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The?Chinese?have?had?surnames?long?before?the?period?of?the?Three?Emperors?and?Five?Kings,?that?is,?during?the?time?when?recognition?was?given?only?to?one's?mother?and?not?one's?father.?Hence,?the?Chinese?character?for?surname?is?made?up?of?two?individual?characters----one?meaning?woman?and?one?meaning?to?give?birth.?That?is?to?say,?the?surnames?of?the?early?Chinese?followed?the?maternal?line.?Before?the?three?dynasties?of?Xia,?Shang?and?Zhou?(2140-256?BC),?the?people?in?China?were?already?having?surnames?(Xing)?and?clan-names?(Shi).?The?surnames?originated?from?the?name?of?the?village?in?which?one?live?or?the?family?to?which?one?belonged,?while?the?clan-name?derived?from?the?name?of?the?territory?or?the?title?granted,?sometimes?posthumously,?by?the?emperor?to?a?noble?for?an?achievement.?Hence,?only?nobles?had?surnames?as?well?as?clan-names.
A?man?and?a?woman?of?the?same?clan-name?could?marry?each?other?but?they?could?not?if?they?were?of?the?same?surname.?
This?is?because?the?Chinese?had?discovered,?long?ago,?that?marriages?of?close?relatives?would?be?detrimental?to?future?generations.
In?any?solemn?ceremony?or?important?celebration,?the?Chinese?have?their?clan-names?written?on?lanterns?which?are?hung?high?in?a?prominent?place,?such?as?the?main?entrance?of?the?house.
As?a?clan-name?indicates?the?ancestral?home,?it?is?also?carved?on?a?man's?tombstone?to?indicate?a?hope?that?he?will?return?there.
This?went?on?for?800?years?until?the?rule?of?Emperor?Tang?Tai?Zong?(627?AD).?Gao?Shi?Lian,?a?government?official,?made?a?survey?and?found?that?there?were?a?total?of?593?different?surnames.?
He?then?wrote?and?published?a?book?called?"Annal?of?Surnames"?which?became?a?reference?for?selecting?qualified?personnel?as?government?officials?and?for?arranging?marriages.?
The?book,?"Surnames?of?a?Hundred?Families",?which?was?popular?in?China?during?the?old?days,?was?written?more?than?1,000?years?ago?during?the?Northern?Song?Dynasty?(960?AD).
It?records?438?surnames?of?which?408?are?single-word?surnames?and?30?were?double-word?surnames.?
According?to?the?latest?statistics?from?China,?Chinese?with?the?surname?Zhang?alone?number?more?than?100?million,?making?it?probably?the?surname?which?the?most?number?of?the?Chinese?have.?
Another?set?of?statistics?compiled?in?1977?reveals?that?the?number?of?the?Chinese?with?the?first?10?major?surnames?make?up?40%?of?the?Chinese?population.?The?10?major?Chinese?surnames?are:?
Zhang,?Wang,?Li,?Zhao,?Chen,?Yang,?Wu,?Liu,?Huang?and?Zhou.
Below?are?the?next?10?major?surnames.?The?Chinese?with?these?surnames?make?up?over?10%?of?the?Chinese?population:?Xu,?Zhu,?Lin,?Sun,?Ma,?Gao,?Hu,?Zheng,?Guo?and?Xiao.
The?number?of?the?Chinese?in?the?third?category?of?10?major?surnames?make?up?just?about?10%?of?the?population:?Xie,?He,?Xu,?Song,?Shen,?Luo,?Han,?Deng,?Liang?and?Ye.
The?following?15?surnames?form?the?fouth?largest?group?of?the?Chinese?surnames?are:
Fang,?Cui,?Cheng,?Pan,?Cao,?Feng,?Wang,?Cai,?Yuan,?Lu,?Tang,?Qian,?Du,?Peng?and?Lu.
A?total?of?70%?of?the?Chinese?population?have?one?of?the?surnames?above.?The?surnames?of?the?remaining?30%?are?comparatively?rare.?Some?of?these?surnames?are:?Mao,?Jiang,?Bai,?Wen,?Guan,?Liao,?Miao?and?Chi.
Read?more?related?information:
Buy?Chinese?seal?carvings?with?your?Chinese?name?inscribed
Buy?Chinese?rainbow?calligraphy?name?
Chinese?name?translation?service?
About?Chinese?zodiac
About?Chinese?seal?carving
About?Chinese?name
...Mianzu?Fu
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