''Jī'' () was the

ancestral name In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...

of 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 ...

which ruled China between the 11th and 3rd centuries BC. Thirty-nine members of the family ruled China during this period while many others ruled as local lords, lords who eventually gained great autonomy during the Spring and Autumn and

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

s. Ji is a relatively uncommon surname in modern China, largely because its bearers often adopted the names of their states and fiefs as new surnames. The character is composed of the radicals (

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 12 ...

: ''nra'', "woman") and (OC: ''ɢ(r)ə'', "chin").Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. '' '', pp. 61, 106, & 175. 2011. Accessed 11 October 2011. It is most likely a phono-semantic compound, with ''nra'' common in the earliest Zhou-era family names and ''ɢ(r)ə'' marking a rhyme of (OC: ''K(r)ə''). The legendary and historical record shows the Zhou Ji clan closely entwined with the

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 The Jiang Rive ...

(), who seem to have provided many of the Ji lords' high-ranking spouses. A popular theory in recent Chinese scholarship has suggested that they represented two important clans the Ji originally centered on the Fen River in Shanxi and the Jiang around the Wen River in

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

whose union produced the Zhou state ruled by

Old Duke Danfu King Tai of Zhou () or Gugong Danfu () was a great leader of the Zhou clan during the Shang dynasty. His great-grandson Fa would later conquer the Shang and establish the Zhou dynasty. Name "King Tai" was a posthumous name bestowed upon him by h ...

, although the theory remains problematic. In the family hymns recorded in the ''Classic of Poetry'', the Ji (姬) family is traced from the

miraculous birth Stories of miraculous births often include conceptions by miraculous circumstances and features such as intervention by a deity, supernatural elements, astronomical signs, hardship or, in the case of some mythologies, complex plots related t ...

of the Xia dynasty culture hero and court official Houji caused by his

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ...

's stepping into a footprint left by the supreme god Shangdi.'' Book of Songs''. III.2.1. The ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'' instead make Houji the son of the

Emperor Ku Kù (, variant graph ), usually referred to as Dì Kù (), also known as Gaoxin or Gāoxīn Shì () or Qūn (), was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. He went by the name Gaoxin until receiving imperial authority, when he took the name Ku and t ...

, descendant of

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...

. Sima Qian. ''

''. It is sometimes listed as one of the Eight Great Surnames of Chinese Antiquity, replacing when present.

Ancient rulers with the surname

*Kings of the

(周朝) *Rulers of the

State of Wu Wu (; Old Chinese: ''*'') was one of the states during the Western Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period. It was also known as Gouwu ( /''*''/) or Gongwu ( /''*''/) from the pronunciation of the local language. Wu was located at t ...

(吳), who claimed descent from

Taibo Taibo () (circa 1150 BCE), or Wu Taibo, was the eldest son of King Tai of Zhou and the legendary founder of the State of Wu. His exact birth and death dates are unknown. Biography According to Sima Qian, Taibo was the founder of the State of Wu. ...

*Rulers of Eastern Guo (東虢) and Western Guo (西虢), descended from Jili's two younger sons *Rulers of Han (韓), descended from a son of King Wen of Zhou *Rulers of Teng, descended from a son of King Wen of Zhou *Rulers of

Wey Wey may refer to: Places *Wey (state) (衞), or Wei, ancient Chinese state during the Zhou Dynasty *River Wey, river in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex, England *River Wey (Dorset), river of Dorset, south west England *Wey and Arun Canal, canal ...

(卫), descended from a son of King Wen of Zhou *Rulers of

Wei Wei or WEI may refer to: States * Wey (state) (衛, 1040–209 BC), Wei in pinyin, but spelled Wey to distinguish from the bigger Wei of the Warring States * Wei (state) (魏, 403–225 BC), one of the seven major states of the Warring States per ...

(魏), descended from a son of King Wen of Zhou *Rulers of the State of Liu (劉) from Duke Kang of Liu (劉康公), son of King Qing of Zhou *Rulers of Xing (邢), descended from Pengshu of Xing *Rulers of

Cai Cai or CAI may refer to: Places * Cai (state), a state in ancient China * Caí River, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Cái River, Vietnam * Cairo International Airport (IATA airport code) * Caithness, a historic county in Scotland (Chapman code) ...

(蔡), descended from

Cai Shu Du Cai Shu Du or Shu Du of Cai (Chinese: , given name Du (), was the first ruler of the State of Cai. Du was the fifth son of King Wen of Zhou and his wife Taisi (). He had ten brothers and eight half-brothers. His elder brothers were Kao (Boyi Ka ...

*Rulers of Cao, descended from Cao Shu Zhenduo *Rulers of Jin state (晉), descended from Tang Shu Yu *Rulers of Lu (魯), descended from Bo Qin, son of the

Duke of Zhou Dan, Duke Wen of Zhou (), commonly known as the Duke of Zhou (), was a member of the royal family of the early Zhou dynasty who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother King Wu. He was renowned for actin ...

*Rulers of Zheng *Rulers of Han, which claimed descent from Han Wuzi, a grandson of Marquis Mu of Jin *Rulers of Shen (沈), from sons of King Wen of Zhou *Rulers of Xi (息) *Rulers of Yan (燕) from

Duke of Shao Shi, Duke Kang of Shao (died 1000 BC), or Ji Shi, also known as the Earl of Shao, was a high-ranking minister of the early Zhou dynasty. He was a younger brother of King Wu, the founding king of Zhou. Siding with his half-brother Duke of Zhou, D ...

, brother of King Wu of Zhou *Rulers of Cen (岑), from Viscount Ji Qu, nephew of the

*Rulers of Xianyu (鮮虞), who dwelt among the Di.

Other notable people

*Ji Jin-chun (born 1877), Governor of Rehe and Suiyuan (1921–28), fought the Russians and the Japanese *Ji Hong-chang (born 1895), Governor of Ningxia and prominent Nationalist *

Ji Pengfei Ji Pengfei (simplified Chinese: 姬鹏飞; traditional Chinese: 姬鵬飛; pinyin: ''Jī Péngfēi''; February 2, 1910 – February 10, 2000) was a Chinese politician. Biography Ji Pengfei was born in Linyi County, Shanxi, Linyi, Yuncheng, Shanx ...

(born 1910), a prominent Communist * Ji Shengde, former head of Chinese military intelligence

Other surnames adopted by descendants of Ji

* Any surname

derived Derive may refer to: *Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments * ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism *Dérive, a psychogeographical concept See also * *Derivation (disambiguation ...

from the Zhou dynasty Ji-descent vassal states * Qiū (秋) * Wēng (翁) ** Hóng (洪) ** Jiāng (江) ** Fāng (方) ** Gōng (龚) **

Wāng Wāng (汪) is a Chinese surname. It was 104th of the ''Hundred Family Surnames'' poem, contained in the verse Yáo, Shào, Zhàn, Wāng (姚邵湛汪). In 2013, the Fuxi Cultural Association found the name to be the 60th most common in China ...

(汪)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ji (surname) Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames Eight Great Surnames of Chinese Antiquity