the governor. Because all the Hu people from far away had no place of origin, and it was difficult to distinguish between treacherous and good people, they all ordered them to create their own place of birth." This does not mean that the Hu people did not have their birthplaces. , but not registered. "Book of Wei·Biography of Eunuchs": "Shi Rong was born in the army,..." That is to say, his registration was compiled in the army.
Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the state has strengthened its control over place of origin to avoid the loss of corvee and taxation. "Book of Wei·Shi Huo Zhi": "Since ancient times, the household registration in various states has been inaccurate." It pointed out the loopholes in the place of birth at that time.
Controversy over the use of place of birth
Some people believe that in modern countries, a person’s ancestral home or place of birth should not have any impact on his schooling, employment, or even hotel accommodation. . Moreover, place of origin itself is a concept of a farming economy where people live permanently in one place for generations, and its meaning is ambiguous in modern times. In various registration forms, the place of birth column should be removed.
In Hong Kong, since the return to China in 1997, the school system no longer requires students to fill in their place of origin information, but only requires students to fill in their place of birth.
In Taiwan Province, household registration once had a place of origin column, but this has been discontinued in recent years.