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Zheng (surname)

Zheng (, ) is a Chinese surname. It is the 7th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem. In 2006, Zheng ranked 21st in China's list of top 100 most common surnames. Zheng belongs to the second major group of ten surnames which makes up more than 10% of the Chinese population. Zheng was a major surname of the rich and powerful during China's Tang dynasty.

In Republic of China (Taiwan) and Hong Kong, the name is normally romanized as Cheng or Tcheng (occasionally romanized as Chang in Hong Kong although that variant is more commonly used for another Chinese name, Zhang). In Malaysia, Cheng is commonly romanized as Cheng, Cheang, Chang, Tay, Tee and Teh. It is spelled as Tay in Singapore, The in Indonesia, and Ty in Philippines, from the Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew pronunciation of the character. It is also romanized as Dang from Hokchew.

The surname also has taken form outside of Chinese societies: in Korean, the name is written 정 and transliterated as Jeong, Jung, or Chung. It is the fifth most common Korean surname (after Kim, Lee, Park, and Choi), with about 4.85% of the South Korean population (2,230,611 people) having this name.

Origin

The Zheng surname originated in Henan. In 806 BC, King Xuan, the penultimate king of the Western Zhou dynasty, enfeoffed his younger brother Prince You, who became posthumously known as Duke Huan of Zheng, at Zheng (present-day Hua County, Shaanxi). Duke Huan was killed along with King You of Zhou when the Quanrong tribes sacked the Zhou capital Haojing in 771 BC. Duke Huan was succeeded by his son Duke Wu, who helped King Ping of Zhou establish the Eastern Zhou dynasty in Luoyang, and his feudal state of Zheng was also moved east to present-day Henan. His descendants and many people of the state later adopted Zheng as their surname.

The city of Xingyang is considered as the origin place of the people whose surname is Zheng. Today, Xingyang is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou (鄭州) which translates to "Settlement of Zheng". Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan province and is located within the boundaries of the ancient state of Zheng (state). There is also another city called Xinzheng ("New Zheng"), also under the administration of Zhengzhou.

The Zheng clan character (鄭) is featured prominently on the flag of the short-lived rebel Kingdom of Tungning founded by Ming-loyalist Koxinga (who had the surname Zheng) in Taiwan. Also called the Kingdom of Formosa.

During the Tang dynasty the Li family of Zhaojun , the Cui family of Boling , the Cui family of Qinghe , the Lu family of Fanyang , the Zheng family of Xingyang , the Wang family of Taiyuan , and the Li family of Longxi were the seven noble families between whom marriage was banned by law. The marriages between the families were performed clandestinely after the prohibition was implemented on the seven families by Emperor Gaozong. Their status as "Seven Great surnames" became known during Gaozong's rule.

Distribution

Of the top 30 cities in China, 郑 ranked 4th most common surname in the city of Fuzhou.

Spelling and pronunciation

Notable people

There are over 400 Zhengs listed in the Who's Who in Chinese History.

Royalty

Arts, entertainment & media

Sports, fitness

Other

  • Zheng Chenggong (1624–62), Ming dynasty military leader who founded the rebellious Kingdom of Tungning (1661–1683) in Taiwan during the Qing dynasty, the reason that the flag of Tungning featured the character 鄭 (Zheng) in its flag; better known in the West as Koxinga
  • Zheng He (1371–1435), Chinese mariner and explorer who was famous for his vast treasure fleet and for reaching East Africa, South Asia, and South East Asia
  • Alvin Cheng Kam-moon, a Hong Kong student activist
  • Carrie Lam née Cheng Yuet-ngor, Hong Kong politician
  • Claudio Teehankee (1918–1989), Chinese-Filipino judge, later ambassador. He is included here under Cheng, Zheng because in Hokkien, his surname is Tee; similar to Malaysian or Singapore surnames Teh or Tay.
  • Tay Yong Kwang, Singaporean judge
  • Kevin Joshua Ng, a Filipino-Chinese AI professional based in Manila. While his surname doesn't conform to the common variations of Zheng, his Chinese surname is .

See also

References

External links

Further reading

  • Surnames of a Hundred Families (Bai Jia Xing), 960AD-1127AD
  • Annal of Surnames by Gao Shilian, 627AD
  • Chinese Dimensions: Their Roots, Mindset and Psyche by Dr.Yow Yit Seng, 2006, Malaysia, 1st Edition;