Zhāng is a Chinese surname. According to a 2013 study it was the 122-most common surname, shared by 1,570,000 people or 0.120% of the population, with the province with the most people being
Zhejiang
)
, translit_lang1_type2 =
, translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese)
, image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg
, image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains
, image_map = Zhejiang i ...
. It is the 40th 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 language , Chinese text composed of common Chinese surnames. An unknown author compiled the book ...
'' poem.
The surname written in ''Chữ Nôm'' is clearly distinguished and written as
Trang or
Chương. 章 was unlisted among the top 100 in either location. In 2015 it was reported 88th.
combines the characters (''yin'', "sound", "(musical) note") and (''shi'', "ten"). It originally meant "brilliant", "to display", "a distinctive mark"
[ .] and was used as the name of a
fief
A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
, but as a common noun in modern use it means an "article" in a newspaper or magazine or a "chapter" in a book or law.
The surname (
Old Chinese
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
: ''*taŋ''
) originated from the legendary
Yan Emperor, whose personal surname was
Jiang (). On the establishment of the state of
Qi,
Jiang Ziya apportioned the land among his many descendants, including a one known as
Zhang (). Some of the people of this state simplified the character and took as their surname, particularly after it was annexed by
Qi.
[''The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland''] The
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese language, Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expande ...
pronunciation of the name was ''Tsyang'', the beginnings of what we now know to be the "Zhang" surname.
It means "stamp, seal" in Chinese.
*
Gordon G. Chang (章家敦, born 1951), American writer and attorney who wrote ''
The Coming Collapse of China'' (2001)
*
Cheang Hong Lim (章芳林, 1825-1893), Singaporean philanthropist
*
Teresa Cheung Siu-wai (章小蕙, born 1963), Canadian actress
*
Zhang Binglin (章炳麟, 1868–1936), Chinese philologist, textual critic, and anti-Manchu revolutionary.
*
Zhang Hanzhi (章含之, 1935–2008) Chinese diplomat who was Mao Zedong's English teacher and U.S. President Richard Nixon's interpreter during his historic 1972 trip to China.
*
Yingying Zhang (章莹颖, 1990–2017), Chinese student who was murdered while studying in the US at the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
*
Zhang Zetian (章泽天, born 1993), also known as Nancy Zhang, a Chinese businesswoman and investor who is the chief fashion adviser of the luxury business of JD.com
*
Zhang Zhong (章钟, born 1978), Chinese chess grandmaster who now plays for Singapore.
*
Zhang Ziyi (章子怡, born 1979), Chinese actress and model
*
Zhang Hao (章昊, born 2000), Chinese singer active in South Korea, member of South Korean Boy Group
Zerobaseone.
*
Zhang Xuelei (1963–2024), Chinese basketball player.
References
{{surname
Individual Chinese surnames