Guān

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

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

It is Romanized Kwon in Korean.

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

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 Macao, the surname is as Kuan due to the Portuguese influence.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 (1115–1234), the surname has also been founded by the Jurchen people of the Guaerjia.

Historical figures

• Guan Yu (關羽, d. 219 CE), general of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era
• Guan Ping (關平), Guan Yu's son, also a general of Shu Han
• Guan Xing (關興), son of Guan Yu and younger brother of Guan Ping, also a general of Shu Han
• Guan Bo (關播) Official and Chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
• Guan Tong (關仝, c. 906-960), Chinese landscape painter during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
• Guan Hanqing (關漢卿, c. 1241–1320), playwright and poet in the Yuan dynasty
• Guan Tianpei (關天培, 1781-1791), Chinese admiral of the Qing dynasty, who served in the First Opium War

Notable modern people

• Guan Linzheng (關麟徵, 1905–1980), a highly successful Chinese general in the Kuomintang
• Kwan Tak-hing (關德興, 1905-1996), Hong Kong actor famous for playing the role of Wong Fei-hung in numerous films
• Esther Kwan (關詠荷, b. 1964), Hong Kong actress
• Kelvin Kwan (關楚耀, b. 1983), Hong Kong Cantopop singer
• Nancy Kwan (關家蒨, b. 1939), Chinese-American actress
• Kwan Hoi-san (關海山, 1925-2006), Hong Kong actor, deceased
• Jade Kwan (關心妍, b. 1979), Hong Kong Cantopop singer
• Shirley Kwan (關淑怡, b. 1966), Hong Kong Cantopop singer
• Susanna Kwan (關菊英, b. 1958), Hong Kong singer and actress
• Michael Kwan (關正傑, b. 1949), Hong Kong Cantopop singer
• Michelle Kwan (關穎珊, b. 1980), Chinese-American competitive figure skater
• Kwan Chi Lam (關之琳), Chinese actress
• Stanley Kwan (關錦鵬, b. 1957), Hong Kong director and producer
• Guan Tianlang (關天朗, born 1998), Chinese golfer
• Jean Quan (關麗珍), an American politician
• Jonathan Ke Quan (關繼威), an American actor and stunt coordinator
• Lily Kwan (关莉莉), a model and newscaster on Naked News

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