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94-629: Faxian's account of his pilgrimage , the Foguoji or Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms , are a notable independent record of early Buddhism in India. He returned to China with a large number of Sanskrit texts, whose translations greatly influenced East Asian Buddhism and provide a terminus ante quem for many historical names, events, texts, and ideas therein. Faxian was born in Shanxi in

188-404: A 1990 study, the top 200 family names accounted for over 96% of a random sample of 174,900 persons, with over 500 other names accounting for the remaining 4%. In a different study (1987), which combined data from Taiwan and China (sample size of 570,000 persons), the top 19 names covered 55.6%, and the top 100 names covered 87% of the sample. Other data suggest that the top 50 names comprise 70% of

282-465: A cluster were conterminous with one another. The one exception to this pattern could be explained by demic migration observed where the Han Chinese migrated to Northeastern China . A study by geneticist Yuan Yida has found that of all the people with a particular surname, there tends to be a population concentration in a certain province, as tabulated to the right. It does not show, however,

376-509: A commoner could receive the Mandate of Heaven and become emperor. Upon becoming emperor, the emperor would retain his original surname. Also as a consequence, many people also had the same surname as the emperor, but had no direct relation to the royal family. The Tang dynasty was the last period when the great aristocratic families, mostly descended from the nobility of pre-Qin states, held significant centralized and regional power. The surname

470-586: A couple of millennia, passing from father to children. This system of patrilineal surnames is unusual in the world in its long period of continuity and depth of written history , and Chinese people may view their surnames as part of their shared kinship and Han Chinese identity. Women do not normally change their surnames upon marriage, except sometimes in places with more western influences such as Hong Kong . Traditionally Chinese surnames have been exogamous in that people tend to marry those with different surnames. The most common Chinese surnames were compiled in

564-548: A factor of almost 4:1 (about 75%) reduction. A 2019 figure however put the total number of Chinese family names at 6,150. Of Han Chinese surnames, the largest number ever recorded was 6,363 (3,730 single-character surnames, 2,633 multiple-character surnames), around 2,000 of which are still in use. Chinese Surname extinction is due to various factors, such as people taking the names of their rulers, orthographic simplifications, taboos against using characters from an emperor's name, and others. A recent example of near surname extinction

658-487: A fairly comprehensive survey of 296 million people in 2006, and by the 1982 census . The top 100 surnames cover 84.77% of China's population. The top 10 surnames each have populations greater than 20 million. The MPS survey revealed that the top 3 surnames in China have a combined population larger than Indonesia, the world's fourth-most-populous country. The 2019 report by Chinese Ministry of Public Security gives

752-516: A number of dialects and languages which often have different pronunciations of their surnames. The spread of the Chinese diaspora into all parts of the world resulted in the Romanization of the surnames based on different languages and Chinese dialects. Countries that have adopted the system of Chinese surnames such as Vietnam and Korea also spell them according to their own pronunciations. As

846-574: A person with an uncommon name moving to an unsettled area and leaving his family name to large number of descendants. After the Song dynasty , surname distributions in China largely settled down. The Kuàng ( 邝 / 鄺 ) family, for example, migrated from the northern capital and settled in Guangdong after the Song dynasty revolts. Villages are often made up of a single patrilineage with individuals having

940-465: A prosperous city. He left India about 409 from Tamralipti, a port he states to be on its eastern coast. However, some of his Chinese companion pilgrims who came with him on the journey decided to stay in India. The cities and towns of this country [Magadha] are the greatest of all in the Middle Kingdom [Mathura through Deccan]. The inhabitants are rich and prosperous, and vie with one another in

1034-629: A result, it is common for the same surname to be transcribed differently. For example, the Chen (陳) surname can appear as Chan ( Cantonese , e.g. Jackie Chan ), Tan (Hokkien), Tang ( Teochew ), Chin ( Hakka ), Trần ( Vietnamese ) and others; the Li (李) surname may appear as Lee (an example is Lee Kuan Yew ), the Zhou (周) surname can appear as Chou, Chew, Jew and many others (e.g. Wakin Chau and Jimmy Choo ); while

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1128-405: A ruling dynasty such as the various titles and names of rulers, nobility and dynasty, or they may be place names of various territories, districts, towns, villages, and specific locations, the title of official posts or occupations, or names of objects, or they may be derived from the names of family members or clans, and in a few cases, names of contempt given by a ruler. The following are some of

