Kong (孔) is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and Korean surname. It can also be written as Kung in Taiwan, Hung in Hong Kong, Khổng in Vietnam, and Gong in Korea. There are around 2.1 million people with this surname in China in 2002, representing 0.23% of the population. In 2018, it was the 97th-most common surname in China. It is the 25th name on the '' Hundred Family Surnames'' poem. This surname Kong is most notable as the surname of

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

and his descendants. The family tree of Confucius and his descendants is generally considered to be the world's longest, covering over 2,500 years with more than 80 generations recorded, and has two million entries according to its last update in 2009. The main line of descent traditionally held the title of Duke Yansheng, which was changed to the title of the first Sacrificial Official to Confucius in the 20th century. This title is currently held by

Kung Tsui-chang Kung Tsui-chang (, born 1 July 1975) is the Sacrificial Official to Confucius in the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Senior Advisor to the President of the Republic of China. Kung is the 79th-generation descendant of Confucius in the main li ...

. Kong may also be the English

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

of a rare Chinese surname 空, or a less common form of the Gong surnames such as

龔 Radical 212, 龍, 龙, or 竜 meaning "dragon", is one of the two of the 214 Kangxi radicals that are composed of 16 strokes. The character arose as a stylized drawing of a Chinese dragon,龍: bottom left: jaws (open downwards); top left: back ...

, 貢 and 弓.

Origin

The character for the Kong surname was derived from the Zi (子) family name. The founder of the

Shang Dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...

, Tang of Shang whose family name was Zi, had the

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dynas ...

of Taiyi (太乙). His descendants fused the character Zi (子) to Yi (乙), forming the character Kong (孔) which eventually became a surname. It first appeared during the

Zhou Dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

as the courtesy name Kongfu (孔父) of a noble in the State of Song named Jia (嘉), said to be a descendant of the Tang of Shang. Kongfu Jia was murdered, and his son escaped to the

State of Lu Lu (, c. 1042–249 BC) was a vassal state during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China located around modern Shandong province. Founded in the 11th century BC, its rulers were from a cadet branch of the House of Ji (姬) that ruled the Zhou dyn ...

where he adopted Kong as the name of his clan. His family settled in Qufu and Confucius was one of his descendants. The Kong surname may also have originated from a number of other sources. Others had adopted Kong as their surname because it was part of their ancestors' name. For example, in the

State of Zheng Zheng (; ; Old Chinese: *') was a vassal state in China during the Zhou Dynasty (1046–221 BCE) located in the centre of ancient China in modern-day Henan Province on the North China Plain about east of the royal capital at Luoyang. It was th ...

, two of Duke Mu of Zheng's (鄭穆公) sons ( surname Ji) (姬), had Shikong (士孔) and Zikong (子孔) as their respective courtesy names, and their descendants took Kong as their surname. Similarly, there was a noble in the

State of Chen Chen () was a state founded by the Duke Hu of Chen during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. It existed from c. 1045 BC–479 BC. Its capital was Wanqiu, in present-day Huaiyang County in the plains of eastern Henan province. Chen, the 4th mos ...

named Kongning (孔宁, originally of surname

Gui The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

(妫)), and another in the State of Qi named Konghui (孔虺, originally of surname

Jiang Jiang may refer to: * ''Jiang'' (rank), rank held by general officers in the military of China *Jiang (surname), several Chinese surnames **Jiang Zemin (1926–2022), as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party *Jiang River, an ancient riv ...

(姜)); the descendants of both also adopted the surname Kong. Some of the non-Han Chinese people used Kong as their surname, such as the Derung, Jingpo,

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

, and the

Yugur people The Yugurs, Yughurs, Yugu (; Western Yugur: ''Sarïg Yogïr''; Eastern Yugur: ''Šera Yogor''), traditionally known as Yellow Uyghurs, are a Turko- Mongolic ethnic group and one of China's 56 officially recognized ethnic groups, consisting ...

. Various Manchu clans also simplified their surnames to Kong.

Notable people

(Kong Qiu)

Kong

* Kong Anguo (156 – c. 74 BC), Confucian scholar and government official of the Western Han dynasty *

Augustine Kong Chung Tung Augustine Kong is a statistical geneticist who is Professor of Statistical Genetics at the University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Medicine, where he is also the Senior Group Leader in Genomic Epidemiology. He was previously the ...

