According to Chinese tradition, only male names can symbolize a family’s continuation, so newborns are named after their father. However, in Changfeng county, Anhui Province, newborns are encouraged to inherit their mother’s last name, and families are being given a 1000RMB incentive for doing so. Currently, 30 families have applied for this regulation to allow their children to inherit mother’s last names in the Xia Tang county, Zuo Dian village and Zhu Gang county.

This revolutionary movement that calls for social gender equality by the local government in Changfeng has been highly praised by An Ruihe, a representative of the United Nations People Fund. The current gender ratio of the newborn population has fallen from a peak of 128 to 114.7 in Changfeng County, whilst the average throughout Anhui Province is 125. The official in charge of The Population and Family Planning Commission told reporters yesterday that this ‘Changfeng method’ will get promoted within larger areas in the days to come.

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Keywords: Last name revolution Anhui Chang Feng