Cen is the

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

romanization of the

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the ...

written in

Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the Written Chinese, writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are k ...

. It is romanized Ts'en in

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles () is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' of ...

, and variously as Sam, Sum, Sham, Shum in

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

, Gim, Khim, Chim in

Taiwanese Hokkien Taiwanese Hokkien () (; Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-uân-uē''), also known as Taigi/Taigu (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī/Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-gí / Tâi-gú''), Taiwanese, Taiwanese Minnan, Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively by about 70% ...

and Chen in other pinyin forms. Cen is listed 67th in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

classic text ''

Hundred Family Surnames The ''Hundred Family Surnames'' (), commonly known as ''Bai Jia Xing'', also translated as ''Hundreds of Chinese Surnames'', is a classic Chinese text composed of common Chinese surnames. An unknown author compiled the book during the Song dyn ...

''. As of 2008, it is the 235th most common surname in China, shared by 340,000 people. Cen is considered a rare surname. A person with a rare surname like Cen may be able to trace his or her origins to a single ancestral area. Eliza Sam 2014

Notable people

* Cen Peng ( 岑彭; died 36 AD).

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

general. *

Cen Hun Cen Hun (died 280) was an official of the state of Eastern Wu during the late Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China. Life Cen Hun held positions among the Nine Ministers during the reign of Sun Hao, the fourth and last emperor of Wu. Hist ...

( 岑昏; died 280). Government Minister of

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' <

Eastern Han Chinese

: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in h ...

. * Cen Derun ( 岑德潤; circa 5th - 6th century), Southern Dynasties poet. *

Cen Wenben Cen Wenben (595 – May 10, 645), courtesy name Jingren, posthumously known as Viscount Xian of Jiangling, was a Chinese official who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Taizong in the Tang dynasty. He was an assistant editor of t ...

( 岑文本; 595–645). Viscount Xian of Jiangling,

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

chancellor. *

Cen Changqian Cen Changqian (; died November 7, 691), briefly known as Wu Changqian (武長倩) during the reign of Wu Zetian, formally the Duke of Deng (鄧公), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties of China, serving ...

( 岑長倩; died 691), Tang dynasty chancellor, nephew of Cen Wenben. *

Cen Xi Cen Xi (; died July 29, 713), courtesy name Bohua (伯華), was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Shang, Emperor Ruizong, and Emperor Xuanzong. He was k ...

( 岑羲; died 713), Tang dynasty chancellor, grandson of Cen Wenben. *

Cen Shen Cen Shen or Cen Can (), 715–770, was one of the great Chinese poets of the Tang dynasty. His poems were included in the Three Hundred Poems anthology. Name He is also called Cen Jiazhou (). During the reign of Emperor Suzong he was made gove ...

(岑參; 715–770), Tang dynasty poet. *

Cen Yuying Cen or CEN may refer to: People and language * Cen language * Cen (rune) (ᚳ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc * Cen (surname) (岑), a Chinese second name Acronym * Certified Emergency Nurse * Childhood emotional neglect * Cambridge Evening ...

( 岑毓英; 1829–1889).

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

Governor-General of

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

, Minister of Defense. * Cen Yubao ( 岑毓报; 1841–?). Qing dynasty Viceroy of

, younger brother of Cen Yuying. * Cen Chunming ( 岑春蓂; 1868-1944). Qing dynasty Hankow Taotai. Later governor of Jiangxi, Guizhou and Hunan, son of Cen Yuying. * Cen Guangyue ( 岑光樾; 1876 - 1960), artist *

Cen Zhongmian Cen or CEN may refer to: People and language * Cen language * Cen (rune) (ᚳ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc * Cen (surname) (岑), a Chinese second name Acronym * Certified Emergency Nurse * Childhood emotional neglect * Cambridge Evening ...

( 岑仲勉; 1885–1961), historian * Cen Qixiang ( 岑麒祥; 1903–1989). Linguist *

Cen Feilong Cen or CEN may refer to: People and language * Cen language * Cen (rune) (ᚳ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc * Cen (surname) (岑), a Chinese second name Acronym * Certified Emergency Nurse * Childhood emotional neglect * Cambridge Evening ...

( 岑飛龍; 1905–1997). Painter and calligrapher *

Cen Kefa Cen or CEN may refer to: People and language * Cen language * Cen (rune) (ᚳ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc * Cen (surname) (岑), a Chinese second name Acronym * Certified Emergency Nurse * Childhood emotional neglect * Cambridge Evening ...

