Zhuang is the

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 fo ...

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, a ...

of the

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, unlik ...

written in simplified character and in traditional character. It's usually romanized as "Chuang" 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 no ...

based in Wade-Giles. It is spoken in the first tone: ''Zhuāng''. Zhuang is listed 323rd in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

classic text A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or particularly noteworthy. What makes a book "classic" is a concern that has occurred to various authors ranging from Italo Calvino to Mark Twain and the related questions of "Why Read the C ...

'' Hundred Family Surnames''. As of 2008, it is the 113th most common surname in China, shared by 1.6 million people.

Romanizations

Zhuang is romanized as Chuang in the Wade-Giles system is usually employed in

and among the

Chinese diaspora Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ...

. It is romanized Chong in

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 a ...

; Chng, Tsng, or Ching in

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

. In Vietnamese, the

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

formerly written as in ''

Chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...

'' is now written

Trang Trang may refer to: Places * Trang province, Thailand **Trang, Thailand, capital city of Trang province **Trang Airport ** Trang railway station ** Trang River *Trang, a sub-district of Mayo district, Pattani province, Thailand * Trang (commune), ...

; in Korean, the

formerly written as in

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

is now written and

romanized 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 ...

as Jang; in Japanese, the

written in

Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

Shō. In Thai, it is written as จึง ( RTGS: ).

Distribution

As of 2008, Zhuang is the 113th most common surname in mainland China, shared by 1.6 million people. It has been ranked the 24th-most-common surname on

. Zhuang is a rather uncommon name in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It was ranked 53,245th during the 1990 census and 31,703rd during the year 2000 one. Chuang is more common, having been ranked 24,816th in 1990 and 11,621st in 2000. The variant spellings Chong, Ching, and Tong are all much more common, but include other Chinese surnames as well.

History

The pronunciation of has been reconstructed as ''*tsraŋ'' in

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 12 ...

and ''Tsrjang'' 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 ...

; its original meaning was "dignified" and "grave".Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. '' '', p. 158. 2011. Accessed 11 October 2011. As with many Chinese surnames, the current bearers come from a variety of origins, some legendary. The '' Manuscript of the Words and Deeds of Virtuous Clans'' claimed that the first Zhuangs were descended from King Zhuang of Chu.''People's Daily Online''.
Chinese Zhuang surname history
. 7 Jul 2005. Accessed 16 Apr 2012. Another group descended from Duke Dai of

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

, who was also known as Zhuang. During the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

, the general Zhuang Qiao (庄跤) of Chu attacked Shu but was blocked from returning home by Qin troops. He proclaimed himself king of Dian. A third group were the subjects of this realm. All three groups found themselves bound to change their names to Yan () upon the ascension of the Han Ming Emperor, whose personal name was Zhuang, owing to the naming taboo. Most did change back to Zhuang during the

Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...

era after Han dynasty but many still remain as Yan until today. By the period of the

Sixteen States The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

, however, the Zhuangs had spread from Lianghu to other regions such as

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

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 Tibe ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...

, and

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

Notable people with the surname

* Zhuangzi or Chuang Tzu, Taoist philosopher * Zhuang Chuo, a

-era writer * Zhuang Cunyu, Confucian scholar * Zhuang Datian, leader of a peasant rebellion * Zhuang Ji, a Han-era writer and critic * Zhuang Jia (Qi), a Qi official executed for insubordination *

Zhuang Jia (rebel) Zhuang Jia (Chinese: t , s , Zhuāng Jiǎ) (died 208 BC) was a 3rd-century BC Chinese rebel involved in the Dazexiang Uprising against the Qin dynasty. A charioteer, he assassinated the uprising's leader, Chen Sheng Chen Sheng (died Januar ...

, assassin of

Chen Sheng Chen Sheng (died January 208 BC), also known as Chen She ("She" being his courtesy name), posthumously known as Prince Yin, was the leader of the Dazexiang Uprising, the first rebellion against the Qin Dynasty. It occurred during the reign ...

* Zhuang Qiao, Chu general and king of Dian * Zhuang Tinglong, scholar imprisoned for completing the '' History of the Ming Dynasty'' * Xiaowei Zhuang * Chuang Che, a Chinese artist * Zhuang Zedong, world table tennis champion *

JJ Zhuang JJ Zhuang () is a VP of Engineering at Instacart. With Kevin Henrikson as his business counterpart, he cofounded Acompli, the most broadly used email mobile and calendar client app for iPhone. Acompli was acquired by Microsoft at a price of $20 ...

, tech entrepreneur and computer programmer * Zhuang Kezhu, lieutenant general of the

PLA Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...

References

{{101-200 Most Common Family Names in Mainland China Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames