Wikipedia

Zhao (surname)

Zhao (/dʒaʊ/;[1] traditional Chinese: 趙; simplified Chinese: 赵; pinyin: Zhào; Wade–Giles: Chao⁴) is a Chinese-language surname.[note 1] The name is first in the Hundred Family Surnames – the traditional list of all Chinese surnames – because it was the emperor's surname of the Song dynasty (960–1279) when the list was compiled. The first line of the poem is 趙錢孫李 (Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li).

Zhao / Chao / Chiu / Triệu
PronunciationZhào (Mandarin Pinyin)
Ziu6 (Cantonese Jyutping)
Tiō (Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Jo (Korean RR)
Triệu (Vietnamese)
Language(s)Chinese
Origin
MeaningName of a feudal state during the Zhou dynasty
Other names
Variant form(s)Chao
Cantonese: Jew, Chew, Chiu, Chu, Jew, Jue, Siu, Tsiu
Shanghainese: Zau
Derivative(s)Cho, Triệu
Zhao
"Zhao" in seal script (top), Traditional (middle), and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese趙
Simplified Chinese赵
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhào
Wade–GilesChao4
IPA[ʈʂâʊ]
Wu
SuzhouneseZâu
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationJiuh
JyutpingZiu6
Southern Min
Tâi-lôTiō
Middle Chinese
Middle Chineseɖjéu
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)*[d]rewʔ
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetTriệu
Korean name
Hangul조
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationJo

Zhao may be romanized as "Chiu" from the Cantonese pronunciation, and is romanized in Taiwan and Hong Kong as "Chao" in the Wade–Giles system. It is cognate with the Vietnamese family name "Triệu" and with the Korean family name most commonly romanized as "Cho" (조).

The romanization is shared with the much rarer family name Zhào (兆).

Evolution of the Zhao clan

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Zhao clan (趙氏) – Royal house of Song dynasty
Zhao clans (趙氏)
Yíng (嬴姓) – Royal house of Qin (state) and Qin dynasty
Royal house of Zhao (state)
The clans of Lian (廉), Xu (徐), Jiang (江), Qin (秦), Zhao (趙), Huang (黄), Liang (梁), Ma (馬), Ge (葛), Gu (谷), Mou (繆), Zhong (鍾), Fei (費), and Qu (瞿)

Modern culture

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In Lu Xun's novel The True Story of Ah Q, Ah Q said he belonged to the same clan as Mr. Zhao, who was an honored landlord of the village. Mr. Zhao was very angry. He slapped Ah Q's face and said, 'How could you be named Zhao!—Do you think you are worthy of the name Zhao?'[3]

Since 2015 or earlier, in the Chinese internet, Zhao became the intimation of the Chinese Communist Party and the 'State of Zhao' became the intimation of China. Similarly, 'The Zhao Family' refers to the dignitaries of China, and "The Zhao's Army" refers to the People's Liberation Army.[4] 'How could you be named Zhao!' is popular to satirize the people who are humble but pretend to be powerful.

In 2016, the blog writer Program Think set up a GitHub project named Zhao.[5] The project collects the relationships among more than 700 people in over 130 families including Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, and many other high level government officials of the Chinese Communist Party. The Cyberspace Administration of China requested GitHub to remove the project.[6] Error status code 451 would be reached if the connection request to the project is from China.

Prominent people with the family name

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Historical figures

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  • Zhao Zheng (traditional Chinese: 趙政), the first emperor of China, founder of the Qin dynasty, most commonly known as Qin Shi Huang (traditional Chinese: 秦始皇)
  • Zhao Chengjiao (趙成蟜), the first emperor's half-brother, after the first emperor inherited the throne, he rebelled and was killed by the emperor
  • Zhao Chou, warlord during the Late Tang dynasty
  • Zhao Dejun, general of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Later Tang and Later Tang's predecessor state Jin
  • Zhao Gao, close advisor to emperors during the Qin dynasty. He was one of the most corrupt, villainous, violent and powerful eunuchs in Chinese history
  • Zhao Guangyi, chancellor of Southern Han
  • Zhao Jieyu, a consort of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty
  • Zhao Kuangyin (趙匡胤) or Emperor Taizu of Song (宋太祖), the founder of the Song dynasty
  • Zhao Deyin, warlord late in the Tang dynasty
  • Zhao Dezhao, second son of Emperor Taizu
  • Zhao Feiyan, empress of the Western Han dynasty to Emperor Cheng
  • Zhao Hede, imperial consort to Emperor Cheng of Han sister to Empress Zhao Feiyan
  • Zhao Kuangyi, brother of Zhao Kuangyin and second emperor of the Song dynasty
  • Zhao Heng, third emperor of the Song dynasty
  • Zhao Zhen, fourth emperor of the Song dynasty
  • Zhao Shu, fifth emperor of the Song dynasty
  • Zhao Xu, sixth emperor of the Song dynasty
  • Zhao Xu, seventh emperor of the Song dynasty
  • Zhao Ji, eighth emperor of the Song dynasty, famous for being a skilled poet, painter, calligrapher, and musician.
  • Zhao Boju, painter during the Song dynasty
  • Zhao Yun (traditional Chinese: 趙雲), general of Shu Han during the era of Three Kingdoms
  • Zhao Mengfu calligrapher, descendant of the Song imperial family
  • Zhao Yong calligrapher, son of Zhao Mengfu, descendant of the Song imperial family
  • Zhao Yiguang, literary figure and author during the Ming dynasty, relative of Zhao Mengfu, descendant of the Song imperial family

Modern figures

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ For its meanings in ancient Chinese see Kangxi dictionary's entry "趙".[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Zhao Ziyang". Collins English Dictionary.
  2. ^ 康熙字典, "趙"
  3. ^ Ah-Q, Lu Xun, Lu Hsun. "The True Story of Ah-Q". marxists.org. Retrieved 2017-06-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "赵家人 - China Digital Space". China Digital Times. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  5. ^ 编程随想 (2017-07-01), zhao: 【编程随想】整理的《太子党关系网络》，专门揭露赵国的权贵, retrieved 2017-07-01
  6. ^ gov-takedowns: Text of government takedown notices as received. GitHub does not endorse or adopt any assertion contained in the following notices, GitHub, 2017-06-29, retrieved 2017-06-30
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