Hundred Family Surnames | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 百家姓 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hanyu Pinyin | Bǎijiā Xìng | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vietnamese alphabet | Bách gia tính | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ChữHán | 百家姓 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hangul | 백가성 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hanja | 百家姓 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kanji | 百家姓 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kana | ひゃっかせい | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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. An unknown author compiled the book during the Song dynasty (960–1279). [3] The book lists 507 surnames. [3] Of these,441 are single-character surnames and 66 are double-character surnames. [3] About 800 names have been derived from the original ones. [4]
In the dynasties following the Song,the 13th-century Three Character Classic ,the Hundred Family Surnames,and the 6th-century Thousand Character Classic came to be known as San Bai Qian (Three,Hundred,Thousand),from the first character in their titles. They served as instructional books for children, [5] becoming the almost universal introductory literary texts for students (almost exclusively boys) from elite backgrounds and even for a number of ordinary villagers. Each text was available in many versions,printed cheaply and available to all since they did not become superseded. When a student had memorized all three,he had a knowledge of roughly 2,000 characters. Since Chinese did not use an alphabet,this was an effective,though time-consuming,way of giving a crash course in character-recognition before going on to understanding texts and writing characters. [6]
The work is a rhyming poem in lines of eight characters. 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]
The next four,Zhou 周,Wu 吳,Zheng 鄭,and Wang 王,were the surnames of the other wives of Qian Chu,the last king of Wuyue. [8]
This text is written in Traditional Chinese. Note that several of these characters may link to the same article.
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In 2013 the Fuxi Institution compiled a ranking of the 400 most common surnames in China. [9]
According to the study, the following surnames are not among the 300 most common surnames: [9]
According to the study, the following surnames are not among the 400 most common surnames: [9]
劉 / 刘 is an East Asian surname. pinyin: Liú in Mandarin Chinese, Lau4 in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character 劉 originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the classic text Hundred Family Surnames. Today, it is the 4th most common surname in Mainland China as well as one of the most common surnames in the world.
Zhuang is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 庄 in simplified character and 莊 in traditional character. It's usually romanized as "Chuang" in Taiwan based in Wade-Giles. It is spoken in the first tone: Zhuāng.
Ou is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surnames 區 and 歐, which share a common origin with the compound surname Ouyang (歐陽), from the ruling family of the State of Yue during the Spring and Autumn period. They are commonly romanized as Au or Ao in Cantonese.
Lü is the pinyin and Wade–Giles romanisation of a Chinese surname, most commonly 吕 and 呂.
Qian, also spelt Chin, Chien, Tsien, or Zee in Wu Chinese, is a common Chinese family name. The name literally means "money". Qian is listed at the second place in the Song Dynasty text Hundred Family Surnames, in the line 趙錢孫李. As the royal surname of the kingdom of Wuyue, Qian was regarded as second only to Zhao, the imperial surname of the Song. As of 2008, Qian is the 96th most common surname in China, shared by 2.2 million people, with the province with the most people sharing the name being Jiangsu, an area formerly within the Wuyue kingdom.
Bing is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 邴 in Chinese character. It is romanized Ping in Wade–Giles. Bing is listed 214th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. It is not among the 300 most common surnames in China.
Lì is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 栗 in Chinese character. It is also spelled Leut according to the Cantonese pronunciation. Relatively uncommon, it is not listed in the Song Dynasty classic Hundred Family Surnames.
Lu is a Chinese surname. It is also spelled Luk according to the Cantonese pronunciation. Lu 禄 is listed 358th in the Song Dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. Relatively uncommon, Lu 禄 is not among the top 300 surnames in China.
Lǔ is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 鲁 in simplified character and 魯 in traditional character. It is also spelled Lo according to the Cantonese and Hokkien pronunciation, and Luu in the Gwoyeu Romatzyh romanization of Mandarin. Lu 鲁 is listed 49th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. As of 2008, Lu 鲁 is the 115th most common surname in China.
Lu is the pinyin and Wade–Giles romanization of the Chinese surname written 陆 in simplified character and 陸 in traditional character. It is also spelled Luk or Loke according to the Hong Kong Cantonese pronunciation. Lu 陆 is the 61st most common surname in China, shared by 4.2 million people. Most people with the surname live in southern China; 44% live in just two provinces: Jiangsu and Guangxi. Lu 陸 is listed 198th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames.
Jì is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 计 in simplified Chinese and 計 in traditional Chinese. It is romanized as Chi in Wade–Giles, and Kai or Gai in Cantonese. Ji is listed 113th in the Song Dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. Relatively uncommon, it is not among the top 300 surnames in China. A 2013 study found it was the 316th-most common surname, being shared by 165,0000 people or 0.012% of the population, with the province with the most being Anhui.
Jì is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 蓟 in simplified Chinese and 薊 in traditional Chinese. It is romanized as Chi in Wade–Giles and Gai or Kai in Cantonese. Ji is listed 263rd in the Song Dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. It is not among the 300 most common surnames in China.
Jì is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 暨 in Chinese character. It is romanized as Chi in Wade–Giles and Kei in Cantonese. Ji is listed 345th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. It is not among the 300 most common surnames in China.
Jí is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 汲 in Chinese character. It is romanized as Chi in Wade–Giles, and Kap in Cantonese. Ji is listed 213th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. It is not among the 300 most common surnames in China.
Jí is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 吉 in Chinese character. It is romanized as Chi in Wade–Giles, and Gat in Cantonese. Ji is the 195th most common surname in China, with a population of 490,000. It is listed 190th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames.
Jì is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 冀 in Chinese character. It is romanized as Chi in Wade–Giles, and Kei in Cantonese. Ji is the 294th most common surname in China, with a population of 160,000. It is listed 316th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames.
Wan is the Mandarin pinyin and Wade–Giles romanization of the Chinese surname written 万 in simplified Chinese and 萬 in traditional Chinese. It is romanized as Man in Cantonese. It is listed 162nd in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. As of 2008, it is the 88th most common surname in China, shared by 2.4 million people. The province with the most people having the surname is Anhui. In 2011, of the top 30 cities in China it was the only the top ten surnames of Nanchang, where it is the fourth-most common name.
Xun is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 荀 in Chinese character. It is romanized Hsün in Wade–Giles. Xun is the 201st surname in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. It is not among the top 300 most common Chinese surnames.
Pi is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 皮 in Chinese character. It is romanized P'i in Wade–Giles, and Pei in Cantonese. Pi is listed 85th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. According to a 2008 study, it was not among the 300 most common surnames in China. However a 2013 study found that it was the 279th most common name, being shared by 229,000 people or 0.017% of the population, with the province with the most people being Hunan.
Zha is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 查 in Chinese character. It is romanized as Cha in Wade–Giles. Zha is listed 397th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. As of 2008, it is the 176th most common surname in China, shared by 680,000 people. It was originated as a branch of the Jiang (姜) surname. Zha was originally the name of a district in modern-day Shandong province.