The eight great surnames of Chinese antiquity were among the most important

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlik ...

s in Chinese antiquity. They are all Chinese ancestral surnames, and as such have Chinese clan surnames branching off from them During the earliest Chinese antiquity, Chinese society focused on women. Family names often passed from women to their children. Because of this phenomenon, these eight surnames have a component of their

hanzi Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

representing the character woman (女). Today very few people have one of these surnames as a family name. An exception is the surnames Yao and

Jiang Jiang may refer to: * ''Jiang'' (rank), rank held by general officers in the military of China *Jiang (surname), several Chinese surnames **Jiang Zemin (1926–2022), as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party *Jiang River The Jiang Rive ...

. Of these, there are some well-known Chinese of modern times with these names today. One example is

Yao Ming Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Associa ...

(姚明).

The eight surnames

姞 is also sometimes considered one of the eight great surnames of Chinese antiquity. 姞 then replaces the surname 妊.

References

{{Reflist Chinese-language surnames Ancient China Eight Great Surnames of Chinese Antiquity Chinese clans

The eight surnames

See also

References