Lu () is a

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 ...

. It is also spelled Lo according to the

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 ...

pronunciation. Lu 路 is listed 138th 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 dy ...

''. Lu 路 is the 116th most common surname in China, with a total population of 2.35 million.

Demographics and distribution

As of 2013, Lu 路 is the 116th most common surname in China, shared by 2.35 million people, or 0.18% of the Chinese population. It is distributed widely across China, but the provinces of

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

, and

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

have especially high concentrations of the surname; the four provinces account for 70% of the total population with the surname.

Origins

According to the ninth-century

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

text ''

Yuanhe Xing Zuan The ''Yuanhe Xingzuan'' () is an imperial Tang dynasty register of the genealogies of China's prominent families. It was compiled by Lin Bao (林寶), on the order of Emperor Xianzong (reigned 805–820), whose era name was Yuanhe. The book was c ...

'', the Lu 路 surname originated from the

Red Di The Di or Beidi (Northern Di) were various ethnic groups who lived north of the Chinese (''Huaxia'') realms during the Zhou dynasty. Although initially described as nomadic, they seem to have practiced a mixed pastoral, agricultural, and huntin ...

state of (潞氏 or 路氏), also called Lu, which was named after the river Lu (present-day Zhuozhang River, a tributary of the

Zhang River The Zhang River is a tributary of the Wei River in China. The river commences at the confluence of the rivers Qingzhang (or Clear Zhang, 清漳河) and Zhuozhang (or Turbid Zhang, 浊漳河), where between She county of Hebei and Linzhou of ...

). In 594 BC Lushi was conquered by Duke Jing, the ruler of the State of Jin, a major power of the Spring and Autumn period. The people of Lu/Lushi subsequently adopted Lu 路 as their surname. Another origin of Lu 路 is the

Western Zhou Dynasty The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended when the Quanrong nom ...

(1046–771 BC) government office of ''luzheng'' (路正), which was responsible for the management of roads and transportation (Lu 路 means road in Chinese). Some descendants of people who held the office adopted Lu as their surname. A third, legendary origin of Lu 路 is from Xuanyuan (玄元), a son of

Emperor Zhi The Emperor Zhi (, ''Dì Zhì''; ) was a legendary emperor of ancient China. Legend Zhi is recorded as one of the quasihistorical prehistoric rulers of ancient China between the mythological era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors a ...

and grandson of

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 th ...

. He was enfeoffed as Marquis of Luzhong (路中侯) by

Emperor Yao Emperor Yao (; traditionally c. 2356 – 2255 BCE) was a legendary Chinese ruler, according to various sources, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Ancestry and early life Yao's ancestral name is Yi Qi () or Qi (), clan name i ...

, and his descendants adopted Lu (from Luzhong) as their surname.

Later adoption

During the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

Northern Wei dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen (reigned 467–499 AD) implemented a drastic policy of

sinicization Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix , 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies come under the influence of Chinese culture, particularly the language, societal norms, cul ...

, ordering his own people to adopt Chinese surnames. The Moluzhen (没路真) tribe of Xianbei adopted Lu 路 as their surname. Some of the

Dong people The Kam people, officially known in China as Dong people (; endonym: , ), a Kam–Sui people of Southern China, are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They are famed for their native-bred ''Kam ...

, an ethnic minority group of China, have also adopted Lu 路 as their surname.

Notable people

Lu Bode Lu Bode (; –?) was a Chinese military leader during the Western Han dynasty. Lu was from Pingzhou (平州) in the Xihe (西河) region of western China (present-day Lishi District of Lüliang, Shanxi). In 119 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han dispatche ...

(路博德; fl. 119–109 BC),

Western Han 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 war ...

general, conqueror of

Nanyue Nanyue (), was an ancient kingdom ruled by Chinese monarchs of the Zhao family that covered the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, southern Fujian and central to northern Vietnam. Nanyue was establis ...

and

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

* Lu Wenshu (路温舒), Western Han scholar *

Lu Huinan Lu Huinan (; 412 – February 24, 466), formally Empress Dowager Zhao (昭太后, literally "accomplished empress dowager"), semi-formally Empress Dowager Chongxian (崇憲太后), was an empress dowager of the Chinese Liu Song dynasty. She had ...

(路惠男; 412–466), empress dowager of the

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...

dynasty * Empress Lu, consort of

Emperor Qianfei of Liu Song Former Deposed Emperor of Liu Song or Emperor Qianfei ((劉)宋前廢帝) (25 February 449 – 1 January 466''wuwu'' day of the 11th month of the 1st year of the ''Yong'guang'' era, per Liu Ziye's biography in ''Book of Song''), personal name Liu ...

, niece of Lu Huinan *

Lu Sui Lu Sui (路隨 or 路隋) (776 – August 16, 835 Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.), courtesy name Nanshi (), was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Wenzong. Backgro ...

(路隨; 776–835),

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

chancellor *

Lu Yan Lu Yan (路巖) (829–874), courtesy name Luzhan (魯瞻), was an official of the Tang dynasty of China, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Yizong. Background and early career Lu Yan was born in 829, during the reign of Emp ...

(路巖; 829–874), Tang dynasty chancellor *

Lu Zhongyi Lu Zhongyi (; 18 May 1849 – 26 February 1925) was the seventeenth patriarch of Yiguan Dao (I-Kuan Tao). His religious titles were ''Tung Li Zu'' and ''Jin Gong Zu Shi'' (金公祖師; Golden Elder). Lu is, according to Yiguan Dao doctrine, the ...

(路中一; 1849–1925), religious leader * Lu Yongxiang (路甬祥; born 1942), former president of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

Lu Yao Wang Weiguo (; 1949–1992), better known by his pen name Lu Yao (), was a Chinese novelist. Biography He was born on 3 December 1949 in Qingjian County, Shaanxi Province. He had six siblings and grew up in a very poor family. Career H ...

(路遥; 1949–1992), writer * Ping Lu (路平; Lu Ping; born 1953), Taiwanese writer *

Lu Xuechang Lu Xuechang (June 25, 1964 – February 20, 2014) was a sixth generation Chinese film director. One of a new crop of talented filmmakers, Lu directed four feature films beginning with his debut, ''The Making of Steel ''The'' () is a gramm ...

(路学长; 1964–2014), film director * Jozie Lu (路嘉欣; Lu Jiaxin; born 1979), Taiwanese actress and singer * Lu Jiang (路姜; born 1981), football player * Lu Chen (路晨; born 1987), actress *

Johnny Lu Johnny Lu (, born May 8, 1977) is an American-Taiwanese actor. Life and career Lu was born in Taipei City, Taiwan. His father, , was one of the founding members of the Bamboo Union triad in Taiwan. Lu's parents divorced, and then at the age ...

(路斯明), born Johnny Chen, Taiwanese-American actor *

Suyin Lu Founder of Delectable by Su in Kuala Lumpur Huen Su Yin (born 12 September 1985) is a Malaysian blogger and cake designer. She is known for her sculpted cakes, which use cake, fondant and styrofoam to create characters and themes, including he ...

, born in Philippines, Soon to be CPA

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames