Weiguo is the Mandarin Pinyin spelling of three Chinese masculine given names ''(see table)''. These names are also spelled Wei-kuo in Mandarin Wade-Giles (used in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

), Wai-kwok in typical Hong Kong Cantonese spelling, or Wee-kok in Minnan pronunciation.

Meaning

These names are popular patriotic names (the second character means "country" or "nation"). In the year of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

's independence, many proud parents named their children Weiguo, resulting in confusion for them later in life because so many shared the same name. The name "

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

of the nation" (緯國), paired with a brother named "

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...

of the nation" (經國), is an allusion to the classical Chinese phrase ''jīngbāng wěiguó'' (經邦緯國), literally meaning "(to draw) the longitude and latitude of the nation", and metaphorically meaning a person who rules over a nation. Chiang Kai-shek's chosen names for his sons Chiang Wei-kuo and

Chiang Ching-kuo Chiang Ching-kuo (27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the Republic of China after its retreat to Taiwan. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government ...

are an example of this allusion.

People

People with these names include:

Politics and government

* Chiang Wei-kuo (蔣緯國, 1916–1997), Republic of China general and politician *

Nie Weiguo Nie Weiguo (; born August 1952) is a Chinese politician. He is the director of the Engineering Oversight Office of the Three Gorges Dam project. Nie has occupied numerous Chinese Communist Party positions in Sichuan and Chongqing. He received ...

(聂卫国, born 1952), Chinese politician *

Lo Wai-kwok Lo Wai-kwok, (; born 25 December 1953) is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for the Engineering constituency since 2012 LegCo election, representing the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA). In 2016, he succe ...

(盧偉國, born 1953), Hong Kong politician * Yu Weiguo (于伟国, born 1955), Chinese politician in Fujian *

Han Weiguo Han Weiguo (; born January 1956) is a general (''shang jiang'') of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). He has been Commander of the PLA Ground Force from August 2017 to June 2021, and formerly served as the inaugural Commander of the Cent ...

(韩卫国, born 1956), People's Liberation Army lieutenant general * Gong Weiguo (龚卫国, born 1972), Chinese politician

Sport

Peng Weiguo Peng Weiguo (; born October 3, 1971 in Guangzhou) is a Chinese football coach and a former international player. As a player he represented Guangzhou Apollo, Chongqing Longxin and Shenzhen Pingan while internationally he represented the Chi ...

(彭伟国, born 1971), Chinese footballer * Tam Wai-kwok ( 譚偉國, born 1977), Hong Kong footballer

Other

Lawrence Ng Wai-kwok Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

( 伍衛國, born 1954), Hong Kong television actor * Lin Weiguo (林卫国, born 1970), Chinese chess player * Weiguo Sun (孙卫国), president of Xihua University in Chengdu, Sichuan, China since 2009

References