Chu is a transliteration of 朱, also often denoted Zhu (using Pinyin), which is a common surname in China. It was the "empire's surname" during the Ming Dynasty. Today it is the 13th most common surname in the People's Republic of China,[citation needed] with a population of over ten million.
Another surname, 璩 (Pinyin: Qú) is also spelt as Chu in the present-day Republic of China (Taiwan). A famous person named 璩 is the former journalist Melody Chu.
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Origination and distribution
The Chu family originated from within the region between Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces. During the Ming dynasty, some Chus moved to Taiwan, and some then migrated to south-eastern Asia, Europe and the Americas. Chu has been one of the most influential clan in southern China over the history.
People with the name 朱
Royalty
Later Liang Dynasty (907 - 923 C.E.)
- Zhu Quanzhong, founder of the Later Liang Dynasty, which ushered in the era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms; he reigned as the Taizu Emperor from 907 - 912
- Zhu Yougui, second emperor of the Later Liang Dynasty; he reigned from 912 - 913 having murdered his father Zhu Quanzhong
- Modi Emperor, third emperor of the Later Liang Dynasty; he reigned from 913 - 923 having deposed his brother Zhu Yougui for having killed their father, Zhu Quanzhong
Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 C.E.)
- Hongwu Emperor, key leader of the rebel movement which ousted the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty; founder of the Ming Dynasty
- Jianwen Emperor, grandson of the Hongwu Emperor; second emperor of the Ming Dynasty reigned from 1399 - 1402; overthrown by his uncle the Yongle Emperor
- Yongle Emperor, fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor and third emperor of the Ming Dynasty; reigned from 1403 - 1424; he was responsible for expanding China's influence throughout Asia, East Africa and perhaps beyond through his fleet of treasure ships led by the admiral eunuch Zheng He; he founded the Forbidden City and the Ming Dynasty Tombs
- Hongxi Emperor, eldest son of the Yongle Emperor and fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned for one year, 1425
- Xuande Emperor, eldest son of the Hongxi Emperor and fifth emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned from 1426 - 1435
- Zhengtong Emperor, also known as the Tianshun Emperor; eldest son of the Xuande Emperor and sixth emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned twice from 1436 - 14449 and from 1457 - 1464
- Jingtai Emperor, second son of the Xuande Emperor and seventh emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned from 1450 - 1457
- Chenghua Emperor, eldest son of the Zhengtong Emperor and eighth emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned from 1465 - 1487
- Hongzhi Emperor, third and eldest surviving son of the Chenghua Emperor and ninth emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned from 1488 - 1505
- Zhengde Emperor, eldest son of the Hongzhi Emperor and tenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned from 1506 - 1521
- Jiajing Emperor, grandson of the Chenghua Emperor and eventh emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned from 1522 - 1567
- Longqing Emperor, third son of the Jiajing Emperor and twelfth emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned from 1567 - 1572
- Wanli Emperor, third and eldest surviving son of the Longqing Emperor and thirteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned from 1573 - 1620
- Taichang Emperor, eldest son of the Wanli Emperor and sixteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned only one year, 1620
- Tianqi Emperor, eldest son of the Taichang Emperor and seventeenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned from 16216 - 1627
- Chongzhen Emperor, fifth son of the Taichang Emperor and eighteenth/last emperor of the Ming Dynasty; he reigned from 1628 - 1644
- Zhu Quan, Prince of Ning, Seventeenth son of the Hongwu Emperor and younger half-brother to the Yongle Emperor; military commander, historian and playwright
Southern Ming Dynasty (1644 - 1662 C.E.)
- Hongguang Emperor, born Zhu Yousong, Prince of Fu; Ming pretender and emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty which resisted the Qing Dynasty
- Longwu Emperor, born Zhu Yujian, Prince of Tang; Ming pretender and emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty
- Yongli Emperor, born Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui; Ming pretender and emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty
- Prince of Lu, born Zhu Yihai; a leader of the Southern Ming Dynasty
- Koxinga whose title literally means Lord with the Imperial Surname; he was born Zheng Chenggong but given the right to bear the imperial surname, Zhu, by the Longwu Emperor, a pretender to the then collapsing Ming Dynasty, for his noteworthy loyalist efforts; Koxinga founded the short-lived Kingdom of Taiwan
Government, Politics and Military
- Hua Mulan, allegedly disguised herself as a man to take her elderly father's place in the army; asserted by Ming historians as of the Zhu clan though this assertion may have been politically motivated; later Qing historians, however, claim she was of the Wei clan but again this could have been politically motivated
- Zhu Zhi, military general for the Kingdom of Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of China
- Zhu Ran, military general for the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of China
- Zhu Zhixin, Revolutionary and comrade of Sun Yat-sen who named Zhixin High School after his dead comrade
- Zhu De, Founder of the Red Chinese Army, forerunner of the People's Liberation Army
- Zhu Jiahua, famous politician of the Republic of China
- Zhu Rongji, former PRC Premier
- David S.C. Chu, United States Under Secretary of Defense appointed by George W. Bush
- Jim Chu, Chief Constable of the Vancouver Police Department
- Zhu Qichen, formerly Vice Foreign Minister then Ambassador to the United States, Peoples Republic of China, later Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Peoples Congress.
- Steven Chu, the 12th United States Secretary of Energy.
- Choo Leong Huat, Singapore Crown Service government official, descendant of the Straits-Chinese.
Philosophy and Religion
- Zhu Xi, Song Dynasty scholar and proponent for Neo-Confucianism
- Zhu Qianzhi, Chinese intellectual and historian; influenced Mao Zedong
Arts
- Zhu Da, Renowned painter and calligrapher of the Qing Dynasty; agnatic descendant of Zhu Quan, Prince of Ning
- Zhu Ziqing, Renowned contemporary writer and poet
- Zhu Wen, contemporary writer and director.
Science and Technology
- Zhu Shijie, one of the greatest Chinese mathematicians
- Steven Chu, one of three co-recipients of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics; 12th US Secretary of Energy
- Chu Ching-wu, renowned physicist; expert on superconductivity
Business
- David Chu, Taiwanese-American founder of Nautica, men's designer outerwear company
- Zhu Mengyi (朱孟依; Cu Mêng-i), (Chairman of Guangdong Zhujiang Invest, Hopson Development)
Sports and Entertainment
- Choo Hoey, Singaporean musician and conductor; formerly Music Director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra
- Ken Chu, F4 member
- Julie Chu, U.S. Olympic Team hockey player
- Zhu Jianhua, P.R.C. Olympic high jumper
References
- Brook Timothy, 1998, The Confucian of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China, University of California Press
- Chao Sheau-yueh J., 2000, In Search of Your Asian Roots: Genealogical Research on Chinese Surnames, Clearfield
- Chi Li, 1967, The Formation of the Chinese People: An Anthropological Inquiry, Russell & Russell
- Mote, F.W., 1999, Imperial China, Harvard University Press
- Paludan Ann, 1998, Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial China, Thames & Hudson
- Paludan Ann, 1981, The Imperial Ming Imperial Tombs, Yale University Press
- Tan Thomas Tsu-wee, 1986, Your Chinese Roots: The Overseas Chinese Story, Times Books International
External links
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