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Chinese surnames have a history of over 3,000 years. Chinese mythology, however, reaches back further to the legendary figure Fuxi (with the surname Feng), who was said to have established the system of Chinese surnames to distinguish different families and prevent marriage of people with the same family names. [8]
The surnames are not listed in order of commonality. According to Song dynasty scholar Wang Mingqing (王明清), the first four surnames listed represent the most important families in the empire at the time: [7] 1st: Zhao (趙) is the surname of the Song dynasty emperors. 2nd: Qian (錢) is the surname of the kings of Wuyue.
Earlier Chinese societies were commonly matriarchal, so family names from the time typically passed from women to their children. Because of this phenomenon, these eight surnames have a component of their hanzi representing the character woman (女). [1] [4] As of 2019, very few people had one of these surnames as a family name. [2]
Two distinct types of Chinese surnames existed in ancient China: Namely xing (Chinese: 姓; pinyin: xìng) or ancestral clan names, and shi (Chinese: 氏; pinyin: shì) or branch lineage names. Later, the two terms began to be used interchangeably, and now xing refers to the surname, whereas shi may be used to refer to the clan name or maiden name.
The book has since been translated into other languages and published in France, the Netherlands, China, and Taiwan. An updated edition was published in 2009 by Rider, a part of Random House. Frank Ching is knowledgeable about Chinese history and has conducted extensive research. [1] "Qin" is the standard pinyin romanization of Frank Ching's ...
It is the sixth most common surname in Mainland China. It is the 16th surname on the Hundred Family Surnames text. The Yang clan was founded by Boqiao, son of Duke Wu of Jin in the Spring and Autumn period of the Ji (姬) surname, the surname of the royal family during the Zhou dynasty c. 8th to 5th centuries BCE) who was enfeoffed in the state ...
Pages in category "Eight Great Surnames of Chinese Antiquity" ... Yun (ancient surname) This page was last edited on 25 July 2022, at 14:12 (UTC). Text ...
The most prominent of the five, Zhu , is the 17th name in the Hundred Family Surnames poem and was the surname of the Ming dynasty emperors. It is alternatively spelled Chu (primarily in Hong Kong , Macau and Taiwan ), Gee [ citation needed ] [ clarification needed ] in the United States & Canada , and Choo (mostly in Singapore and Malaysia ).