Branches. From the Tang dynasty (618-907) until the end of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) family nomenclature became more standardized with the efforts of successive imperial governments. By the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) the system of naming family relations, which had developed over three thousand years, was formally recorded and explained in the Grand Dictionary of Kang Xi. A family tree is composed of several branches, with one trunk as the central point from which paternal and maternal kin deviate. Though regional variations of naming existed, in Mandarin (standard) Chinese, the character for father is Fu. The characters for grandfather are Zhu Fu and for grandmother, Zhu Mu. The character Wai is added to refer to one's mother's father, called Wai Zhu Fu, or mother's mother, Wei Zhu Mu. The characters for great-grandfather are Zhen Zhu Fu. Those for great-great-grandfather are Gao Zhu...