| Wang |
| Family name |
| Meaning |
king |
| Footnotes: [1] |
Wang (王; pinyin: Wáng), an ancient Chinese family name, is the most common surname in the world. 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.[2][3] Translated into English, Wang literally means "king” (see Chinese noble#Wang, also King (surname)), 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 (Hokkien romanization) and Heng (TeoChew Romanization).
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.[4]
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".[5] 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. [6]
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 and 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[7]
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 21st 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".[8] 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]
Wang in other countries and ethnic groups
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.
Korean
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]
The surname Wang is said to have originated from the Silla kingdom, which was one of the kingdom's noble family which originally had the surname Jak (작). However when Wang Geon, the founder of the Goryeo kingdom, met a Buddhist monk at an early age with his father, the Buddhist monk foresaw that he would one day become king and therefore his father changed their last name into Wang (meaning King) which later did indeed became a reality with Wang Geon establishing the kingdom of Goryeo.
Wang was the Goryeo royal family name for the duration of the kingdom, however currently Wang is a fairly uncommon surname. 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.
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.
Indonesian
The surname Wang in Indonesia is often pronounced as Heng or Bong for people of Hokkien descent, and more commonly as Ong by Chinese Peranakan.
Vietnamese
The name Wang in the Vietnamese language is Vương.
Prominent personages
- Note: people with the family name “Ō” are listed in the “Ō” article.
Chinese
- Charles Wang, co-founder of Computer Associates International Inc.
- David Wang, former Chinese ambassador to Australia
- David Wang, American track athlete
- David Wang, Abercrombie/Hollister model
- Faye Wong, Hong Kong singer
- Garrett Wang, Chinese American actor
- Leehom Wang, Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter, actor and commercial model
- Ong Eu Jin, philanthropist
- Ong Teng Cheong, former President of Singapore
- Paul Wang, American film producer
- Vera Wang, designer
- Wang An, computer scientist who founded Wang Laboratories
- Wang Anshi, Song Dynasty politician
- Wang Bi, Three Kingdoms Taoist philosopher
- Wang Can, Han Dynasty scholar
- Wang Chien-Ming, pitcher for the New York Yankees
- Wang Chien-shien, ROC politician
- Wang Chong, Chinese philosopher
- Wang Chongyang, founder of Quanzhen School
- Wang Dan, student leader - Tiananmen Square dissident
- Wang Dao, Jin Dynasty statesman and advisor
- Wang Dun, Jin Dynasty militant
- Wang Fanxi, Trotskyist
- Wang Guowei, late Qing Dynasty and early Republican scholar
- Wang Fuzhi, Chinese philosopher and historian
- Wang Guangmei, wife of Liu Shaoqi
- Wang Guangya, UN ambassador
- Wang Hao, Chinese-American logician, philosopher and mathematician
- Wong Kar-wai, film director
- Wang Ling, historian of Chinese science
- Wang Liqin, table tennis player
- Wang Mang, founder of the Xin Dynasty
- Wang Nan, table tennis player
- Wang Shiyan, Chinese painter
- Wang Shizhen, Yuan Shikai's Beiyang subordinate
- Wang Tao, reformer, political essayist, newspaper publisher, fiction writer
- Wang Wei, Tang Dynasty poet
- Wang Xizhi, Jin Dynasty calligrapher
- Wang Xianzhi, calligrapher
- Wang Xiaobo, modern writer
- Wang Yangming, Ming Dynasty Neo-Confucian
- Wang Yuegu, China-born Singaporean Olympic table tennis player
- Wang Yuja, classical pianist
- Wang Zhaojun, one of the Four Beauties of ancient China
- Wang Zhengjun, Han Dynasty empress
- Wang Zhizhi, former NBA player
- Wayne Wang, film director
- Wong Jing, film director
Australia
Korean
Vietnamese
Fictional people
Notes and citations
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.
See also
External links
