Surnames in China are Useful Common Words
Learn Chinese Family Names to Increase Chinese Vocabularies
Similar to some of the English surnames, there are numerous Chinese family names are actually words frequently used in daily life. For example, the families with a surname such as “Pond”, “Potter”, “Stone”, “Summer” or “Sand” can all find their counterparts in China. Therefore, to be familiar with the common Chinese family names can be very beneficial in learning the Chinese language: not only help to expand one's basic vocabularies but it is also useful in remembering family names when making friends with Chinese people.
More Than 5000 Chinese Family Names
In the Chinese language, the term “bai xing” (hundred family-names) meaning “people” suggests that there must be a great number of family names in China. Indeed, although during the Zhou Dynasty (1134BCE to 256BCE) there were only 72 family names known; this number at least quadrupled during the Tang Dynasty. Around 627 AD, an official named Gao Shi Lian published a documentary book of family names in which there were listed a total of 293 different family names.
According to historical documents, there were 3736 family names during the Yuan Dynasty (13th to 14th Century) and 4657 in the next 300 years during Ming Dynasty in China. And nowadays there are more than 5,000 common Chinese family names, making a total of 23,000.
What are the Chinese Family Names
As indicated by two classic Chinese history books, “Guo-yu” (the historical records of the many Chinese ancient states from 1045BCE to 453BCE) and “Shi-ji” (completed in around 93BCE recounting the Chinese history from about 3000BC to the time the book was written), the Chinese ancestral founder, the Yellow Emperor, had twenty five sons. He established fourteen settlements in different regions of the land now called China and appointed 14 of his more competent sons to rule each area.
The 14 new feudal lords took on new family names reflecting the territory which they were given. This tradition passed down and it is estimated that 60 per cent of the Chinese family names originated from a geographical location. These types of family names normally have a radical of “a stamp by authority’s seal”, conferring a grant of land to the nobles – for example, two common Chinese family names are “Zheng” and “Guo”. (See the illustration).
Chinese Family Names are Emblems of Honor
It is commonly believed that a close relationship existed between family names and totem worship; the early Chinese adopted the names or symbols of certain animals, such as “Long” (Dragon) and “Xiong” (Bear), as their family names. Later, family and clan names spread because the ancient Chinese rulers, following the Yellow Emperor’s model, frequently bestowed names upon their subjects in recognition of loyal and satisfactory conduct.
Apart from the ruler’s own family name or location of a fiefdom, Chinese family names also derived from a dynasty, such as “Tang”. Others are an official title or position in the royal court, such as “Wang” (King), “Hou” (Marquis), or “Shi” who are the descendants of a historian. There are also names indicating occupation or professional status, for example, “Tao” (Pottery); or simply place names, such as “Chi” (Pond).
Some Chinese Family Names Have More Than One Character
Most Chinese family names have only one character, although there are a few with two characters e.g. “Si-ma” (an official title), “Ou-yang” (location of a fiefdom) and “Zhu-ge” (the many divisions of the Ge family). There are also some family names with more characters, but most of which have non-Han origin. For example, the family name for the Manchu royal family of the Qing dynasty is “Ai-xin-jue-luo”.
One of the classic textbooks for Chinese children, “Bai Jia Xing” (Hundreds of Family Names), written during the Song Dynasty (960AD to 1279AD), including 408 single character family names and 30 double character family names. In this book, “Zhao” (the name of an ancient Chinese state) and “Qian” (money) were listed as the top two family names.
Guess what? The former was the family name of the Song Dynasty while the latter was the family name of the first empress! The political bias was obvious.
Common Chinese Family Names
As stated by a survey of nearly 300 million people in 1,110 counties and cities, carried out by the Chinese Government in 2006, the three most common family names in China are: Zhang, Wang, and Li. An even larger survey of the Chinese population shows there are more than a 100 million Chinese people with the family name Zhang and another 100 million having the family name Wang, thus making them two of the most common family names in the world.
Other common Chinese family names are Yang (a type of tree), Wu (an ancient Chinese state), Liu (the location name of a fiefdom), Huang (yellow), Zhou (an ancient Chinese state), Xu (slow/gentle), Zhu (vermilion/scarlet), Lin (woods), Sun (grandchildren), Ma (horse), Gao (tall), Zheng (an ancient Chinese state), and Guo (the outer wall of a city).
One More Efficient Way in Learning the Chinese Language
A number of websites provide a list of Chinese family names, with which students can find various useful Chinese words and thus enjoying the “killing two birds with one stone” approach: learning the family names at the same time obtaining hundreds of essential Chinese characters.
See the illustration for the characters and their meaning of some common Chinese family names mentioned in the article.
Read more:
An Efficient Way to Learn the Chinese Language
Chinese Place Names Put You on the Right Path
Some Common Chinese Family Names
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