1222-619: A state of anxious apprehension for many days together; and now suddenly arriving at this shore, and seeing those (well-known) vegetables, the lei and kwoh, they knew indeed that it was the land of Han. Rémusat's translation of the work caused a stir in European scholarship, although deeply perplexing many with its inability to handle the many Sanskrit words Faxian transcribed into Middle Chinese characters . Buddhist pilgrimage The most important places in Buddhism are located in

1316-582: A whole: the top ten comprise 52.63% of the Taiwanese population and the top hundred 96.11%. There were also only 1,989 surnames recorded by the Ministry's survey, against China's four or five thousand. As is typical of China as a whole, these surnames conflate many different lineages and origins, although tradition may bind them to the same ancestral temples and rituals or ban intermarriage . For example, some Taiwanese converts to Presbyterianism adopted

1410-555: Is Lunalouyugumuzheshuduotumuku'adebu'axi ( Chinese : 魯納婁于古母遮熟多吐母苦啊德補啊喜 ; pinyin : Lǔnàlóuyúgǔmǔzhēshúduōtǔmǔkǔ'ādébǔ'āxǐ ), an extremely rare surname reportedly used by members of the Yi ethnic group in Yunnan province, with seventeen characters in total. Transliteration of Chinese family names (see List of common Chinese surnames ) into foreign languages poses a number of problems. Chinese surnames are shared by people speaking

1504-815: Is also credited with translating these Sanskrit texts into Chinese. Faxian's visit to India occurred during the reign of Chandragupta II . He entered the Indian subcontinent through the northwest. His memoirs describe his 10 year stay in India. He visited the major sites associated with the Buddha, as well the renowned centers of education and Buddhist monasteries. He visited Kapilvastu ( Lumbini ), Bodh Gaya , Benares ( Varanasi ), Shravasti , and Kushinagar , all linked to events in Buddha's life. Faxian learned Sanskrit, and collected Indian literature from Pataliputra (Patna), Oddiyana , and Taxila in Gandhara . His memoirs mention

1598-414: Is believed to have been originally transmitted through women of noble birth, while noble men have shi . Scholars such as Edwin G. Pulleyblank , however, are unconvinced by the matriarchy theory of Chinese surnames due to a lack of independent evidence. An alternative hypothesis has been proposed, suggesting that the use of female radical in xing may have arisen from the clan exogamy system used during

1692-570: Is generally practiced. Surname identity and solidarity has declined markedly since the 1930s with the decline of Confucianism and later, the rise of Communism in Mainland China. During the Cultural Revolution , surname culture was actively persecuted by the government with the destruction of ancestral temples and genealogies. Moreover, the influx of Western culture and forces of globalization have also contributed to erode

1786-556: Is the rare surname Shan (𢒉). The character may not be displayed on computer systems used by government officials, and people born after the system change as well as people who want to avoid possible problems changed their name to another character such as Xian (冼). The name is still used by the older people, but some people from the village are concerned that future generations will forget their name origin. While new names have arisen for various reasons, this has been outweighed by old names disappearing. The most significant factor affecting

1880-628: Is usually romanized as Tan, and is also common in Taiwan , where it is romanized as Chén. Fāng ( 方 ), which is only the 47th most common overall, is much more common in San Francisco's Chinatown in the United States, although the surname is more often than not romanized as Fong, as based on the Yue dialect. As with the concentration of family names, this can also be explained statistically, as

1974-409: Is wrapped all round it, which is then painted in various colours. They make figures of devas, with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli grandly blended and having silken streamers and canopies hung out over them. On the four sides are niches, with a Buddha seated in each, and a Bodhisattva standing in attendance on him. There may be twenty cars, all grand and imposing, but each one different from the others. On

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2068-481: The Indo-Gangetic Plain of southern Nepal and northern India . This is the area where Gautama Buddha was born, lived, and taught, and the main sites connected to his life are now important places of pilgrimage for both Buddhists and Hindus . Many countries that are or were predominantly Buddhist have shrines and places which can be visited as a pilgrimage. Gautama Buddha himself had identified

2162-524: The Qin dynasty (3rd century BC), China was largely a fengjian (feudal) society. As fiefdoms were divided and subdivided among descendants, so additional sub-surnames known as shi were created to distinguish between noble lineages according to seniority, though in theory they shared the same ancestor. In this way, a nobleman would hold a shi and a xing . Xing , however, was more important than shi . The difference between xing and shi became blurred in

2256-453: The Qin dynasty , name usage was standardised, commoners started to acquire a surname or xing , and the shi also became xing . By the Han dynasty , families only had xing or xing-shi . The great majority of Han Chinese surnames (now called xing or xingshi ) that survive to modern times have their roots in shi rather than the ancient xing . In modern usage, xing is the surname, but

