Tang (;

Chinese 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 ...

: 唐,

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 ...

: ''Táng'';

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 唐/とう/から;

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 당/唐; Cantonese : Tong; old Chinese read Dang), 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 three languages also have the surname with the same character but different pronunciation/

romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

. In

, it is usually romanized also as Dang. In Japanese, the surname is often romanized as To. In

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

, it is commonly written as Đường (the anglicized variation is Duong, not be confused with Vietnamese surname Dương which is also anglicized as Duong). It is pronounced dhɑngKarlgren, ''Grammata serica recensa'', 1996. in

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

, and lhāŋ in

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

. It is the 64th name on the ''

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 ...

'' poem.K. S. Tom. 989(1989). Echoes from Old China: Life, Legends and Lore of the Middle Kingdom.

University of Hawaii Press A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. . The surname 唐 is also romanized as Tong when transliterated from

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 ...

, and this spelling is common in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. In Chinese, 湯 (

: ''Tāng''), is also romanized as Tang in English (and also Tong in Cantonese), although it is less common as a surname.

Distribution

Tang is a very common surname in

southern China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...

. Of the top 30 cities in China, 唐 ranked 10th most common surname in the city of

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

."https://www.douban.com/group/topic/23803598/"(Chinese)

History

People with this surname mainly have three originations: * From the clan name ''Tao-Tang'' (or ''Taotang'', ''Tao Tang'') ** ''Tao-Tang'' was the clan name for Emperor Yao's

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

, so Yao is also known as Tang Yao (唐堯/唐尧) or Tang Fangxun (唐放勛/唐放勋) (''Fangxun'' literally means great meritorious service or contribution). ''Tao'' means ''

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

'', which was a very important invention and tool in ancient China; ''Tang'' was the ancient name for the place currently is part of central China and the central plain of

Shanxi Province Shanxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is ...

. Yao's tribe combined the names of pottery and their resident place as their clan name . The descendants of Yao continued using the surname Tang instead of ''Tao-Tang'', probably for simplification purpose. * From the King Tang Shuyu ** In the early

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 ...

(Western Zhou), when the King Cheng of Zhou was still a child, one day he played a game with his young brother Tang Shuyu. The King Cheng of Zhou cut a tung

leaf A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

to a Jade Gui (Chinese: 玉珪, a kind of

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

article representing authority and trust) shape, sent to Tang Shuyu, and said: you are raised to the

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

of Tang (Chinese: 唐侯, ''Tang'' here stands for the same place as mentioned above). The

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

aside immediately advised the King Cheng of Zhou to choose an auspicious day and make a royal ceremony for establishing Tang Shuyu. The King Cheng of Zhou was surprised, and said, "We are just playing a game and I just made a joke." The chancellor replied: the King cannot make a joke, once the King speaks out,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

s record his words, the loyal ceremony will be held, and the loyal music will be played." Thus Tang Shuyu was raised to the Marquis of Tang, and later became the first

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

of Jin. It's a famous historic event and the origin for the Chinese

phrase In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...

''Tongye Fenghou'' (Chinese: 桐叶封侯). His offspring continued using ''Tang'' as their surname. * From South China's aboriginal tribes ** Many native tribes in southern China adopted this surname from Chinese immigrants from

central China Central China () is a geographical and a loosely defined cultural region that includes the provinces of Henan, Hubei and Hunan. Jiangxi is sometimes also regarded to be part of this region. Central China is now officially part of South Central ...

throughout the history.

Chinese Muslims

Unlike some other

Hui people 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 ...

who claim foreign ancestry, Hui in Gansu with the surname "Tang" 唐, are descended from Han Chinese who converted to Islam and married Muslim Hui or Dongxiang people, switching their ethnicity and joining the Hui and Dongxiang ethnic groups, both of which are Muslim. A town called Tangwangchuan (唐汪川) in

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

had a multi ethnic populace, the Tang 唐 and

Wang (surname) Wang () is the pinyin romanization of Chinese, romanization of the common Chinese surnames (''Wáng'') and (''Wāng''). It is currently the list of common Chinese surnames, most common surname in mainland China, as well as the most common sur ...

汪 families being the two major families. The Tang and Wang families were originally of non Muslim Han Chinese extraction, but by the 1910s some branches of the families became Muslim by "intermarriage or conversion" while other branches of the families remained non Muslim.

Notable people

Agnes Hsu-Tang Agnes Hsin Mei Hsu-Tang () is a Taiwan-born American archaeologist and art historian. On October 19, 2021, she became the first person of Asian heritage to be elected board chair of one of the oldest historical institutions in America, the New-Y ...

, American archaeologist, art historian, and philanthropist * Tang Jian (579–656), Chinese official *

Tang Yin Tang Yin (; 1470–1524), courtesy name Bohu (), was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming dynasty period. Even though he was born during the Ming dynasty, many of his paintings, especially those of people, were illustrated with el ...

(1470–1524), Chinese scholar, painter, calligrapher, and poet *

Tang Zhen Tang Zhen (, 1630–1704), born Tang Dadao (唐大陶), courtesy name Zhuwan (铸万), was a Chinese philosopher and educator born in Dazhou during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. His given name was Dahao, but later he changed his giv ...

(1630–1704), Chinese philosopher and educator *

Tang Tingshu Tang Jingxing (18321892; ), also known as Tang Tingshu (), was a Qing Empire, Chinese comprador, interpreter, and businessman during the late Qing dynasty. Born in Zhongshan, Xiangshan, Guangdong province, he studied in Robert Morrison (missiona ...

(1832–1892), Chinese comprador, interpreter, and businessman *

Tang Jingsong Tang Jingsong (; 1841–1903) was a Chinese general and statesman. He commanded the Yunnan Army in the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885), and made an important contribution to Qing dynasty China's military effort in Tonkin (northern Vi ...

(1841–1903), Chinese general and statesman *

Tang Shaoyi Tang Shaoyi (; 2 January 1862 – 30 September 1938), also spelled Tong Shao Yi, courtesy name Shaochuan (), was a Chinese statesman who briefly served as the first Premier of the Republic of China in 1912. In 1938, he was assassinated by the ...

(1862–1938), Chinese politician, first Premier of the Republic of China, 1912 * Tang Jiyao (1883–1927), Chinese general and warlord of Yunnan *

Tang Shengzhi Tang Shengzhi (; Wade-Giles: Tang Sheng-chih; 12 October 1889 – 6 April 1970) was a Chinese warlord during the Warlord Era, a military commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War and a politician after World War II. After participating i ...

(1889–1970): Chinese warlord and politician *

Tang Junyi Tang Chun-I or Tang Junyi (, 17 January 1909 – 2 February 1978) was a Chinese philosopher, who was one of the leading exponents of New Confucianism. He was influenced by Plato and Hegel, as well as by earlier Confucian thought. Biography ...

(1909–1978), Chinese philosopher *

Tang Kesan Tang Kesan () was a Chinese Muslim. In Xikang province during the Sino-Tibetan War Tang Kesan represented the Kuomintang. Career Tang was a Muslim from Shandong province, and he promoted Muslim education. He worked with Muslim General Bai Chon ...

(), Chinese Muslim Kuomintang politician and educator *

Tang Ti-sheng Tang Ti-sheng () (18 June 1917 – 15 September 1959), born Tang Kang-nien (), was a Cantonese opera playwright, scriptwriter, and film director. His contributions to Cantonese opera significantly influenced Hong Kong's reform and development of ...

(1917–1959), Cantonese opera playwright, scriptwriter, and film director *

Tang Fei Tang Fei (; born 15 March 1932) is a retired ROC Air Force general. He served as the premier of the Republic of China between May 20 and October 6, 2000, under the Chen Shui-bian government of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), even thoug ...

(born 1933), general and Premier of the Republic of China, 2000 *

Tang Jiaxuan Tang Jiaxuan () (born January 17, 1938) is a Chinese diplomat and politician who was foreign minister of the People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world' ...

(born 1938), foreign minister of the People's Republic of China, 1998–2003 * Stephen Tong (; born 1940), Chinese-Indonesian Reformed pastor, teacher and musician *

Tang Shu Shuen Tang Shu Shuen (; born 1941) is a former Hong Kong film director. Though her film career was brief, she was a trailblazer for socially critical art cinema in Hong Kong's populist film industry, as well as its first noted woman director. Tang w ...

(born 1941), former Hong Kong film director *

Henry Tang Henry Tang Ying-yen (; born 6 September 1952) is a Hong Kong politician who served as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong between 2007 and 2011. He held the position of Financial Secretary from 2003 to 2007. In 2012, he lost the Hong Kong Chief ...

(born 1952), Hong Kong politician *

Tang Guoqiang Tang Guoqiang (born 4 May 1952) is a Chinese actor best known for portraying historical figures in several films and television series. Some of his more notable roles include: various Chinese emperors (e.g. Emperor Taizong of Tang, Yongle Emper ...

(born 1952), Chinese actor *

Danson Tang Danson Tang () is a Taiwanese model, actor and singer, who started his career as a commercial model before pursuing an acting career and later singing. He was previously under management to Gala Television for his acting projects and Avex Taiwan f ...

(born 1984), Taiwanese model, actor and singer *

Oscar Tang Oscar Liu-Chien Tang () is a Chinese-born American financier who co-founded Reich & Tang, an asset management firm. Tang was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005. Prior to this, he was appointed to the New York Sta ...

, American financier

Fictional characters

* Tang Shen, a minor

supporting character A supporting character is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline, but is important to the plot/protagonist, and appears or is mentioned in the story enough to be more than just a minor character or a cameo ap ...

in the ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

'' franchise, who had died prior to each version of the show; namely the 2D 2003 series and the 3D CG 2012 show. Although mentioned/referenced several times, she is even shown only in flashbacks and/or photographs. *Trixie Tang, a recurring character in ongoing Nickelodeon's '' The FairlyOdd Parents''.

Distribution

History

Chinese Muslims

Notable people

Fictional characters

References

See also