Lóu is the

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

romanization of the

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicization, Sinicized ethnic groups in Greater China, Korea, Vietnam and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, ...

written in simplified character and in traditional character. It is the 229th most common surname in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, shared by approximately 350,000 people. Lou 娄 is listed 139th in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

classic text ''

Hundred Family Surnames The ''Hundred Family Surnames'' (), commonly known as ''Bai Jia Xing'', also translated as ''Hundreds of Chinese Surnames'', is a classic Chinese language , Chinese text composed of common Chinese surnames. An unknown author compiled the book ...

''.

Demographics

As of 2008, Lou 娄 is the 229th most common surname in China, with a population of approximately 350,000, or 0.028% of the total Chinese population.

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

province has the largest number of people with the surname, accounting for 23% of the total. It is followed by

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

, and

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

provinces, which account for another 33% of Lous.

Origins

According to tradition, there are two main sources of the Lou 娄 surname: 1. From the State of Qǐ (杞). King Wu of Zhou enfeoffed Duke Donglou at Qi (modern Qi County, Kaifeng,

). The state was later moved to

and destroyed by King Hui of Chu. The nobles of Qi were then enfeoffed at Lou (in modern Zhucheng, Shandong), and their descendants adopted Lou as their surname. This source of Lou began around 400 BC, and is a branch of Si, the ducal surname of Qi. 2. From the state of Zhulou, also called Zhu or Zou, in modern Zou County, Shandong. During the middle

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

, the state was annexed by King Xuan of Chu. The people of the state adopted Zhu, Zou, or Lou as their surnames. This source of Lou began around 300 BC, and is a branch of Cao, the surname of the ruling clan of Zhulou.

Later adoption

During the Eastern Han dynasty, there was a people in the Min Mountains called Lou. They later mixed with the

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

and adopted Lou as their surname. This is the main source of the Lou surname in Guizhou and

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

provinces. During the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen (reigned 467–499 AD) implemented a drastic policy of sinicization, ordering his own people to adopt Chinese surnames. The Pilou 匹娄, Yilou 伊娄, and Yinalou 乙那娄 tribes of Xianbei adopted Lou 娄 as their surname. This is the main source of the Lou surname in Henan province.

Prominent clans

The most prominent clan of the Lou 娄 surname is that of the Qiao Commandery (谯郡, present-day Bozhou,

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

), which was founded by Lou Shide, a famous chancellor of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. His younger brother was also a high-ranking official, serving as the prefect of Dai Prefecture. The Shanghai Library has in its collection five genealogy books of Lou-surnamed lineages. Nine other genealogy books are known to be in the collection of other institutions in China and the United States.

Notable people

*Lou Jing ( 婁敬; fl. c. 200 BC),

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

official and proponent of the '' heqin'' policy, renamed Liu Jing after being awarded the imperial surname of Liu * Lou Zhaojun (婁昭君; 501–562), Empress Dowager of the Northern Qi dynasty, of

ethnicity * Lou Shide (婁師德; 630–699),

chancellor * Lou Qinjian (娄勤俭; born 1956), governor of

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

province * Lou Ye (娄烨; born 1965), "sixth-generation" film director * Lou Zhenggang (婁正綱; born 1966), artist * Lou Yixiao (娄艺潇; born 1988), actress * Lou Jing (娄婧; born 1989),

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

-Chinese talent show contestant

References

{{surname Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames