Zhao / Chao / Chiu
PronunciationZhào, Chao (Mandarin)
Chiu, Ziu6 (Cantonese)
Teo,Teoh, Tio(Hokkien)
Cho, Jo (Korean)
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
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetTriệu
Korean name
Hangul조

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 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

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

Historical figures

Modern figures

See also

Notes

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

References

  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

External links

100 most common family names in Mainland China (2020)
More
This page lists people with the surname Zhao.
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