Re: Origins

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

Hello Kar Hing,

I came from a Hakka town called Pusing which is about 40 kilometers
west of Kampar and four kilometers from Batu Gajah. The world
has become a global village.
Here is your mother's surname TANG

Yoon-Ngan
         
 
Chinese surname TANG (­ð)
Tang means: a Chinese family surname.
The surname Tang is more than 4000 years old.

The surname Tang originated in an area referred to during the Jin Dynasty
(®Ê´Â 265AD to 420AD) as the Jin Chang Prefecture (®Ê©÷°p). The present
day location of Jin Chang Prefecture is in Shi Quan county (¥Û¬u¿¤) of
Shaanxi province (ÔE¦è¬Ù).

According to Chinese historical records, Fang Xun (¨¾¾±)  was a kind,
hard-working, brave, industrious and wise man. In 2357BC Fang Xun was
elected as the chief of the Federated Tribes in ancient China. He became
known as Yao Di (³ó«Ò) or Sovereign Yao and his domain was known as Tang
(­ð) or Tao Tang (³³­ð). He was credited as being the person who first
made the decision that 365 days in one year and each year should have
twelve months. He divided a year into four seasons of three months per
season being Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. He devised the seasons to
help facilitate farmers, by assigning each of these seasons to specific
farming activity, such as when to toil their lands and when to harvest
their crops. He was a humble and simple Sovereign who shared the highs and
lows of life with his people.
 
In 2255BC Yao Di abdicated in favour of Yao Zhong Hua («À­«µØ)  who was
known as Shun Di (µÏ«Ò). Shortly after the death of Yao Di, Shun Di
appointed Dan Zhu (¤¦¦¶), a grandson of Yao Di to rule a district called
Tang (­ð)  which was renamed as the State of Tang (­ð°ê located in present
day Yi Cheng county Ál«°¿¤ in Shanxi province ¤s¦è¬Ù). Shun Di also
bestowed upon Dan Zhu the inheritable title of Hou («J) or Marquis. Dan
Zhu was known as Tang Hou (­ð«J) or the Marquis of Tang who eventually
adopted TANG as his surname. The offspring of Dan Zhu continued to rule
the State of Tang during the Xia Dynasty (®L´Â2205BC to 1766BC) and Shang
Dynasty (°Ó´Â 1783BC to 1122BC).

Ji Fa (®Vµo), who was later known as Zhou King Wu (©PªZ¤ý), the leader of
the Zhou Clan (©P±Ú) ended the 626 years rule of Shang Dynasty. Ji Fa
established the Zhou Dynasty (©P´Â 1134BC to 256BC) before dying six years
later in 1116BC. Ji Song (®V»w), Ji Fa's son succeeded him as Zhou King
Cheng (©P¦¨¤ý) who was only twelve years old. Since Zhou King Cheng was
too young to rule, the Zhou Court appointed Ji Dan (®V¥¹), the younger
brother of Ji Fa, as Regent. At the same time, the State of Tang took this
opportunity to rebel the Zhou Court. Ji Dan sent an expeditionary force
wich re-conquered Tang.

In 1106BC Zhou King Cheng conferred the title of Hou to his younger
brother Shu Yu and also delegated him the authority to rule the area
previously referred to as the State of Tang. Shu Yu was known as Tang Shu
Yu who renamed Tang the State of Jin (®Ê°ê); however, the offspring of Dan
Zhu, who resided there, continued to use Tang as their surname.

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan  (  ¾G  ¥Ã  ¤¸  ).