( 岑可法; born 1935), physicist, academician of the

Chinese Academy of Engineering The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...

Cen Zhangzhi Cen or CEN may refer to: People and language * Cen language * Cen (rune) (ᚳ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc * Cen (surname) (岑), a Chinese second name Acronym * Certified Emergency Nurse * Childhood emotional neglect * Cambridge Evening ...

( 岑章志; born 1946), physicist, Vice-President of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

Cen Zeliu Cen Zeliu (; 1912–1941), also Shum Tsak-lau ''(Cantonese)'': was born in Enping, Guangdong, China. He trained in the Guangdong provincial aviation academy as a fighter pilot, graduating in 1934, and attached to the provincial warlord air for ...

( 岑泽鎏; 1912-1941), ace fighter pilot of

Chinese Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an Air force, aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular army, regular ...

during the War of Resistance-World War II, war hero and martyr *

John Shum John Sham Kin-Fun (born 1952) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. His English name is sometimes written as John Shum. Whilst known primarily for his comedic acting roles in Hong Kong cinema, he also spent time as a political activist. Biogra ...

or Cen Jianxun (born 1952). Hong Kong actor and film producer *

Cen Xu Cen Xu (; born August 1952) is a vice admiral (''zhong jiang'') of China's People's Liberation Army Navy. He has been assistant to the director of the PLA General Political Department since January 2013, and formerly served as a Deputy Politica ...

(born 1952), Vice Admiral of the

PLA Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chines ...

Sam Hou Fai Justice Sam Hou Fai () is the President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macau, the highest court in Macau, China. Before his legal career Sam worked in numerous departments in Macau: * Deputy Secretary of Macau Monetary Authority 1987-1992 * ...

or Cen Haohui ( 岑浩輝, born 1962), President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macau *

Shum Kwok Pui Shum Kwok Pui (; born 11 August 1970 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong former footballer who played as a central defender and is currently the assistant coach of Hong Kong Premier League club Happy Valley. Coaching career Pegasus Shum joined Pega ...

or Cen Guopei ( 岑國培; born 1970), Hong Kong football player *

Harry Shum Jr. Harry Shum Jr. (born April 28, 1982) is an American actor, dancer, choreographer, and singer. He is best known for his roles as Mike Chang on the Fox television series ''Glee'' (2009–15), Benson Kwan on the ABC television series ''Grey's Anato ...

( 岑勇康; born 1982), Costa Rica-born

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...

actor and dancer in ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' *

Cen Nanqin Cen Nanqin (; born September 26, 1983 in Ceheng county, Guizhou) is a Chinese female slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 2006 to 2018. She won a silver medal in the C1 event at the 2011 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championsh ...

(born 1983), Female slalom canoer. Won gold medal in 2014 Asian Games in Woman's Slalom C-1 event. *

Eliza Sam Eliza Sam (; born 17 November 1984) is a Canadian actress based in Hong Kong, formerly under contract in TVB. She won the Miss Chinese Vancouver Pageant in 2009, and went on to win the 2010 Miss Chinese International Pageant. After winning th ...

(born 1984). Chinese-Canadian actress based in Hong Kong * Yoyo Shum ( 岑寧兒; born 1984). Hong Kong singer, son of John Shum *

Lester Shum Lester Shum O-fai ( zh, t=岑敖暉; born 11 June 1993) is a Hong Kong social activist and politician. He was a leader of the 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and served as deputy secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Student ...

(岑敖暉), Former Deputy Secretary-general of the

Hong Kong Federation of Students The Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS, or 學聯) is a student organisation founded in May 1958 by the student unions of four higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The inaugural committee had seven members representing the four sc ...

Cen clan of Guangxi

In Imperial China, large parts of

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

and

were ruled by the local

tusi ''Tusi'', often translated as "headmen" or "chieftains", were hereditary tribal leaders recognized as imperial officials by the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties of China, and the Later Lê and Nguyễn dynasties of Vietnam. They ruled certain et ...

s of Cen clan, such as Tianzhou or the Sicheng native prefecture (''Sicheng tufu''). The Cens are ethnic Zhuang, but how and when they became Zhuang is unclear. Genealogies from Ming and Qing dynasties state that the founding ancestor is

Cen Zhongshu Cen or CEN may refer to: People and language * Cen language * Cen (rune) (ᚳ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc * Cen (surname) (岑), a Chinese second name Acronym * Certified Emergency Nurse * Childhood emotional neglect * Cambridge Evening ...