2350-480: The Song dynasty work Hundred Family Surnames , which lists over 400 names. The colloquial expressions lǎobǎixìng (老百姓; lit. "old hundred surnames") and bǎixìng ( 百 姓 , lit. "hundred surnames") are used in Chinese to mean "ordinary folks", "the people", or " commoners ". Chinese surnames have a history of over 3,000 years. Chinese mythology, however, reaches back further to the legendary figure Fuxi (with

2444-539: The Spring and Autumn period starting with women. For example: Chunqiu referred to Duke Xuan of Lu 's consort Lady Mujiang (穆姜), who bore the clan name (姓, xing ) Jiang, as Jiangshi 姜氏, "[lady of the] Jiang shi " (!). After the states of China were unified by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC, surnames gradually spread to the lower classes. Most surnames that survive to the present day were originally shi . According to

2538-617: The Sung dynasty of the House of Liu (420–478 CE). If he became a full monk at the age.... of twenty, and went to India when he was twenty-five, his long life may have been divided pretty equally between the two dynasties. Faxian's major work is his account of his travels, known in English both by its Chinese name Foguoji or Foguo Ji ( t 《 佛 國 記 》 , s 《 佛 国 记 》 , Fóguójì ) and by various translations, including A Record of

2632-664: The Vinaya-pitaka . What follows this is merely an account of his travels in India and return to China by sea, condensed from his own narrative, with the addition of some marvelous incidents that happened to him, on his visit to the Vulture Peak near Rajagriha . It is said in the end that after his return to China, he went to the capital (evidently Nanking ), and there, along with the Indian Sramana Buddha-bhadra , executed translations of some of

2726-456: The Zheng surname (鄭/郑) can be romanized into Chang, Cheng, Chung, Teh, Tay, Tee, Tsang, Zeng or Zheng (in pinyin , Chang, Cheng, Zheng and Zeng are all different names). In certain dialects, different surnames could be homonyms so it is common for family names to appear ambiguous when transliterated. Translating Chinese surnames from foreign transliteration often presents ambiguity. For example,

2820-526: The Zhou dynasty (the words xing and shi also did not exist in the Shang dynasty oracle bones ). In ancient times, people of the same xing were not permitted to marry each other and a woman married into an aristocratic clan needed to be of a different name. Based on observation of the evolution of characters in oracular scripture from the Shang dynasty through the Zhou : the 女 radical seems to appear during

2914-402: The noble clans . They generally contain a "female" ( Chinese : 女 ; pinyin : nǚ ) radical , for example Ji ( 姬 ), Jiang ( 姜 ), Yao ( 姚 ) and Yíng ( 嬴 ). This is taken as evidence that they originated from matriarchal societies based on maternal lineages . The character for xing itself is composed of a female radical and the character for "give birth" (生, shēng ). Xing

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3008-511: The second-round in 1977, which has long been abolished, merged 萧 and 肖 into 肖. Despite the retraction of the second round, some people have kept 肖 as their surname, so that there are now two separate surnames, 萧 and 肖. Chén ( 陈 / 陳 ) is perhaps the most common surname in Hong Kong and Macau , where it is romanized as Chan. It is the most common Chinese surname in Singapore , where it

3102-579: The 4th-century under the Later Zhao dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms period. His birth name was Gong Sehi. He later adopted the name Faxian, which literally means "Splendor of Dharma". Three of his elder brothers died young. His father, fearing that the same fate would befall him, had him ordained as a novice monk at the age of three. In 399 CE, about age 60, Faxian was among the earliest attested pilgrims to India. He set out from Chang'an ,

3196-960: The Buddhist Kingdoms , Record of the Buddhistic Kingdoms , Buddhist Country Records , etc. The book is also known as Faxian's Travels ( t 《 法顯 行 傳 》 , s 《 法显 行 传 》 , Fǎxiǎn Xíngzhuàn ), Faxian's Biography ( t 《 法顯 傳 》 , s 《 法显 传 》 , Fǎxiǎnzhuàn ), Memoirs of the Eminent Monk Faxian ( t 《 高 僧 法顯 傳 》 , s 《 高 僧 法显 传 》 , Gāosēng Fǎxiǎn Zhuàn ), A Buddhist Pilgrimage to India ( t 《 佛 游 天竺 記 》 , s 《 佛 游 天竺 记 》 , Fóyóu Tiānzhú Jì ), Faxian's Report on Travel to India ( t 《 歷游 天竺 記傳 》 , s 《 历游 天竺 记传 》 , Lìyóu Tiānzhú Jìzhuàn ), and Faxian's work On India ( t 《 天竺國記 》 , s 《 天竺 国 记 》 , Tiānzhúguó Jì ). Faxian's memoirs are an independent record of

