Lóu is the

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

simplified character Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters used in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore, as prescribed by the ''Table of General Standard Chinese Characters''. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are one o ...

and in

traditional character Traditional Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets of the contemporary written Chinese. The traditional characters had taken shapes since the clerical change and mostly remained in the same structure they took at ...

. It is the 229th most common surname in China, shared by approximately 350,000 people. Lou 娄 is listed 139th 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 ...

''.

Demographics

As of 2008, Lou 娄 is the 229th most common surname in China, with a population of approximately 350,000, or 0.028% of the total Chinese population.

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 ...

province has the largest number of people with the surname, accounting for 23% of the total. It is followed by

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

provinces, which account for another 33% of Lous.

Origins

According to tradition, there are two main sources of the Lou 娄 surname: 1. From the State of Qǐ (杞).

King Wu of Zhou King Wu of Zhou () was the first king of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BC and ended three years later in 1043 BC. King Wu's ancestral name was ...

enfeoff In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...

ed Duke Donglou at Qi (modern

Qi County, Kaifeng Qi County or Qixian () is a county of Kaifeng, Henan, People's Republic of China, with an area of 1243 square km and a population of 1.05 million. History From Shang to Western Zhou, Qi County was the place of the State of Qi. In Qin Dynasty, Qi ...

). The state was later moved to

and destroyed by

King Hui of Chu King Hui of Chu (, died 432 BC) was the king of the State of Chu from 488 BC to 432 BC during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. He was born Xiong Zhang () and King Hui was his posthumous title. He was succeeded by his son, King Ji ...

. The nobles of Qi were then enfeoffed at Lou (in modern

Zhucheng Zhucheng () is a county-level city in the southeast of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Weifang city and had at the 2010 census a population of 1,086,222 even though its built-up (''or metro'') area ...

, Shandong), and their descendants adopted Lou as their surname. This source of Lou began around 400 BC, and is a branch of Si, the ducal surname of Qi. 2. From the state of Zhulou, also called Zhu or Zou, in modern Zou County, Shandong. During the middle

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 ...

, the state was annexed by

King Xuan of Chu King Xuan of Chu (, died 340 BC) was from 369 to 340 BC the king of the state of Chu during the Warring States period of ancient China. He was born Xiong Liangfu () and King Xuan was his posthumous title. King Xuan succeeded his older brother ...

. The people of the state adopted Zhu, Zou, or Lou as their surnames. This source of Lou began around 300 BC, and is a branch of

Cao Cao or CAO may refer to: Mythology *Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology Companies or organizations * Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO *CA Oradea, Romanian football club *CA Osasuna, Spanish football club *Canadian Assoc ...

, the surname of the ruling clan of Zhulou.

Later adoption

During the

Eastern 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 warr ...

dynasty, there was a people in the

Min Mountains Min Mountains or Minshan () are a mountain range in central China. It runs in the general north-south direction through northern Sichuan (the eastern part of the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture and adjacent areas of Mianyang Prefect ...

called Lou. They later mixed with the

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

and adopted Lou as their surname. This is the main source of the Lou surname in Guizhou and

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

provinces. 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 Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

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 Pilou 匹娄, Yilou 伊娄, and Yinalou 乙那娄 tribes of Xianbei adopted Lou 娄 as their surname. This is the main source of the Lou surname in Henan province.

Prominent clans

The most prominent clan of the Lou 娄 surname is that of the Qiao Commandery (谯郡, present-day

Bozhou Bozhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China. It borders Huaibei to the northeast, Bengbu to the southeast, Huainan to the south, Fuyang to the southwest, and Henan to the north. Its population was 4,996,844 at the ...

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 ...

), which was founded by

Lou Shide Lou Shide (; 630–699), courtesy name Zongren (宗仁), formally Viscount Zhen of Qiao (譙貞子), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, twice serving as chancellor during ...

, a famous chancellor of the

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 ...

. His younger brother was also a high-ranking official, serving as the prefect of Dai Prefecture. The

Shanghai Library The Shanghai Library, which also houses the Shanghai Institute of Scientific and Technological Information, is the municipal library of Shanghai, China. It is the largest library in China. At 24 stories and 348 feet (106 m) tall, it is the second ...

has in its collection five

genealogy book A genealogy book or register is used in Asia and Europe to record the family history of ancestors. Greater China It is the Chinese tradition to record family members in a book, including every male born in the family, who they are married to, e ...

s of Lou-surnamed lineages. Nine other genealogy books are known to be in the collection of other institutions in China and the United States.

Notable people

*Lou Jing ( 婁敬; fl. c. 200 BC),

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 ...

official and proponent of the ''

heqin ''Heqin'', also known as marriage alliance, refers to the historical practice of Chinese monarchs marrying princesses—usually members of minor branches of the ruling family—to rulers of neighboring states. It was often adopted as an appeaseme ...

'' policy, renamed Liu Jing after being awarded the imperial surname of

Liu / ( or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the classic text ...

Lou Zhaojun Lou Zhaojun (; 501 – 20 May 562), formally Empress Ming (明皇后, literally "the understanding empress"), was an empress dowager of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi. She was the wife of Gao Huan, the paramount general of Northern Wei and i ...

(婁昭君; 501–562), Empress Dowager of the

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

dynasty, of

ethnicity *

(婁師德; 630–699),

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 * Lou Qinjian (娄勤俭; born 1956), governor of

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

province *

Lou Ye Lou Ye (), born 1965, is a Chinese screenwriter- director who is commonly grouped with the " Sixth Generation" directors of Chinese cinema. Films Born in Shanghai, Lou was educated at the Beijing Film Academy. In 1993, he made his first film ''W ...

(娄烨; born 1965), "sixth-generation" film director * Lou Zhenggang (婁正綱; born 1966), artist *

Lou Yixiao Lou Yixiao (; born 27 December 1988), also known as Loura Lou, is a Chinese actress and singer. Lou is noted for playing Hu Yifei () in the hit sitcom television series ''iPartment'', which enjoyed the highest ratings in China when it was broad ...

(娄艺潇; born 1988), actress *

Lou Jing Lou Jing (born 1989) is a Chinese talent show contestant from Shanghai. She was born to a Chinese mother and an African American father, who left China before she was born and has lost contact ever since. Her mother raised her as a single moth ...

(娄婧; born 1989),

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

-Chinese talent show contestant

References

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