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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]
During the earliest Chinese antiquity, Chinese society focused on women. Family names often 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]
Hundred Family Surnames poem written in Chinese characters and Phagspa script, from Shilin Guangji written by Chen Yuanjing in the Yuan dynasty. The Hundred Family Surnames (Chinese: 百家姓), commonly known as Bai Jia Xing, [1] also translated as Hundreds of Chinese Surnames, [2] is a classic Chinese text composed of common Chinese surnames.
The Chinese expression "Three Zhang Four Li" (simplified Chinese: 张三李四; traditional Chinese: 張三李四; pinyin: Zhāng Sān Lǐ Sì) is used to mean "anyone" or "everyone", [4] but the most common surnames are currently Wang in mainland China [5] and Chen in Taiwan. [6]
A Chinese compound surname is a Chinese surname using more than one character. Many of these compound surnames derive from Zhou dynasty Chinese noble and official titles, professions, place names and other areas, to serve a purpose. Some are originally from various tribes that lived in ancient China, while others were created by joining two one ...
Chinese family names are patrilineal, meaning derived from father to children. [8] [9] After marriage, Chinese women typically retain their maiden name. [10]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.
Wú (吳) is the sixth name listed in the Song dynasty classic Hundred Family Surnames. [1] In 2019 Wu was the ninth most common surname in Mainland China. [2] A 2013 study found that it was the eighth most common surname, shared by 26,800,000 people or 2.000% of the population, with the province having the most being Guangdong. [3]
The surnames were derived from the Chinese meaning of their original clan name, Chinese transliteration of the clan's name, the possessed territories, generation and personal names of the clansmen and also inspired by the surnames taken by related clans and branches. Only a few clans have origins dating back to the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty. The ...