3290-572: The Chinese immigrant communities around the world and those who have acquired a Christian or Western first name, have adopted the Western convention when giving their name in English, placing their surname last. Examples of those commonly known in the West include Jackie Chan (Chinese name Chan Kong-sang), Jimmy Choo (Chinese name Choo Yeang Keat), and Yo-Yo Ma . Those with a Western first name can write their name in English in various ways – some may add

3384-584: The Hinayana and emerging Mahayana traditions, as well as the splintering and dissenting Theravada sub-traditions in 5th-century Indian Buddhism. Before he had begun his journey back to China, he had amassed a large number of Sanskrit texts of his times. On Faxian's way back to China, after a two-year stay in Sri Lanka , a violent storm drove his ship onto an island, probably Java . After five months there, Faxian took another ship for southern China, but again it

3478-587: The Hong Kong media mogul 邵逸夫 Run Run Shaw 's surname 邵 is spelt as Shaw (Shao in pinyin). The use of different systems of romanization based on different Chinese language variants from 1900~1970 also contributed to the variations. Some examples: by Wu of Zhou with the surname Lin Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia/Philippines: various spellings are used depending on name origin. See List of common Chinese surnames for

3572-770: The Philippines, Singapore, or Taiwan. Generally, people of Mainland descent will have their surnames and names in pinyin . Those from Taiwan use Wade-Giles romanization. People from Southeast Asia (mainly Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines) and Hong Kong usually base their romanization of surnames and names on the Min , Hakka and Cantonese languages. The younger generation from Singapore often has their surname in dialect ((Hokkien, Teochew, Hainanese, Cantonese, and Hakka) and given names in English, Mandarin, or both. Some people use non-standard romanizations, e.g.

3666-491: The Song dynasty, ordinary clans began to organize themselves into corporate units and produce genealogies. This trend was led by the poet Su Shi and his father. As competition for resources and positions in the bureaucracy intensified, individuals used their common ancestry and surname to promote solidarity. They established schools to educate their sons and held common lands to aid disadvantaged families. Ancestral temples were also erected to promote surname identity. Clan cohesion

3760-459: The Tang also choronyms before stating beforehand, for example Lǒngxī Lǐshì 隴西李氏, meaning Li of Longxi. These were generally the names of commanderies used prior to the reorganization during the Tang, so that they became exclusively associated to clans as their common use had died out. Cadet branches were also listed for further differentiation, such as Gūzāng Fáng 姑臧房, meaning Clan Li of Guzang. During

3854-539: The Vaisya families in them establish in the cities houses for dispensing charity and medicines. All the poor and destitute in the country, orphans, widowers, and childless men, maimed people and cripples, and all who are diseased, go to those houses, and are provided with every kind of help, and doctors examine their diseases. They get the food and medicines which their cases require, and are made to feel at ease; and when they are better, they go away of themselves. At this time

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3948-401: The Western first name in front and the Chinese given name last (the surname is therefore in the middle), or fully Westernised with both the Western and Chinese given names before the Chinese surname. Examples include Carrie Lam , originally named Cheng Yuet-ngor (Cheng is the surname), but who has acquired her husband's surname Lam and a Western first name as Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. Due to

4042-455: The Zhou period next to Shang sinograms indicating a clan or a tribe. This combination seems to designate specifically a female and could mean "lady of such or such clan". The structure of the xing sinogram could reflect the fact that in the royal court of Zhou, at least in the beginning, only females (wives married into the Zhou family from other clans) were called by their birth clan name, while

4136-515: The age of 25, have been discredited by later scholarship but his introduction provides some useful biographical information about Faxian: Nothing of great importance is known about Fa-Hien in addition to what may be gathered from his own record of his travels. I have read the accounts of him in the Memoirs of Eminent Monks , compiled in 519 CE, and a later work, the Memoirs of Marvellous Monks , by

4230-560: The capital of the Buddhist Later Qin dynasty , along with four others to locate sacred Buddhist texts and was later joined by five more pilgrims at Zhangye . He visited India in the early fifth century. He is said to have walked all the way from China across the icy desert and rugged mountain passes. He entered India from the northwest and reached Pataliputra . He took back with him a large number of Sanskrit Buddhist texts and images sacred to Buddhism. Upon his return to China, he