, statistical geneticist *

Kong Ji Zisi (; c. 481–402 BCE), born Kong Ji (孔伋), was a Chinese philosopher and the grandson of Confucius. Intellectual genealogy, teaching, criticism Zisi was the son of Kong Li (孔鯉) ( Boyu (伯鱼)) and the only grandson of Confucius. ...

(481–402 BC), Chinese philosopher and grandson of Confucius *

Kong Qingdong Kong Qingdong (born September 22, 1964) is a controversial Chinese academic, author, talk show host, and social commentator. Kong is a prominent Chinese media figure, known for his vulgar and often brusque critiques on political issues and vario ...

Kong Rong Kong Rong () (153 – 26 September 208), courtesy name Wenju, was a Chinese poet, politician, and minor warlord. who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was a 20th generation descendant of Confucius. As he was once the Chance ...

Kong Shangren Kong Shangren (; 1648 – 1718) was a Qing dynasty dramatist and poet best known for his ''chuanqi (theatre), chuanqi'' play ''The Peach Blossom Fan''"Frommer's China", Simon Foster et al., 2010, p. 383, about the last days of the Ming dynasty. ...

Kong Tai Heong Kong Tai Heong ( zh, c=, j=Gong1 Dai6hoeng1; April 25, 1875 – August 11, 1951) was a trained obstetrician who was the first Chinese woman to practice medicine in Hawaii. Also certified as a midwife, she delivered babies for the Hawaiian, Port ...

* Kong Yingda * Kong Youde *

Kong Zhaoshou Kong Zhaoshou (; 1876–1929), a direct male-line 71st generation descendant of Confucius, was a Chinese educator who twice served as President of Hunan First Normal University from April 1913 to January 1914, and September 1916 to September ...

Kung

H. H. Kung Kung Hsiang-hsi (; 11 September 1881 – 16 August 1967), often known as Dr. H. H. Kung, was a Chinese banker and politician in the early 20th century. He married Soong Ai-ling, the eldest of the three Soong sisters; the other two married Pres ...

(1881–1967), banker and politician in the Republic of China *

H. T. Kung Hsiang-Tsung Kung (; born November 9, 1945) is a Taiwanese-born American computer scientist. He is the William H. Gates professor of computer science at Harvard University. His early research in parallel computing produced the systolic array i ...

(born 1945), Taiwanese-born American computer scientist * Kung Te-cheng (1920–2008), Duke Yansheng, Confucian ceremonial official *

(born 1975), Confucian ceremonial official

Gong

* Gong Chan-shik, member of South Korean boy group B1A4 * Gong Hyo-jin (孔曉振), South Korean actress *

Gong Ji-young Gong Jiyeong (; born January 31, 1963) is a South Korean novelist. Life Gong Jiyeong was interested in literature from an early age, and while still a teenager, self-published her own stories and poems.Korean Writers and Novelists. Minumsa Pub ...

(孔枝泳), South Korean female writer *

Gong Min-ji Gong Min-ji (; born January 18, 1994), better known by her stage name Minzy, is a South Korean singer, rapper, and dancer. She debuted in 2009 as a member of South Korean girl group 2NE1, which became one of the best-selling girl groups worldwi ...

(known as Minzy), South Korean soloist, dancer, rapper, and former member of South Korean girl group

2NE1 2NE1 (, ) was a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, which was active between 2009 and 2016. The group was composed of four members: Bom, CL, Dara, and Minzy. Known for breaking typical stereotypes of K-pop, musical experiment ...

* Gong Yoo (孔劉), South Korean actor * Gong Oh-kyun ( Korean: 공오균,

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: 孔五均), former South Korean football player and a professional coach, manager of the

Vietnam national under-23 football team The Vietnam national under-23 and Olympic football team ( vi, Đội tuyển Bóng đá U-23 và Olympic Quốc gia Việt Nam) represents Vietnam in international football tournaments at the under-22 and under-23 age level. History Early years ...

Hung

William Hung William Hing Cheung Hung (; born January 13, 1983) is a Hong Kong motivational speaker and former singer who gained fame in 2004 as a result of his unsuccessful audition singing Ricky Martin's hit song "She Bangs" on the third season of the ...

(孔慶翔, Kǒng Qìngxiáng), American singer from Hong Kong

References

{{surname, Kong Chinese-language surnames Korean-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames Surnames of Cambodian origin Khmer-language surnames