Language(s) Old Chinese | Derivation State of Zhang | |
 | ||
Romanization Chang, Zhang (Mandarin)
Cheung (Hong Kong)
Cheong (Macao, Malaysia)
Tsan, Tsaon (Shanghai)
Teo, Teoh (Hokkien, Teochew)
Chong (Hakka)
Cheong (Gan)
Trương, Trang (Vietnamese)
Jang, Chang (장) (Korean) Pronunciation IPA: /tʂɑŋ˥/ (Mandarin IPA)
Zhāng (Pinyin)
Tiuⁿ (Pe̍h-ōe-jī) Language(s) Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean Meaning drawing a bow,
archer, bowyer | ||
Zhang ([ʈʂáŋ]) is the pinyin romanization of the very common Chinese surname written 张 in simplified characters and 張 traditionally. It is spoken in the first tone: Zhāng. It is a surname that exists in many languages and cultures, corresponding to the surname 'Archer' in English for example. Chang is the Wade-Giles romanization.
Contents
It is also the pinyin romanization of the less-common surname 章 (also Zhāng).
張 was listed 24th in the famous Song-era Hundred Family Surnames. Today, it is one of the most common surnames in the world and 张 was listed by the People's Republic of China's National Citizen ID Information System as the third-most-common surname in mainland China in April 2007, with 87.50 million bearers. A commonly cited but erroneous factoid in the 1990 Guinness Book of Records listed it as the world's most common surname, but no comprehensive information from China was available at the time and more recent editions have not repeated the claim.
Romanization
張 (张) and 章 are also commonly romanized as Chang on Taiwan and among the Chinese diaspora using the older Wade-Giles system. Both are also romanized as Cheung in Hong Kong; Cheong in Macao and Malaysia; Teo and Teoh in Teochew; Chong in Hakka; Tsan and Tsaon among Wu Chinese varieties like Shanghainese; Thong, Cheong in Gan; and Tiong in East Malaysia and the Philippines; and Tjong, Sutiono or Thiono in Indonesia.
張 was the Chữ Nôm form of the Vietnamese surname Trương. The Hanja of the Korean surname romanized Jang and Chang (장). It remains the Kanji for the Japanese surname romanized Chō.
In Vietnamese, the surname written 章 in Chữ Nôm is clearly distinguished and written as Trang or Chương.
Distribution
As mentioned above, 张 is the third-most-common surname in mainland China, making up 6.83% of the population of the People's Republic of China. On Taiwan, 張 is the fourth-most-common surname, making up 5.26% of the population of the Republic of China. 章 was unlisted among the top 100 in either location.
Among the Chinese diaspora, the name remains common but takes on various romanizations. "Chong" is the 19th-most-common surname among Chinese Singaporeans; "Chang" is the 6th-most-common surname among Chinese Americans; and "Zhang" was the 7th-most-common particularly Chinese surname (i.e., excluding ethnically diverse surnames such as "Lee") found in a 2010 survey of Ontario's Registered Persons Database of Canadian health card recipients.
Characters
張 combines the Chinese characters 弓 (gōng, "bow") and 長 (simp. 长, cháng, "long" or "wide"). It originally meant "to open up" or "to spread" as an arching bow, but as a common noun in modern use it is a measure word for flat objects such as paper and cloth, like the English "sheet of".
章 combines the characters 音 (yin, "sound", "(musical) note") and 十 (shi, "ten"). It originally meant "brilliant", "to display", "a distinctive mark" and was used as the name of a fief, 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.
Families
The traditional origin of the surname 張 (Old Chinese: *C. traŋ) is rooted in Chinese legend. The fifth son of the Yellow Emperor, Qing Yangshi (青陽氏/青阳氏, Qīng Yángshì), had a son Hui (揮/挥, Huī) who was inspired by the Heavenly Bow constellation (天弓星, Tiān Gōng Xīng) to invent the bow and arrow. Hui was then promoted to "First Bow" (弓正, Gōng Zhèng) and bestowed the surname 張, which – when broken into its constituent radicals – means "widening bow" or "archer". Its Middle Chinese pronunciation has been reconstructed as Trjang.
The surname 章 (Old Chinese: *taŋ) originated from the legendary Yan Emperor, whose personal surname was Jiang (姜). On the establishment of the state of Qi, Jiang Ziya apportioned the land among his many descendants, including a one known as Zhang (鄣国). Some of the people of this state took 章 as their surname, particularly after it was annexed by Qi. The Middle Chinese pronunciation of the name was Tsyang, the beginnings of what we now know to be the "Zhang" surname.
張 / 张
. Tjose whose original surnames at birth are Zhang are also included on this list.