4324-522: The chapter on surnames in the Han dynasty work Fengsu Tong – Xingshi Pian (風俗通姓氏篇), there are 9 origins of Chinese surnames: dynasty names, posthumous titles, ranks of nobility, state names, official positions, style names, places of residence, occupations, and events. Modern scholars such as Kiang Kang-Hu proposed that there are 18 sources from which Chinese surnames may be derived, while others suggested at least 24. These may be names associated with

4418-650: The claim. Names in Taiwan ;– both among the immigrant ethnic Chinese and indigenous Taiwanese people  – are similar to those in southeast China but differ somewhat from the distribution of names among all Han Chinese. According to a comprehensive survey of residential permits released by the Taiwanese Ministry of the Interior 's Department of Population in February 2005,

4512-579: The coming ages you will have still greater poverty and distress;—I am sorry for you beforehand." With these words he followed his companions into the monastery, while the thieves left the grain and went away, all the monks, of whom there were several hundred, doing homage to his conduct and courage. When he had finished his novitiate and taken on him the obligations of the full Buddhist orders, his earnest courage, clear intelligence, and strict regulation of his demeanor were conspicuous; and soon after, he undertook his journey to India in search of complete copies of

4606-547: The common sources: Many also changed their surnames throughout history for a number of reasons. Chinese surnames or family names are written before the first name or given name . Therefore, someone named Wei ( 伟 ) from the Zhang ( 张 ) family is called "Zhang Wei" ( 张伟 ) and not "Wei Zhang". Chinese women generally retain their maiden name and use their name unchanged after marriage, but in modern times in some communities, some women may choose to attach their husband's surname to

4700-494: The day mentioned, the monks and laity within the borders all come together; they have singers and skillful musicians; they pay their devotion with flowers and incense. The Brahmans come and invite the Buddhas to enter the city. These do so in order, and remain two nights in it. All through the night they keep lamps burning, have skillful music, and present offerings. This is the practice in all the other kingdoms as well. The Heads of

4794-515: The different spelling conventions and dialects as well as the different spelling preferences in the various countries these Chinese find themselves in, many people of the same Chinese surname can appear differently when written in English, for example the Lin surname (林) may also appear as Lam ( Cantonese ) or Lim ( Hokkien ). Some Chinese surnames that appear to be the same written in English may also be different in Chinese due to different characters having

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4888-425: The different spellings and more examples. Throughout most of Chinese history, surnames have served sociological functions. Because of their association with the aristocratic elite in their early developments, surnames were often used as symbols of nobility. Thus nobles would use their surnames to be able to trace their ancestry and compete for seniority in terms of hereditary rank. Examples of early genealogies among

4982-467: The following four sites most worthy of pilgrimage for his followers, observing that these would produce a feeling of spiritual urgency: In addition the four sites mentioned earlier ( Lumbini , Bodh Gaya , Sarnath and Kushinagar ), the Buddhist texts later written by Buddha's followers also mention four more sacred sites where a certain miraculous event is reported to have occurred, thus completing

5076-447: The front. Chinese surname is patrilinear where the father's surname is passed on to his children, but more recently some people have opted to use both parents' surnames; although this practice has increased in recent times, it is still relatively uncommon in China, with those who adopted both parents' surnames numbering at only 1.1 million in 2018 (up from 118,000 in 1990). Some Chinese outside of mainland China, particularly those from

5170-469: The last Han emperor in his favor, claimed descent from the Yellow Emperor . Chinese emperors sometimes passed their own surnames to subjects as honors. Unlike European practice in which some surnames are obviously noble, Chinese emperors and members of the royal family had regular surnames except in cases where they came from non-Han ethnic groups. This was a result of Chinese imperial theory in which

5264-763: The list of "Attha-mahathanani" ( Pali for "The Eight Great Places" ) in India: Some other pilgrimage places in India and Nepal connected to the life of Gautama Buddha are mostly located in the Gangetic plain . In the order of places traveled by Buddha. Please help expand this incomplete list. Other famous places for Buddhist pilgrimage in various countries include: Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in Greater China , Korea , Vietnam and among overseas Chinese communities around

5358-408: The men were usually designated by their title or fief. While people of the same xing were not permitted to marry each other, those with the same shi can. By the Han dynasty when everyone had xing and the surname was transmitted paternally, the practice continued, but it had changed to marriage between families of men on the paternal side being prohibited, but not on the maternal side. Prior to

5452-480: The monastery. On one occasion he was cutting rice with a score or two of his fellow-disciples when some hungry thieves came upon them to take away their grain by force. The other Sramaneras all fled, but our young hero stood his ground, and said to the thieves, "If you must have the grain, take what you please. But, Sirs, it was your former neglect of charity which brought you to your present state of destitution; and now, again, you wish to rob others. I am afraid that in

5546-419: The monastic life and return to her, but the boy replied, "I did not quit the family in compliance with my father’s wishes, but because I wished to be far from the dust and vulgar ways of life. This is why I chose monkhood." The uncle approved of his words and gave over urging him. When his mother also died, it appeared how great had been the affection for her of his fine nature; but after her burial, he returned to

5640-627: The monks. He mentions a flourishing Buddhist community in Taxila (now in Pakistan) amid a generally non-Buddhist community. He describes elaborate rituals and public worship ceremonies, with support of the king, in the honor of the Buddha in India and Sri Lanka . He wrote about cities like Pataliputra, Mathura , and Kannauj in Madhyadesha . He also wrote that inhabitants of Madhyadesha eat and dress like Chinese people. He declared Patliputra to be

5734-467: The more ancient surname that referred to the ancestral tribe or clan, while shi denoted a branch of the tribe or clan. For example, the ancestors of the Shang had Zi (子) as xing , but the descendants were subdivided into numerous shi including Yin (殷), Song (宋), Kong (空), Tong (同) and others. The distinction between the two began to be blurred by the Warring States period . During

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5828-532: The most common surnames in any one province. The 55th most common family name "Xiào" ( 肖 ) appears to be very rare in Hong Kong. This is explained by the fact Hong Kong uses traditional Chinese characters rather than simplified Chinese characters . Originally, the surname 蕭 (Xiāo) was rather common while the surname 肖 (Xiào) was extremely rare, if not non-existent (it is mentioned only sporadically in historical texts). The first round of simplification in 1956 simplified 蕭 into 萧 , keeping 蕭/萧 and 肖 distinct. However

5922-462: The only daughter of Liao San-Jiou-Lang who had no son, and he took the oath that he should be in the name of Liao when alive and should be in the name of Chang after death." In some places, there are additional taboos against marriage between people of the same surname, considered to be closely related. Conversely, in some areas, there are different clans with the same surname which are not considered to be related, but even in these cases surname exogamy

6016-484: The ordinary rate of sailing we ought to have reached Kwang-chow, and now the time is passed by many days;—must we not have held a wrong course?” Immediately they directed the ship to the north-west, looking out for land; and after sailing day and night for twelve days, they reached the shore on the south of mount Lao, on the borders of the prefecture of Ch’ang-kwang, and immediately got good water and vegetables. They had passed through many perils and hardships, and had been in

6110-449: The population. Most commonly occurring Chinese family names have only one character; however, about twenty double-character family names have survived into modern times. These include Sima ( 司 馬 , simp. 司 马 ), Zhuge ( 諸 葛 , simp. 诸 葛 ), Ouyang ( 歐 陽 , simp. 欧 阳 ), occasionally romanized as O'Young , suggesting an Irish origin to English-speakers, and Situ (or Sito 司 徒 ). Sima, Zhuge, and Ouyang also happen to be

6204-518: The population. A report in 2019 gives the most common Chinese surnames as Wang and Li , each shared by over 100 million people in China. The remaining eight of the top ten most common Chinese surnames are Zhang , Liu , Chen , Yang , Huang , Zhao , Wu and Zhou . Two distinct types of Chinese surnames existed in ancient China, namely xing ( Chinese : 姓 ; pinyin : xìng ) ancestral clan names and shi ( Chinese : 氏 ; pinyin : shì ) branch lineage names. Later,

6298-405: The population. The three most common surnames in Mainland China are Li , Wang and Zhang , which make up 7.9%, 7.4% and 7.1% respectively. Together they number close to 300 million and are easily the most common surnames in the world. In Chinese, the phrase "third son of Zhang, fourth son of Li" ( Chinese : 张 三 李 四 ; pinyin : Zhāng sān Lǐ sì ) is used to mean "just anybody". In

6392-586: The population. Next are Lǐ (李), Huáng ( 黄 / 黃 ), Lín ( 林 ) and Zhāng (张/張). Around the major crossing points of the Yangzi River , the most common surname is Lĭ (李), taking up 7.7%, followed by Wáng (王), Zhāng (张/張), Chan/Chén (陈/陳) and Liú (刘/劉). A 1987 study showed over 450 family names in common use in Beijing, but there were fewer than 300 family names in Fujian . Furthermore, a 2012 study found that there

6486-423: The practice of benevolence and righteousness. Every year on the eighth day of the second month they celebrate a procession of images. They make a four-wheeled car, and on it erect a structure of four storeys by means of bamboos tied together. This is supported by a king-post, with poles and lances slanting from it, and is rather more than twenty cubits high, having the shape of a tope. White and silk-like cloth of hair

6580-497: The previous sociological uses of the Chinese surnames. According to a comprehensive survey of residential permits released by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security on 24 April 2007, the ten most common surnames in mainland China are Wang (王), Li (李), Zhang (张), Liu (刘), Chen (陈), Yang (杨), Huang (黄), Zhao (赵), Wu (吴), and Zhou (周). The same names were also found (in slightly different orders) by

6674-459: The royalty can be found in Sima Qian 's Historical Records , which contain tables recording the descent lines of noble houses called shibiao ( Chinese : 世表 ; pinyin : shìbiǎo ). Later, during the Han dynasty, these tables were used by prominent families to glorify themselves and sometimes even to legitimize their political power. For example, Cao Pi , who forced the abdication of

6768-434: The same or similar pronunciations, dialectal differences, or non-standard romanizations (see section on variation in romanization below). Surnames are not evenly distributed throughout China's geography. In northern China, Wáng ( 王 ) is the most common surname, being shared by 9.9% of the population. Next are Lǐ ( 李 ), Zhāng ( 张 / 張 ) and Liú ( 刘 / 劉 ). In the south, Chén ( 陈 / 陳 ) is the most common, being shared by 10.6% of

6862-475: The same surname, often with a common male ancestor. They usually intermarry with others from nearby villages, creating genetic clusters. Of the thousands of surnames which have been identified from historical texts prior to the modern era, most have either been lost (see extinction of family names ) or simplified. Historically there are close to 12,000 surnames recorded including those from non-Han Chinese ethnic groups, of which only about 3,100 are in current use,

6956-409: The service of the Buddhist society and had him entered as a Sramanera , still keeping him at home in the family. The little fellow fell dangerously ill, and the father sent him to the monastery where he soon got well and refused to return to his parents. When he was ten years old, his father died, and an uncle, considering the widowed solitariness and helplessness of the mother, urged him to renounce

7050-408: The sky continued very dark and gloomy, and the sailing-masters looked at one another and made mistakes. More than seventy days passed (from their leaving Java), and the provisions and water were nearly exhausted. They used the salt-water of the sea for cooking, and carefully divided the (fresh) water, each man getting two pints. Soon the whole was nearly gone, and the merchants took counsel and said, “At

7144-479: The society and culture of places he visited, particularly India. His translations of Sanskrit texts he took with him to China are an important means to date texts, named individuals, and Buddhist traditions. They provide a terminus ante quem for many historical names, manuscripts, events, and ideas mentioned. Faxian noted that central Asian cities such as Khotan were Buddhist, with the clergy reading Indian manuscripts in Indian languages. The local community revered

7238-407: The surname " Li " are all Mandarin-based pinyin transliteration for the surnames Lí ( 黎 ); Lǐ ( 李 , 理 and 里); and Lì ( 郦/酈 , 栗 , 厉/厲 , and 利 ) depending on the tone which is usually omitted in foreign transliterations. Due to the different pronunciations and romanizations, it is sometimes easy to tell whether a Chinese person has origins in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Malaysia,

7332-436: 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. Prior to the Warring States period (fifth century BC), only the ruling families and the aristocratic elite had surnames. Historically there was a difference between ancestral clan names or xing ( 姓 ) and branch lineage names or shi ( 氏 ). Xing may be

7426-492: The surname frequency is other ethnic groups identifying as Han and adopting Han names. In recent centuries some two-character surnames have often dropped a character. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, moreover, some surnames have been graphically simplified. Although there are thousands of Chinese family names, the 100 most common, which together make up less than 5% of those in existence, are shared by 85% of

7520-506: The surnames Wang and Li as the most common ones, with each shared by over 100 million people in China. Each of the most common 23 surnames in China has more than 10 million users. A commonly cited fact from the 1990 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records estimated that Zhang was the most common surname in the world, but no comprehensive information from China was available at the time and more recent editions have omitted

7614-568: The surnames of four extremely famous premodern Chinese historical figures. There are family names with three or more characters, but usually those are not ethnically Han Chinese. For example, Aixinjueluo ( 愛 新 覺 羅 , also romanized from the Manchu language as Aisin Gioro ), was the family name of the Manchu royal family of the Qing dynasty . The longest recorded surname written using hanzi characters

7708-592: The ten most common surnames in Taiwan are Chen (陳), Lin (林), Huang (黃), Chang or Zhang (張), Lee or Li (李), Wang (王), Wu (吳), Liu (劉), Tsai (蔡), and Yang (楊). Taiwanese surnames include some local variants like Tu (塗), which do not even appear among the Hundred Family Surnames , as well as a number of relatively recently created names like Changchien (張簡) and Chiangfan (姜范). However, names in Taiwan show less diversity than China as

7802-637: The third emperor of the Ming dynasty (1403–1424 CE), which, however, are nearly all borrowed from the other; and all in them that has an appearance of verisimilitude can be brought within brief compass. His surname , they tell us, was Kung, and he was a native of Wu-yang in P’ing-Yang, which is still the name of a large department in Shan-hsi . He had three brothers older than himself, but when they all died before shedding their first teeth, his father devoted him to

7896-470: The tradition of tracing their ancestry to the distant past as a matter of prestige. Most of these origin myths, though well established, are spurious. As a result of the importance of surnames, rules and traditions regarding family and marriage grew increasingly complex. For example, in Taiwan, there is a clan with the so-called "double Liao" surname. The story is that "Chang Yuan-zih of Liao's in Siluo married

7990-423: The two terms began to be used interchangeably, and in the present day, xing refers to the surname and shi may refer either the clan or maiden name. The two terms may also be used together as xingshi for family names or surnames. Most Chinese surnames ( xing ) in current use were originally shi . The earliest xing surname might be matrilinear , but Han Chinese family name has been exclusively patrilineal for

8084-506: The word shi survives as a word to refer to the clan. The term shi may be appended to the surname of a person; for example, a man with the Zhang surname may be referred to respectfully as Zhang- shi instead of his full name. It is used in particular for the paternal surname of a married woman, therefore in this case shi means maiden name , which a Chinese woman would continue to use after marriage. The ancient xing were surnames held by

8178-464: The works which he had obtained in India; and that before he had done all that he wished to do in this way, he removed to King-chow (in the present Hoo-pih ), and died in the monastery of Sin, at the age of eighty-eight, to the great sorrow of all who knew him. It is added that there is another larger work giving an account of his travels in various countries. Such is all the information given about our author, beyond what he himself has told us. Fa-Hien

8272-476: The world such as Singapore and Malaysia . Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the Western tradition in which surnames are written last. Around 2,000 Han Chinese surnames are currently in use, but the great proportion of Han Chinese people use only a relatively small number of these surnames; 19 surnames are used by around half of the Han Chinese people, while 100 surnames are used by around 87% of

8366-496: The year 414, filled with accounts of early Buddhism and the geography and history of numerous countries along the Silk Road as they were at the turn of the 5th century CE. He spent the next decade until his death translating the Buddhist sutras he had brought with him from India . The following is the introduction to James Legge 's 19th-century translation of Faxian's work. Legge's speculations, such as Faxian visiting India at

8460-425: Was blown off course and he ended up landing at Mount Lao in what is now Shandong in northern China, 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of the city of Qingdao . He spent the rest of his life translating and editing the scriptures he had collected. These were influential to the history of Chinese Buddhism that followed. Faxian returned in 412 and settled in what is now Nanjing . He wrote a book on his travels around

8554-675: Was his clerical name, and means "Illustrious in the Law," or "Illustrious master of the Law." The Shih which often precedes it is an abbreviation of the name of Buddha as Sakyamuni, "the Sakya , mighty in Love, dwelling in Seclusion and Silence," and may be taken as equivalent to Buddhist. It is sometimes said to have belonged to "the eastern Tsin dynasty " (317–419 CE), and sometimes to "the Sung," that is,

8648-423: Was the lowest amount of isonymy in surnames among the population around middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River both on the provincial and county levels. Additionally, it was found that counties with the highest values of isonymy were distributed in the provinces with high proportions of ethnic minorities. According to the dendrogram of surname distances, several clusters could be identified. Most provinces in

8742-447: Was used as a source of prestige and common allegiance. During the period many genealogical records called pudie ( simplified Chinese : 谱牒 ; traditional Chinese : 譜牒 ; pinyin : pǔdié ) were compiled to trace the complex descent lines of families or clans and their marriage ties to other families or clans. Many of these were collected by Ouyang Xiu in his New History of Tang . To differentiate between different surnames,

8836-552: Was usually encouraged by successive imperial governments since it aided in social stability. During the Qing dynasty surname associations often undertook extrajudicial roles, providing primitive legal and social security functions. They played important roles in the Chinese diaspora to South-East Asia and elsewhere, providing the infrastructure for the establishment of trading networks. In southern China, however, clans sometimes engaged in armed conflict in competition for land. Clans continued

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