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One of the current biggest surnames in China, families surnamed Wang are the descendants of monarchs. One can know from historical records that Wang families are the "offspring of kings", namely, the descendants of monarchs. Wang means the king or the ruler.
Historical records show that Ji Jin, the son of King Ling of the East Zhou Dynasty (770-221 BC) was dismissed as an ordinary person due to his honest advice and died of depression later. At the sight of the situation, Zongjing, his son, resolutely retired from his post and led his families settle down in Taiyuan. At that time, the people there regarded them as "king families". In the end the families took Wang as their surname. Entering into the Qin (221BC to 207BC) and Han dynasties (202 BC-AD 220), the descendants of Prince Jin turned to surname Wang under the cultural background of integrating the surname Wang with all Wang branches. That is the major origin of the surname.
Apart from the Wang families in Taiyuan, the descendants of King Wen and King Wu in Zhou Dynasty escaped in exile due to the change of dynasties. To let their offspring remember their exalted births, they took Wang as their surname. In addition, crowing surname by emperors, self-changing by Han nationality and other ethnic minorities in their Han-nationality-turning process are also the origins of the surname.
There were many celebrities in the history of Wang. They include Wang Jian and Wang Ben in the Qin Dynasty, Wang Qiang in West Han Dynasty (207 BC-9 AD), Wang Yun in East Han Dynasty (25-220 AD), Wang Xizhi and his son, calligraphers in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), Wang Bo and Wang Wei in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), Wang Anshi in the Northern Song (AD960-1127), Wang Shifu in Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), Wang Fuzhi in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, and Wang Ruofei and Wang Jiaxiang in modern times.
By People's Daily Online
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