Yang (; ) is the transcription of a Chinese family name. It is the sixth most common surname in Mainland China. It is the 16th surname on the '' Hundred Family Surnames'' text. The Yang clan was founded by Boqiao, son of Duke Wu of Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period of the Ji (姬) surname, the surname of the royal family during the Zhou dynasty ) who was enfeoffed in the state of Yang.

History

The German sociologist Wolfram Eberhard calls Yang the "Monkey Clan", citing the totemistic myth recorded in the '' Soushenji'' and '' Fayuan Zhulin'' that the Yangs living in southwestern Shu (modern Sichuan) were descendants of monkeys. The ''Soushenji'' "reported that in the southwest of Shu there were monkey-like animals whose names were ''jiaguo'' (猳國), ''mahua'' (馬化), or '' jueyuan'' (玃猿). These animals abducted women and sent them back when they became pregnant. If the baby were not accepted, the woman would have to die. Therefore these children were raised and they received the clan name the Yang surname. For this reason this clan occurred quite frequently in Southwest Shu."

Emperor of Hua Xia System

Direct descendants of Huang Di of Hua Xia include descendants of Yellow Emperor and Chiyou during Xia Dynasty, also many sons and grandsons of Yu the Great, have taken Yang as surname, some of its sub-domains are the prominent Yang Jian of Zhou which take role as a Heavenly Marshal take his colony to seek peace after Zhou Dynasty win and erected his colony peacefully. And also

Yang Ren Yang Ren () is a character from the classic Chinese novel '' Fengshen Yanyi''. He is worshipped as the deity of the year in Chinese folk religion. Legends In ''Fengshen Yanyi'', Yang Ren is a high-ranking official within the Shang Dynasty and ha ...

is known through the title of Grand Counselor. Which appear at Fengshen Yanyi or Investiture of the Gods, novel accordingly to the historical founding of Zhou Dynasty.

Korean System

Descendants of Yang Eulna (楊乙那), the first historical ancestor of the Jeju's Yang clan was a Shilla figure, but according to another source, his distant ancestor was one of three men who ascended from a cave on the north side of Cheju Island’s Halla Mountain,

Jeju’s Tamnagook kingdom Tamna, or Tamna-guk, was a state based on Jeju Island from ancient times until it was absorbed by the Korean Joseon dynasty in 1404, following a long period of being a tributary state or autonomous administrative region of various Korean kingd ...

who built the Yang Clan there.

Renaming System

The Yang clan was founded by Boqiao (伯僑) and later become Yang Boqiao (楊伯僑) with Yang, as usual ducal courtesy name, son of Duke Wu of Jin in the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

of the Ji (姬) surname, the surname of the royal family during the Zhou dynasty (c. 8th to 5th centuries BC) who was enfeoffed a vast land, the state of Yang, with its central in at ancient's Shaanxi. This name was derived from Yangshe (羊舌) literally “sheep’s tongue”. During the Warring States period (403–221 BC) his descendants fled to escape destruction by the conquering the Qin, and simplified their surname to Yang. Yang clan of Hongnong refer to themselves as "Yang of the Hall of Four Wisdoms (楊四知)". The "Hall of Four Wisdoms (四知堂)" refers to a story concerning Yang Zhen (楊震), an official of the

Eastern 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 ...

(206 BC - 220 AD), and known for his erudition as well as moral character. When a man named Wang Mi (王密) visited Yang Zhen at night and attempted to bribe him 10

catties The catty, kati or , pronounced as jin in Mandarin and gan in Cantonese, is a traditional Chinese unit of mass used across East and Southeast Asia, notably for weighing food and other groceries in some wet markets, street markets, and sh ...

of gold, Yang rejected the gift. Wang Mi persevered, saying that nobody would know. Yang Zhen famously retorted "Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know and I know. How can you say that nobody would know?" Descendants of Yang Zhen adopted the "four wisdoms", or "Si Zhi (四知)" as the title of their clan hall. Some Yang family clan halls in various parts of China still carry this name.

Translation of Yangs System

Homogenization of another surname pronounced ''Yang'' join into the Yang surname, written with a "hand" radical rather than the "wood" radical. The two characters were used interchangeably in ancient times. The Yang surname members adopted many local sounding and customizable Western style or another language beside Mandarin Chinese surnames with even neutralization name and changes rapidly through generations, but some still preserved Mandarin Chinese character name as secondary name beside the legal name, and appear a lot in some countries like Laos, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, etc. Some examples of it are Karen and other names at Thailand. Yang is most often the transliteration of the character 楊 . The same character can also mean a type of poplar. The character is composed of a "wood" radical ''mu'' (木) on the left and the character ''yi/yang'' ( 昜) on the right, which indicates the pronunciation of the whole character.

Lineage

This is current asserted prevalent lineage for the Yang surname prior to Boqiao:

Huangdi Huangdi () may refer to: *Yellow Emperor (黃帝), a legendary Chinese monarch who supposedly ruled before the Xia dynasty *Emperor of China (皇帝), the imperial title of Chinese monarchs; and the superlative monarchical title in the Sinosphere ...

(黃帝)-> Shaohao (少昊)-> Emperor Ku (帝喾)-> Hou Ji (后稷)-> Gugong Danfu (古公亶父)->

King Wen of Zhou King Wen of Zhou (; 1152–1050 BC, the Cultured King) was Count of state of Zhou, Zhou during the late Shang dynasty in ancient China. Although frequently confused with his fourth son Duke of Zhou, also known as "Lord Zhou", they are different hi ...

(周文王)->

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 ...

(周武王)-> Shu Yu of Tang (唐叔虞)-> Marquis Mu of Jin (晉穆侯)->

Zhuang Bo of Quwo Count Zhuang of Quwo (, died 716 BC), ancestral name Ji (姬), given name Shan (鱓), was the second ruler of the state of Quwo during the Spring and Autumn period. He was the son of Huan Shu of Quwo and half-brother of Wuzi of Han. In 724 BC, ...

(曲沃莊伯)-> Duke Wu of Jin (晉武公)->Boqiao ( 伯僑)-> Yang Shíwo ( 杨食我)

Polities ruled by Yang families

* Yang state of the Zhou dynasty * Chouchi *

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

* Yang Wu * Kokang * Tamna * Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (East) * Giao Chỉ Dương Đình Nghệ * Đại Việt * Annam Dương Tam Kha *

Jonê County Jonê County (also ''Cone'', ''Chone'', ''Choni''; ; local pronunciation: /tɕɔLn� ) is an administrative district in the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, China. It is one of 58 counties of Gansu. It is part of the Gannan P ...

* Bozhou * Great Yining * The Pacified Southern Kingdom * Legendary Champa Queenship (female) * VI, VII, VIII, IX Champa Dynasties * Lulong Circuit Yang Zhicheng * Tĩnh Hải quân (independent) Dương Thanh * Kauthara Yan Pu Nagara (female) * Haixi Jurchens chieftains Yangginu of Yehe or Yehe Nara Clan * Hoa People Dương Ngạn Địch * Anti-Qing Dynasty Yang Fuqing * Jin Guo Shandong Yang Miaozhen (female) * Jin Guo Shandong Yang An'er * Eastern Tujue Sui Guowang Yang Zhengdao * Northern Dynasty Yang Lie * Majapahit Empire Yang-wi-si-sa and Nyoo Lay Wa * New King Buddha III Liang Daomingguo Yang Xin * White Wave Bandits Yang Feng * Hunan the Great Sage Heavenly King Yang Yao * Shannan West Circuit Yang Shouliang * Chiefdom of Leipo * Xiushan Yang Clan Tusi

References

External links

Chinese surname history: Yang杨氏寻根网: Yang
{{surname, Yang Chinese-language surnames Korean-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames