Yang (surname)

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This article is about the Chinese surname. For the Korean surname, see Yang (Korean surname).
Yang
220px
Yang surname in regular script
Pronunciation Yáng (Pinyin)
Iûⁿ, Iông (Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Language(s) Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean
Origin
Language(s) Old Chinese
Meaning Populus tremula
Other names
Variant(s) Yang (Mandarin)
Yeung, Yeong, Young, Ieong (Cantonese)
Yong (Hakka)
Yeo, Yeoh, Yiu; Njoo, Nyoo, Ngeo (Hokkien)
Yeo, Yeoh (Teochew)
Yang (Korean)
Dương (Vietnamese)
Derivative(s) Dương
See also Ji (surname)

Yang[1] (simplified Chinese: 杨; traditional Chinese: 楊; pinyin: Yáng) is the transcription of a Chinese family name. It is the sixth most common surname in Mainland China.

The Yang surname members adopted many local sounding and customizable western style or another language beside Mandarin Chinese last names with even neutralization name and changes rapidly through generations, but some still preserved Mandarin Chinese character name as secondary name beside the legal name, and appear a lot in some countries likes Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, etc.[2][3] Some examples of it are Karen and another names at Thailand.[4]

The Yang clan was founded by Boqiao, son of Duke Wu of Jin in the Springs and Autumns Period of the Ji (姬) surname, the surname of the royal family during the Zhou dynasty (c. 8th to 5th Centuries BC) who was enfeoffed in the Yang kingdom.

Yang can also be the phonetic translation of a very rare Chinese family name 羊 and of another surname pronounced Yang (揚), written with a "hand" radical rather than the "wood" radical. The two characters were used interchangeably in ancient times, which is the Chinese character for Goat or Sheep.

History

Four proposed and linked historical origins are:

  1. Direct descendants of Huang Di (Yellow Emperor) of Hua Xia during Xia Dynasty, also many sons and grandsons of Yu the Great, have taken Yang as surname, some of its sub-domains are the prominent Yang Jian of Zhou which take role as a Heavenly Marshal take his colony to seek peace after Zhou Dynasty win and erected his colony peacefully. And also Yang Ren is known through the title of Grand Counselor. Which appear at Fengshen Yanyi or Investiture of the Gods, novel accordingly to the historical founding of Zhou Dynasty.[5][6]
  2. The Yang clan was founded by Boqiao (later become Yang Boqiao, with Yang as usually duchy courtesy name) son of Duke Wu of Jin in the Springs and Autumns Period of the Ji (姬) surname, the surname of the royal family during the Zhou dynasty (c. 8th to 5th Centuries BC) who was enfeoffed a vast land, the Yang Kingdom, with its central in at ancient's Shaanxi.[7]
  3. Yang Tang, the first historical ancestor of the Jeju's Yang clan was a Shilla figure, but according to another source, his distant ancestor was one of three men who ascended from a cave on the north side of Cheju Island’s Halla Mountain, Jeju’s Tamnagook kingdom which build the Yang Clan at there.[8]
  4. Yang Shi, senior advisor of Jin, During the Warring States period (403–221 bc) his descendants fled to escape destruction by the conquering the Qin, and simplified their surname to Yang.[9]

Characters

Yang is most often the transliteration of the character 楊 (in simplified Chinese: 杨). The same character can also mean a type of poplar. The character is composed of a "wood" radical on the left and the character yi/yang (昜) on the right, which indicates the pronunciation of the whole character.

Yang can also be the phonetic translation of other Chinese surnames. These include 阳, the Chinese character for "sun"; the very rare Chinese family name 羊, the Chinese character for "goat" or "sheep"; or another character pronounced "Yang", regardless of tone, such as 仰 or 養.

Origins

Four origins are recorded for the surname Yang (楊):[10]

  1. Out of the Ji (姬) surname, the surname of the royal family during the Zhou dynasty. A fifth generation descendant of Duke Wu of Jin was enfeoffed at a place called Yang, and his descendants adopted this as their surname, giving rise to the surname Yang.[11]
  2. Translation of surnames used by other ethnic groups in ancient China. For example, the Di people used the surname Yang. The Yang clan of the Di people lived in Chouchi in Gansu.[12]
  3. Homogenization of another surname pronounced Yang (揚), written with a "hand" radical rather than the "wood" radical. The two characters were used interchangeably in ancient times.
  4. Other adoptions. For example, the Mohulu clan of the Northern Wei dynasty changed their surname to "Yang".
  5. another known source:
  • The German sociologist Wolfram Eberhard calls Yang 楊 the "Monkey Clan", citing the totemistic myth recorded in the Soushenji and Fayuan Zhulin that the Yangs living in southwestern Shu (modern Sichuan) were descendants of monkeys.[13] The Soushenji "reported that in the southwest of Shu there were monkey-like animals whose names were [jiaguo 猳國], [mahua 馬化], or [jueyuan 玃猿]. These animals abducted women and sent them back when they became pregnant. If the baby were not accepted, the woman would have to die. Therefore these children were raised and they received the clan name Yang. For this reason this clan occurred quite frequently in Southwest Shu."[14]
  • The people of Hunan and Guizhou during The Three Kingdom of Later Han, joined Yang surname by Zhuge Liang behalf.[15]
  • Manchu people use Yang as surname since ancestral times.[16]
  • Bai surname of Huang Di descendants has been moved to Yang surname.[17]
  • Naxi, Miao, Hui and other ethnic groups also have taken Yang as surname.[18]

The "Four Wisdoms"

A tablet for "Hall of Four Wisdoms"

Some branches of the Yang clan (in particular the Hongnong branch) refer to themselves as "Yang of the Hall of Four Wisdoms". The "Hall of Four Wisdoms" refers to a story concerning Yang Zhen, an official of the Eastern Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), and known for his erudition as well as moral character. When a man named Wang Mi visited Yang Zhen at night and attempted to bribe him 10 catties of gold, Yang rejected the gift. Wang Mi persevered, saying that nobody would know. Yang Zhen famously retorted "Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know and I know. How can you say that nobody would know?" Descendents of Yang Zhen adopted the "four wisdoms", or "Si Zhi" as the title of their clan hall. Some Yang family clan halls in various parts of China still carry this name.[19]

Polities ruled by Yang families

Alternative spellings

Notable people surnamed Yang

Historical figures

  • Yang Dongqian (楊洞潛),an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Southern Han.
  • Yang Ye (楊業) or Yang Jiye (楊繼業)[5], was a military general of the Song Dynasty, Daizhou prefect and Sanjiao Garrison armed forces director (December 979 – August 986).
  • Yang Fuguang (楊復光) (842-883[1]), formally Duke Zhongsu of Hongnong (弘農忠肅公), was a eunuch's proposed general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty.
  • Yang Xiu Advisor under Warlord Cao Cao
  • Yang Gongren Official and General of the Sui and Tang Dynasty
  • Yang Hui (traditional Chinese: 楊輝; simplified Chinese: 杨辉), courtesy name Qianguang (謙光), was a Chinese mathematician during the late Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD).
  • Yang Ren (Chinese: 楊任; Pinyin: Yáng Rèn), Grand Counselor within the Shang Dynasty
  • Yang Zhu, philosopher 440 – 360 BC associated with an ethical Egoism
  • Yang Zhen, Minister of War in China circa 122 A.D, known as Confucius of Western China
  • Yang Hu, general of the Three Kingdoms era
  • Yang Jian, first emperor of the Sui Dynasty (581-618)
  • Yang Guang,Second Emperor of the Sui Dynasty
  • Yang Guifei, famous emperor's consort in Tang dynasty
  • Yang Wan (楊綰) Tang Dynasty historian
  • Yang Manchun is a Goguryeo commander of Ansi fortress was located on the Goguryeo-Tang border
  • Yang Xiong (揚雄; 53 BCE–18 CE) was a Han dynasty scholar, poet, and author known for his philosophical writings
  • Yang Jian (Erlang Shen), Nephew of Jade Emperor
  • Yang Xingmi, Prince Wuzhong of Wu, King Xiaowu of Wu, and Emperor Wu of Wu

For a list of famous Korean people with the last name Yang, please refer to Yang (Korean surname).

Modern figures

See also

References

  1. ↑ The approximate English pronunciation is /jɑːŋ/.
  2. ↑ http://www.familytree.com/surnames/Yang, retrieved 16 September 2014
  3. ↑ http://www.indiachildnames.com/surname.aspx?surname=Yang, retrieved 16 September 2014
  4. ↑ Kuhn, Philip A. Chinese Among Others: Emigration in Modern Times, Lanham, MD/Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/book/html/baijiaxing/b017.htm, retrieved 16 September 2014
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Eberhard, Wolfram (1968), The Local Cultures of South and East China, E. J. Brill, p. 53.
  14. ↑ 12, tr. Eberhard (1968), p. 52.
  15. ↑ http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/book/html/baijiaxing/b017.htm, retrieved 16 September 2014
  16. ↑ http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/book/html/baijiaxing/b017.htm, retrieved 16 September 2014
  17. ↑ http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/book/html/baijiaxing/b017.htm, retrieved 16 September 2014
  18. ↑ http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/book/html/baijiaxing/b017.htm, retrieved 16 September 2014
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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