, the Song general from

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

. Prominent members include: *

( 岑仲淑; 1015-1077).

general *

Cen Shumuhan Cen or CEN may refer to: People and language * Cen language * Cen (rune) (ᚳ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc * Cen (surname) (岑), a Chinese second name Acronym * Certified Emergency Nurse * Childhood emotional neglect * Cambridge Evenin ...

( 岑恕木罕; circa 1340), aka: Cen Numuhan. In 1340, he was granted hereditary control over the Sicheng region in Guangxi by the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty Emperor Toghon Temür. He was given the title of Khan. In Chinese he was known as and used the word Han (汗) which is a derivative of the word Khan, which means "Supreme Ruler" of his territory. He had a younger brother named Cen Tiemur ( 岑鐵木兒). *

Cen Boyan Cen or CEN may refer to: People and language * Cen language * Cen (rune) (ᚳ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc * Cen (surname) (岑), a Chinese second name Acronym * Certified Emergency Nurse * Childhood emotional neglect * Cambridge Evening ...

( 岑柏颜; circa 1368), aka: Cen Bayan (岑百眼) or Cen Baiyan (岑百眼). He was known as and used the given name of the famous Mongolian generals named Bayan. In 1368, he surrendered to the advancing forces of the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, and as a route commander his command was changed to a prefecture and he was granted a seal and appointed a Tianzhou Prefectural Magistrate. *

Cen Tianbao Cen or CEN may refer to: People and language * Cen language * Cen (rune) (ᚳ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc * Cen (surname) (岑), a Chinese second name Acronym * Certified Emergency Nurse * Childhood emotional neglect * Cambridge Evening ...

( 岑天保; circa 1368). In 1368, he surrendered to the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, and was made the Prefect of Tianzhou, Guangxi. He and the Cen clan had ancestors with Mongolian-style names due to their closed military, economic, social, and political ties with them *

Cen Meng Cen or CEN may refer to: People and language * Cen language * Cen (rune) (ᚳ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc * Cen (surname) (岑), a Chinese second name Acronym * Certified Emergency Nurse * Childhood emotional neglect * Cambridge Evening ...

( 岑猛; 1496-1527). Chief of Tianzhou, Guangxi. Raised 100,000 man army of Han, Tang and Zhuang to defend area against Ming army colonization of Southern China.The Last Campaigns of Wang Yangming, by Leo K. Shin (University of British Columbia). *

Cen Yidong Cen Yidong (, vi, Sầm Nghi Đống, ? – January 30, 1789) was a Zhuang official of Qing dynasty. He was the hereditary '' tǔsī'' (native chief) of Tianzhou (present day Tianyang County of Guangxi). Cen succeeded his grandfather Cen Yi ...

(?-1789), Qing dynasty

of Tianzhou, Guangxi *

Cen Chunxuan Cen Chunxuan (1861 – 27 April 1933), courtesy name Yunjie, was a Zhuang Chinese politician who lived in the late Qing dynasty and Republic of China. Early career Cen was born in 1861 during the late Qing dynasty in Xilin, Guangxi. Hi ...

(1861–1933), Qing dynasty

Viceroy of Liangguang The Viceroy of Liangguang or Viceroy of the Two Guangs, was one of eight regional Viceroys during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The two ''Guang'' referred to Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. The areas under the Viceroy's jurisdiction included pr ...

Cen Deguang Cen Deguang (1897–?) was a politician of the collaborationist Wang Jingwei regime. He, along with Wang Jingwei, was considered by many Chinese to be a Hanjian, or traitor. Deguang claimed he was just following orders, since his friend Wang was ...

(1897–1945), politician of the

Wang Jingwei regime The Wang Jingwei regime or the Wang Ching-wei regime is the common name of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China ( zh , t = 中華民國國民政府 , p = Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ ), the government of the pu ...

, son of Cen Chunxuan

References

External links

Cen on ancestry.com

CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5C91
- Wiktionary on

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

information,

glyph A glyph () is any kind of purposeful mark. In typography, a glyph is "the specific shape, design, or representation of a character". It is a particular graphical representation, in a particular typeface, of an element of written language. A g ...

origin and

dialectal The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

pronunciation {{DEFAULTSORT:Cen Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames