Wang (surname)

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Wang
Family Name
Meaning king
Popularity Behind the Name 
Wikipedia articles All pages beginning with Wang


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Wang (王; pinyin: Wáng) is one of the most common and ancient Chinese family names. It is ranked 8th in the Hundred Family Surnames, and 1st in "National Citizen ID Information System" (NCIIS). As of 2007, Wang is ranked as the most common surname in Mainland China, with 92.88 million people bearing this surname.[1] Translated into English, Wang literally means "king” (see Chinese noble#Wang), although bearing the name has no royal implications in most cases. Outside of China, there are also many people who bear Wang as their surname, such as in Korea.

Wang (Chinese: 王; pinyin: Wáng) is also romanized as "Wong", especially for people from Hong Kong or from Guangdong. Note that "Wong" is actually the Cantonese romanization of three different surnames; Wang (Chinese: 王; pinyin: Wáng), Huang (Chinese: 黄; pinyin: Huáng) and Wang (Chinese: 汪; pinyin: Wāng). In addition, "Wang" is the Cantonese romanization of the following uncommon family names: 橫 (Pinyin: Héng), 弘 (Hóng), 閎 (Hóng), and 宏 (Hóng). In Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, it was romanized as Ong and Heng.

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[edit] Pronunciation

In western countries, the surname Wang is very commonly mispronounced. In most forms of English including American English, "Wang" is often anglicized into /wæŋ/ with a short "a" (rhymes with "sang") and has entered common usage, and even adopted by some Chinese immigrants to the area who grow weary of correcting the mispronunciation. The actual pronunciation of the surname is with a long "a"; /wɑŋ/ in a rising tone.

[edit] Origins and development

There were many origins in the development of Wang as a surname, but the main origins that structure the modern surname of Wang were four: Zi, Ji, Gui and change of surnames from other ethnic groups outside of Han Chinese. [2]

[edit] Zi house

The most ancient family name of Wang was originated from the surname Zi. The Chinese legend mentions that near the end of Shang Dynasty, King Zhou of Shang's uncle Bi Gan, Qi Zi and Wei Zi were called "The Three Kindhearted of Shang". King Zhou was violent in his rule, and Bi Gan repeatedly remonstrated to the king regarding his behavior. The king refused his comments, and killed Bi Gan instead. Bi's descendants used "Wang" as their surname as they are descendants of a prince, and was known as the "The Bi clan of Wang family".[3] The Zi clan existed around 3100 years through Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty, and until today. The Zi clan of Wang lived predominantly in Henan during these times, and developed into the famous Wang Family of Ji prefecture. [4]

[edit] Ji house

More families of Wang were originated from the royal family of Zhou Dynasty. The original surname of the royal family of Zhou Dynasty was Ji. However, many of them have separated out of the family due to the loss of power amd land. Because of they once belonged to the royal family, they used "Wang" as their surname. This family of Wang traced its ancestry to Wang Ziqiao[5]

According to the classical records, after King Wu of Zhou defeated the Shang Dynasty, he chose the capital at the city of Gao. This was known in history as the Western Zhou Dynasty. During the reign of the 21th king, King Ling of Zhou (571 - 545 BCE), the capital was in Chen Zhou, which is the present day Luoyang, Henan. The son of King Ling, crown prince Jin (also known as Prince Jin or Prince Qiao), was reduced to civilian status due to his remonstration to the king. His son Zong Jin remains to be a Situ in the palace, and because of the people at the time recognized him as the descendant of the royal family, they called his family the "Wang family".[6] From this moment on, this clan used "Wang" as their surname. When the 8th generation of the Ji clan of Wang Wang Cuo became a general in the State of Wei, the clan finally regained its status. In the early period of Qin Dynasty, this clan was active in areas of Luoyang, Henan. Between the end of Qin Dynasty and the beginning of Han Dynasty, Wang Yuan and Wang Wei, sons of the Marquis of Wuchen Wang Li, moved to Langye, Shandong and Taiyuan, Shanxi. Since then, they have developed into the most famous Wang family of Langye and Taiyuan, the biggest group in the surname of Wang. The Ji clan of Wang existed around 2600 years. In China, 90% of the Wang family that have their family tree originated from the Ji clan of Wang.[citation needed]


[edit] Wang in other countries and ethnic groups

[edit] Hmong

The Hmong version of Wang is Vang, or in RPA Vaj or Vaaj. It has the same etymology as the Chinese surname, and is fairly common among the Hmong. The Vang constitute one of the largest of the eighteen clans of the Hmong.

[edit] Korean

Wang (surname)
Hangul 왕
Revised Romanization Wang
McCune-Reischauer Wang

Wang is a Korean family name 왕 but fairly rare in Korea. According to the South Korean census of 2000, in that year 23,447 people bearing the Wang surname were living in the country. [1]

Wang was one of the most powerful clans in the Chinese commanderies on the Korean Peninsula. According to the Houhanshu, its ancestor Wang Zhong originally lived in Qi (Shandong) in the 2nd century B.C.E., but fled to Lelang when the Prince of Qibei revolted against the Han Dynasty. The Wang clan flourished in the Lelang commandery, and seems to have contributed to the cultural development of subsequent kingdoms.[citation needed]

Although it was the Goryeo royal family name, Wang is very rare today. It is said that when Goryeo fell, people called Wang changed their surname to avoid severe persecution from the succeeding Joseon Dynasty. The Kaesong Wang lineage traces its ancestry to the Goryeo rulers.

[edit] Japanese

Ō (often romanized as "Oh" or "O") is a rare Japanese family name which is the equivalent of Wang. Ō is the way Japanese pronounce the character 王. Most Japanese with this family name are of Chinese descent.[citation needed] Sadaharu Oh is a famous baseball player and manager in Japan.

[edit] Indonesian

The surname Wang in Indonesia often is pronounce as Heng or Bong for the hokkian people, and more commonly Ong by the cina peranakan.

[edit] Vietnamese

The name Wang in the Vietnamese language is Vương.

[edit] Prominent personages

Note: people with the family name “Ō” are listed in the “Ō” article.

[edit] Taiwanese

[edit] Chinese

[edit] Korean

[edit] Fiction

[edit] Notes and citations

  1. ^ 公安部统计分析显示：王姓成为我国第一大姓
  2. ^ Origin of the surname Wang, Wong, Ong, Heng
  3. ^ greatchinese.com - Hundred Family's Surnames: Wang entry (under paragraph 3 says Wang is the descendants of Prince Bi Gan)
  4. ^ Tracing of the Ancestry: under paragraph 1
  5. ^ Wang Ziqiao
  6. ^ Chinese surname history: Wang, under paragraph 2

[edit] References

  • Yuan (袁), Yida (義達) (2002). Chinese Surnames, Group Heredity and Spread of Population (中国姓氏·群体遗传和人口分布). Huadong Training College Publishing Group (華東師範大學出版社). ISBN 7-5617-2769-0/C.081. 
  • Zhang (臧), Lihe (勵和) ( (1998). The Great Dictionary of Chinese Names (中國人名大辭典), updated by Xu Shitian (許師慎]). The Commercial Press (商務印書館). ISBN 7-100-02555-9. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links