Yun () is a

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, ...

, listed 41st 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 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 Cl ...

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 ...

''. The Chinese surname Yun (云) may be confused with the common Korean surname Yun (윤) which instead derives from the Chinese character 尹 (yǐn), meaning "governor".

Origin

Very few outside cognates of Old Chinese * ��ən ( Baxter- Sagart) exist. Starostin compares it with Mizo ''vân'' (“sky, the skies, heaven”) and Karbi ''inghun'' (“cloud”). It could possibly derive from a root meaning “to revolve”. Compare 運 (OC * ��ər-s, “to move”), 回 (OC * ��ˤəj, “to whirl, to circle”) (Schuessler, 2007). OC * ��ˤəj bears striking similarities to Ket ''-ga'' (Proto-Yenisseian *gaj).

Distribution

Yun is a rare surname, being the 323rd most common surname in China and shared among 156,000 people as of 2013.

Tumeds

Yun is the surname of many

Tümed The Tümed (; ; "The many or ten thousands" derived from Tumen) are a Mongol subgroup. They live in Tumed Left Banner, district of Hohhot and Tumed Right Banner, district of Baotou in China. Most engage in sedentary agriculture, living in mixed ...

s, a Chinese-speaking

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

ethnic group. Some Tumeds had the surname "Yun" during China's

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

(1644–1912), and claim even more ancient origins. However, adoption of the surname greatly increased during the 1920s, and especially after the 1949 revolution, which increased Mongols' access to education. Mongolian names in the

Mongolian language Mongolian is the Prestige (sociolinguistics), principal language of the Mongolic languages, Mongolic language family that originated in the Mongolian Plateau. It is spoken by ethnic Mongols and other closely related Mongolic peoples who are nati ...

generally do not contain

surnames In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several giv ...

, so Mongols chose surnames when registering for Chinese

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. In those schools, adoption of the Yun surname became a

social norm A social norm is a shared standard of acceptance, acceptable behavior by a group. Social norms can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into wikt:rule, rules and laws. Social norma ...

for Tumeds, who are largely

endogamous Endogamy is the cultural practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting any from outside of the group or belief structure as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relatio ...

. The most famous Tumed with the surname "Yun" was

Ulanhu Ulanhu or Ulanfu (; 23 December 1907 – 8 December 1988), born Yun Ze (), was the founding Chairman of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, serving from 1947 to 1966. An ethnic Tumed Mongol, he took the nom de guerre Ulanhu () and had ...

(), chairman of

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

(1947–1966) and

Vice President of China The vice president of China, officially titled the vice president of the People's Republic of China, is the deputy to the president of the People's Republic of China, the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state r ...

(1983–1988). During the 1980s and 1990s, the "Yun family" was identified with the dominant "West Mongol" (Tumed) faction in the Inner Mongolian government. The other two factions were that of the "East Mongols" (

Khorchin The Khorchin (, ''Horchin''; ''Qorčin''; ) are a subgroup of the Mongols that speak the Khorchin dialect of Mongolian and predominantly live in northeastern Inner Mongolia of China. History The Ming dynasty gave Borjigin princes (descended ...

tribe) and the Inner Mongolian Han. The perceived

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

among the Yun family in Ulanhu's government was a frequent object of satire by government critics. According to anthropologist Uradyn Bulag,

One story tells that when someone went to the Inner Mongolian government building and shouted, "Lao eniorYun!" almost half of the office windows were opened. Realizing his mistake, the person shouted, "Xiao uniorYun!"; the other half of the windows then opened.... A similar story is that there were so many Yuns seeking to attend Ulahu's funeral in Beijing that it became difficult to buy train tickets.

Notable Chinese people

Historical figures

* Yun Dingxing ( 云定兴),

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

general

Modern figures

(1906–1988), also known as Yun Ze (云泽), former

Vice President of the People's Republic of China The vice president of China, officially titled the vice president of the People's Republic of China, is the deputy to the president of the People's Republic of China, the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state r ...

(1983–1988) * Yun Bulong (云布龙; 1937–2000), former

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

(1998–2000) * Yun Damian ( 云大棉; born 1935), CPC politician, member of the 8th and 9th CPPCC National Committees * Hoon Thien How (云天豪; born 1986), Malaysian badminton player * Wan Cheung (云翔; born 1967), better known as

Scud A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the m ...

, China-born Hong Kong film producer and director * Melvin Hoon (@criminalmindd), notable artist in Singapore * Thomas Hoon (雲惟煌; born 1977), a businessman based in Guangzhou, originally from Singapore *

Woon Tai Ho Woon Tai Ho () (born 26 July 1958), is a TV producer, art collector and writer. He is the founder of Channel NewsAsia. Early life Woon grew up in Geylang, where he would organise 20-cent magic lantern shows for the neighbourhood with his twin b ...

(云大篪, born 1958), Singaporean TV producer

Fictional characters

* Yun Jin (云堇), fictional character from the video game ''

Genshin Impact ''Genshin Impact'' is a 2020 action role-playing game produced by MiHoYo, MiHoYo/HoYoverse. The game features an anime-style open world environment and an action-based Role-playing battle systems, battle system using Classical element, element ...

'' * Wan Fei Yeung (云飞扬), protagonist of the 1979

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

TV series '' Reincarnated'' *Yun, a supporting character of the two

novels A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of '' ...

of Avatar Kyoshi, in which he was mistaken to be the next Earth Avatar for sixteen long years.

References

External links

Further reading at ''Zhongwen Baike''

{{surname Chinese-language surnames Culture in Inner Mongolia Individual Chinese surnames