My book on Chinese surnames

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au>]

Hello Hakka Folks,

I am still struggling to publish my book on Chinese surnames.
As I have told you before that I have already compiled 500 of them.
Presently, I think, it is not necessary to publish all the 500.

According to the most popular Chinese newspaper in China, The People's
Daily dated the third of May 1987, about 90 per cent or about one
billion of the Chinese in the world are with the most common 150 surnames.
Now I am revising these most common 150 surnames and hope to publish into
a book which will be easy for those English educated Chinese to read and
to understand the origin of their surnames. The next will be published
later.

In my book there will be Chinese characters for all the romanized Chinese
names. The number next to the surname is arranged according to the
popularity of that particular surname. Here is an example for the
surname Jiang which is the 43 most popular. I welcome comments from our
Hakka Friends.


No. 43 JIANG (蔣)

Jiang means : the name of a kind of rice called Gu (菰)
Surname Jiang is about 2700 years old.   

Surname Jiang originated in an area referred to during the Jin (晉) Dynasty 
(265AD to 420AD) as the Le An (樂安) Prefecture. The present day location 
of Le An Prefecture is in Guang Rao (廣饒) county in Shandong (山東) province.

In 1154BC Zi Shou Xin (子受辛) was crowned King Zhou (紂王) of the Shang
(商) Dynasty (1783BC to 1122BC). King Zhou, who reigned to 1122BC, was a
cruel and wicked King. In 1122BC Ji Fa, who was the leader of the Zhou
(周) clan, destroyed the Shang Dynasty and established the Zhou Dynasty
(1134BC to 256BC). Ji Fa was best known as Zhou King Wu  (周武王) and
died in 1116BC. His twelve years old son called Ji Song (姬誦) who was
crowned as Zhou King Cheng (周成王) who eventually ruled until 1079BC.
Since Zhou King Cheng was too young too rule, the Zhou Court appointed Ji
Dan (姬旦), the younger brother of Zhou King Wu, as  Regent. 

In 1107BC when Zhou King Cheng was 21 years old Ji Dan relinquished his
regency and went to live in the State of Lu (魯), in present day Qu Fu
(曲阜) county in Shandong province, where his elder Ji Bo Qin (姬伯禽)
was the ruler. Zhou King Cheng awarded the title of Bo (伯) or Count to
his first cousin brother called Ji Ling (姬齡) who was the third son of
Ji Dan the former Regent. The awrded title of Bo was inheritable. Thus Ji
Ling became known as Ling Bo or Count Ling. Zhou King Cheng also gave Bo Ling 
the authority to rule a district called Jiang, in present day Guang Shan
(光山) county in Henan province. He was known by the locals as Jiang Bo
Ling (蔣伯齡) who renamed his district as the State of Jiang.

During the Spring and Autumn Period (722BC to 481BC) the State of Jiang 
was conquered and annexed by the State of Chu (楚) (in present day Jiang 
Ling (江陵) county in Hubei (湖北) province). Some of the descendants of
Bo Ling adopted JIANG (蔣) as their surname.

Generations later many of the descendants of Bo Ling emigrated to
Shandong province and settled down in present day counties of Zou Ping
(鄒平) and Guang Rao (廣饒) where Jiang was recorded as being originated


CHUNG Yoon-Ngan		chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au
http://www.joinet.net.au/~chungyn
Copyright 1999. All rights reserved.