Guān (surname)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Guan (关 / 關)
Pronunciation

Guān(Mandarin)
Kwan(Cantonese)

Quan(Vietnamese)
Kwon(Korean)
Seki(Japanese)
Language(s) Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean
Origin
Language(s) Chinese
Word/Name China
Meaning close
Other names
Derivative(s) Kwon, Seki (Japanese name), Quan

Guan (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Guān) is a Chinese surname. Guan is 394th in the Hundred Family Surnames.

It is also a Korean surname that uses the same character, romanised as Kwon.

It is also a Vietnamese surname that uses the same character, romanised as Quan.

It is also a Japanese surname, Seki (Japanese: ), that uses the same character.

The Korean surname, Kwon, the Vietnamese surname, Quan and the Japanese surname, Seki, was derived from the same Chinese character as the Chinese surname (The Japanese Kanji 関 is a Shinjitai of the Chinese character 關).

In Taiwan, the Wade–Giles spelling Kuan is used. In Hong Kong, the surname is romanised as Kwan. In many overseas Chinese communities, both spellings are common.

Origin

A number of groups are believed to have shared the surname in history.

  • During the 23rd century BCE, Dongfu (董父) was a descendant of the ruler Shuan (叔安) in Chifeng within the old Rehe Province of the Khitan state. Dongfu married a daughter of Emperor Yao's tribe, using the surname Dong (董), which later became the surname Kwan (關).
  • In 1650 BCE, during the Xia Dynasty, Guan Longfeng (關龍逢) was an officer of Jie of Xia's reign.
  • In 643 BCE, during the Zhou Dynasty, near Mount Xiao within the nation of Jin, the Ji (姬) family used the surname of Dongguan (東關) with region name Dongguan (東關). In China it is common for clans possessing the same surname to live in a village together, with their surname designating the name of the village. Later, the Dongguan (東關) family branched into two surnames: Dong (東), and Guan (關). Dongguan Wu (東關五) was an officer of Jin.
  • In 604 BCE, during the Zhou Dynasty, an officer named Yin Xi (尹喜) is reported to have taken the name Guan Yin (關尹) as his name in public office, designating 關 as his surname. Subsequent generations continued to use 關 as their surname.
  • The surname 關 exists among ethnic minorities including the Zhuang people, Mongols, and other various Chinese minorities.
  • During the Jin Dynasty, the surname has also been founded by the Jurchen people of the Guaerjia.

Historical figures

Notable modern people

Japanese people with the surname Seki (関)

Historical figures

  • Seki Takakazu (関 孝和, 1642-1708), mathematician in the Edo period

Notable modern people

  • Tsutomu Seki (関 勉, b. 1930), an astronomer who discovered large numbers of comets and asteroids
  • Tomokazu Seki (関 智一, b. 1972), a voice actor
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.