Zan (昝) is a Chinese surname. It is romanized Tsan in Wade–Giles, or Zaan in Cantonese romanization. According to a 2013 study, it was the 391st most common name in China; it was shared by 87,000 people, or 0.007% of the population, with the province with the most people being
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
. It is the 165th 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 dyn ...
'' poem.
[K. S. Tom. ]989
Year 989 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Emperor Basil II uses his contingent of 6,000 Varangians to he ...
(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 ...
. .
Origins
* According to the ''
Shuowen Jiezi
''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the '' Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give ...
'', the surname may have originated as a corruption of (''cǎn''), which had a similar pronunciation.
*a surname originating in ancient
southwestern China
Southwest China () is a region in the south of the People's Republic of China.
Geography
Southwest China is a rugged and mountainous region, transitioning between the Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Chinese coastal hills (东南丘陵) and ...
*adopted as a surname by the Zan Lu (昝盧) or Chi Lu (叱盧) families from 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 ...
people in northern China during 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 ...
period (AD 386–534)
*said to be adopted in place of the surname Jiu ( meaning ‘disaster’)
Notable people
*Zan Jian (昝堅), Jin-era general
*Zan Jiaxiang (昝家驤), basketball player and coach
References
{{reflist
Individual Chinese surnames