Shan () 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 ...

. The origin of this surname is not clear. One explanation is that it came from

Shan County Shan County or Shanxian () is a county in the southwest of Shandong province, China, bordering the provinces of Anhui to the southeast and Henan to the southwest. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Heze Heze, for ...

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 ...

province. Another possible origin involves King Cheng of Zhou's youngest son's acquisition of the name when he was given what would become the Shan state when the enfeoffment system was enacted 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 ...

. The Shan state existed for a few hundred years before it was annexed by a stronger neighbouring state. It was located in present-day

Jiyuan Jiyuan () is a sub-prefecture-level city in northwestern Henan province, People's Republic of China. It borders the prefecture-level cities of Jiaozuo and Luoyang to the east and southwest respectively, as well as the province of Shanxi to the n ...

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 ...

province. Although the surname comes from the place name, the Shan family was a branch of the royal family of the Zhou dynasty. Its ancient origin determines its rareness and not many people have the Shan surname. According to one unverifiable estimate, about 150,000 people are of the surname. Shan could also be used to refer to the rare surname 𢒉 (). The rare character was unable to be rendered on a computer so people chose Xian 冼 to replace it. People from Gaozhuang Village born after the system change and people who didn't want a hassle with technology were affected. The choice was controversial as some people saw that

future generations Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations, and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The moral patienthood of future ge ...

would forget their name. Most of people of the Shan surname live in

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 ...

. However, some people bearing the Shan surname can be found in Taiwan and overseas Chinese communities throughout the world. Some ethnic peoples adopted "Shan" as their surname but its pronunciation is mostly "Chan". Some

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

and

Hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...

people choose "Shan" as their family name, but their population is small. Majority of the Shan are

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 they can trace their origin to the Zhou dynasty. The character 单/單 is also pronounced when not a surname.

Notable people with the surname Shan

Shan Xiongxin Shan Xiongxin (? - 5 June 621) was a general, top warrior and peasant uprising leader during the Transition from Sui to Tang, transitional era between Sui and Tang dynasties. In history Shan Xiongxin was born in Cao County, Caoxian, Shandong reg ...

(單雄信; 581–621), a general of the

Transition from Sui to Tang The transition from Sui to Tang (613–628) was the period of Chinese history between the end of the Sui dynasty and the start of the Tang dynasty. The Sui dynasty's territories were carved into a handful of short-lived states by its officials, ...

period. * Shan Zhongsheng (), who lived in the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

. He is known for his filial piety. *

Pal Sinn Pal Sinn Lap-man (born 17 March 1959) is a Hong Kong musician, singer and actor. Sinn is noted for his roles as Sai-Mun Hing in ''The Reincarnation of Golden Lotus'', for which he received Hong Kong Film Award nomination for Best New Performe ...

(單立文, Shan Liwen; born 1959), a Hong Kong singer and actor. *

Shan Tianfang Shan Chuanzhong (; 17 December 1934 – 11 September 2018), better known by stage name Shan Tianfang (), was a Chinese '' pingshu'' performer. He was a member of the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage inheritors, a member of C ...

(單田芳; 1934–2018), a

pingshu ''Pingshu'' () or ''pinghua'' () refers to the traditional Han Chinese performing art of storytelling with no musical accompaniment. It is better known as ''pingshu'' in northern China and ''pinghua'' in southern China. Performing art Pingsh ...

performer. *

Sin Chung-kai Sin Chung-kai (; born 15 June 1960) is a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. He was the chairman and a member of Kwai Tsing District Council for the Wah Lai constituency. He was one of the two vice-chairmen of the Democratic ...

(單仲偕, Shan Zhongkai; born 1960), a Hong Kong politician. *

Sin Wai-chu In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

(單慧珠; Shan Huizhu), a Hong Kong film director. *

Shan Zhiqiang Shan may refer to: People *Shan (surname), or 单 in Chinese, a Chinese surname *Shan, a variant of the Welsh given name usually spelled Siân *Occasionally used as a short form of Shannen/ Shannon Ethnic groups *Shan people, Southeast Asian e ...

(), former editor-in-chief of ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'' in China. *

Paul Shan Kuo-hsi Paul Shan Kuo-hsi, S.J. (; 3 December 1924 – 22 August 2012) was a cardinal in the Catholic Church. He was at times the bishop of Hualien and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and the chairman of Fu Jen Catholic University. Biography Kuo-hsi was born i ...

(單國璽, Shan Guoxi; 1923–2012), a Taiwanese bishop. *

Shan Fuliang Shan may refer to: People *Shan (surname), or 单 in Chinese, a Chinese surname *Shan, a variant of the Welsh given name usually spelled Siân *Occasionally used as a short form of Shannen/ Shannon Ethnic groups *Shan people, Southeast Asian e ...

(), a history professor at the

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universit ...

and former president of the

Chinese Historians in the United States 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 ...

(CHUS).

Fictional characters with the surname

Shan Tinggui Shan Tinggui is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "General of Sacred Water", he ranks 44th among the 108 Stars of Destiny and eighth among the 72 Earthly Fiends. Bac ...

(), a fictional character and one of the 108 heroes in the classical novel ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is s ...

''. * The Shan family, a fictional family in the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' ''

Legends A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief. Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to: Narrative * Urban legend, a widely repeated story of dubious truth * A fictitious identity used in espionage Books, co ...

'' continuity **

Bastila Shan Bastila Shan is a fictional character and party member in the 2003 action role-playing video game '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'', developed by BioWare and published by LucasArts. Bastila is a member of the Jedi Order, and plays a ...

, a

Jedi Jedi (), Jedi Knights, or collectively the Jedi Order are the main heroic protagonists of many works of the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Working symbiotically alongside the Old Galactic Republic, and later supporting the Rebel Alliance, the Jedi O ...

who appears in the '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'' video game duology **

Satele Shan This is an incomplete list of characters from the ''Star Wars'' expanded universe, now rebranded ''Star Wars Legends''. The accompanying works were declared non-canon to the ''Star Wars'' franchise by Lucasfilm in 2014. This list applies ''on ...

, another Jedi and descendant of Bastila, appearing in the

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

'' Star Wars: The Old Republic''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shan (Surname) Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames