Lú is the

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...

romanization of the

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 ...

written in simplified character and in traditional character. It is also spelled Lo or Loh according to the

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

pronunciation. Lu 卢 is the 52nd most common surname in China, shared by 5.6 million people, or 0.475% of the Chinese population as of 2002. It is especially common in

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

, and

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

provinces. Lu 卢 is listed 167th in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

classic text A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or particularly noteworthy. What makes a book "classic" is a concern that has occurred to various authors ranging from Italo Calvino to Mark Twain and the related questions of "Why Read the C ...

Hundred Family Surnames The ''Hundred Family Surnames'' (), commonly known as ''Bai Jia Xing'', also translated as ''Hundreds of Chinese Surnames'', is a classic Chinese text composed of common Chinese surnames. An unknown author compiled the book during the Song dy ...

''. In 2019 it was the 50th most common surname in Mainland China.

Origins

According to the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

genealogy text '' Yuanhe Xing Zuan'', the surname Lu 卢 originated in the State of Qi during the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

, and descended from Gao Xi (高傒). Gao Xi was the grandson of Prince Gao, who was a son of

Duke Wen of Qi Duke Wen of Qi (; died 804 BC) was from 815 to 804 BC the tenth recorded ruler of the State of Qi during the Western Zhou Dynasty of ancient China. His personal name was Lü Chi (呂赤), ancestral name Jiang ( 姜), and Duke Wen was his posthumo ...

(reigned 815–804 BC) and a descendant of Lü Shang, the founder of Qi. When the Qi ruler Wuzhi was murdered in 685 BC, Gao Xi, then prime minister of Qi, helped to install Prince Xiaobai on the throne, to be known as

Duke Huan of Qi Duke Huan of Qi (; died 643 BC), personal name Xiǎobái (小白), was the ruler of the State of Qi from 685 to 643 BC. Living during the chaotic Spring and Autumn period, as the Zhou dynasty's former vassal states fought each other for supremac ...

, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period. In gratitude, Duke Huan enfeoffed Gao Xi at the city of Lu 卢 (in modern

Changqing District Changqing District () is one of 10 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, East China, covering part of the southwestern suburbs. It has an area of 1,208.54 km2 and has 578,740 permanent ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

province), and many of Gao's descendants adopted Lu 卢 as their surname. This is the main origin of the surname, and Gao Xi is regarded as the founding ancestor of the Lu 卢 surname. According to the

encyclopedia '' Tongzhi'', there was a second source of the Lu 卢 surname from the State of Qi. A branch of Duke Huan of Qi's descendants had the surname Lupu (卢蒲), which was later shortened to Lu. A separate source of Lu was the minor state of Luzi 庐子 or Lu 庐 (in modern

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

province) during the Spring and Autumn period. The descendants of Jili (戢黎), a nobleman of Lu, adopted the name of their state as their surname. Lu 庐 was later simplified to Lu 卢.

Distribution

Of the top 30 cities in China, 卢 ranked 9th most common in the city of

Nanning Nanning (; ; za, Namzningz) is the capital and largest city by population of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South o ...

."https://www.douban.com/group/topic/23803598/"(Chinese)

Later adoption

During the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into th ...

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...

dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen (reigned 467–499 AD) implemented a drastic policy of

sinicization Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix , 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies come under the influence of Chinese culture, particularly the language, societal norms, cul ...

, ordering his own people to adopt Chinese surnames. The Tufulu (吐伏卢) and Molu (莫卢) clans of Xianbei adopted Lu as their surname. The Xianbei people have since completely assimilated into the

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive v ...

. According to the ''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...

'', Zhangchou Taiyi (章仇太翼), a native of

Hejian Commandery Hejian Kingdom, also translated as Hejian Principality ( zh, 河閒國), was a kingdom in early Imperial China, located in present-day southern Hebei province. History In early Han dynasty, Hejian was part of the Zhao Kingdom. The kingdom was cr ...

(in modern

Cangzhou Cangzhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. At the 2020 census, Cangzhou's built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yunhe, Xinhua districts and Cang County largely being conurbated had a populatio ...

) was a famous scholar of the time.

Emperor Yang of Sui Emperor Yang of Sui (隋煬帝, 569 – 11 April 618), personal name Yang Guang (), alternative name Ying (), Xianbei name Amo (), also known as Emperor Ming of Sui () during the brief reign of his grandson Yang Tong, was the second emperor ...

granted him the surname Lu 卢. Zhangchou subsequently became known as Lu Taiyi, and was the ancestor of the prosperous Hejian Lu clan.

Lu clan of Fanyang

In the fourth century BC, the throne of the Qi state was usurped by the Tian clan. Many aristocratic clans that descended from the old ruling house of Jiang (姜), including Lu, fled the state and dispersed all over China. During the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

, the erudite Lu Ao (盧敖) settled in Fanyang Commandery (modern Beijing). The Fanyang Lu clan later became exceedingly prosperous. During the

Jin dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had p ...

, the Fanyang Lu, together with the

Cui clan of Boling The Cui clan of Boling (博陵崔氏) was a notable Chinese clan of noble descent which was politically active from the Han dynasty to the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. They shared the same ancestry as the Cui clan of Qinghe. T ...

, the Wang clan of Taiyuan, the Zheng clan of Xingyang, and the Li clan of Zhao, were considered the five most prominent clans in China (海内五大望族). During the

, eight chancellors were surnamed Lu 盧, including several from Fanyang. During the Tang dynasty the Li clan of Zhao 赵郡李氏, the Cui clan of Boling, the Cui clan of Qinghe, the Lu clan of Fanyang, the Zheng clan of Xingyang 荥阳郑氏, the Wang clan of Taiyuan 太原王氏, and the Li clan of Longxi 隴西李氏 were the seven noble clans between whom marriage was banned by law.http://history.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/slides/Dissertation.pdf p. 67. Their status as "Seven Great surnames" became known during Gaozong's rule.

Notable people

* Lu Wan (盧綰; 256–194 BC),

Western Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a war ...

dynasty general * Lu Zhi (盧植; died 192 AD),

Eastern Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

dynasty politician * Lu Sidao (盧思道; 531–582),

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and la ...

poet *

Lu Chengqing Lu Chengqing (盧承慶) (595–670), courtesy name Ziyu (子餘), formally Duke Ding of Fanyang (范陽定公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. Background Lu Chengqin ...

(盧承慶; 595–670), Tang dynasty chancellor *

Lu Zhaolin Lu Zhaolin (; ca. 634 – ca. 684 or 686), courtesy name Shengzhi, was a Tang dynasty Chinese poet, traditionally grouped together with Luo Binwang, Wang Bo, and Yang Jiong as the Four Paragons of the Early Tang. Biography Lu Zhaolin was bo ...

(盧照鄰; ca. 634 – ca. 686) Tang dynasty poet *

Lu Huaishen Lu Huaishen (盧懷慎; died December 11, 716), formally Count Wencheng of Yuyang (魚陽文成伯), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou (Wu Zhou) dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. ...

(盧懷慎; died 716), Tang dynasty chancellor * Lu Qi (盧杞; died 785), Tang dynasty chancellor *

Lu Lun Lu Lun (, 739–799) was a Chinese poet of the Middle Tang dynasty, with six of his poems being included in the famous anthology '' Three Hundred Tang Poems'', as well as being mentioned in one poem, by Sikong Shu, which was translated by Witter ...

(盧綸; 739-799),

poet * Lu Han (盧翰; fl. 8th century), Tang dynasty chancellor * Lu Tong (盧仝; died 835), Tang dynasty poet * Lu Shang (盧商; 789–859), Tang dynasty chancellor *

Lu Xi Lu Xie (盧攜) (died January 8, 881Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 254.), courtesy name Zisheng (子升), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving two terms as a chancellor during ...

(盧攜; died 881), Tang dynasty chancellor * Lu Zhi (盧摯; 1243–1315),

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...

poet *

Lu Xiangsheng Lu, Lü, or LU may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Lu (music), Tibetan folk music * Lu (duo), a Mexican band ** ''Lu'' (album) * Character from Mike, Lu & Og * Lupe Fiasco or Lu (born 1982), American musician * Lebor na hUidre, a manuscript ...

(盧象昇; 1600-1639), Ming dynasty general of Tianxiong Army * Lu Kun (盧坤; 1772–1835),

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

viceroy of Huguang and Liangguang * Lu Muzhen (盧慕貞; 1867–1952),

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

's first wife *

Lu Yongxiang Lu Yongxiang may refer to: *Lu Yongxiang (warlord) Lu Yongxiang, (; October 22, 1867 – May 15, 1933), Anhui clique warlord, military governor of Zhejiang, Zhili, and Jiangsu. Lu Yongxiang was born October 22, 1867, in Jiyang, Shandong, C ...

(盧永祥; 1867–1933), warlord * C. T. Loo (盧芹齋, Lu Qinzhai; 1880–1957), art dealer * Lu Han (盧漢; 1895–1974),

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Ta ...

general * Lu Jiaxi (chemist) (卢嘉锡; 1915–2001), chemist, President of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

* Lisa Lu (盧燕; Lu Yan; born 1927), actress * Lu Yen (盧炎; Lu Yan; 1930–2008), Taiwanese composer * Lu Yonggen ( 卢永根; 1930–2019), plant geneticist, President of South China Agricultural University * Lu Ruihua (卢瑞华; born 1938), former Governor of

province * Lo Hoi-pang (盧海鵬; Lu Haipeng; born 1941), Hong Kong actor *

Lu Hsiu-yi Lu Hsiu-yi () was a Taiwanese politician and member of the Legislative Yuan. Early life On May 22, 1941, Lu was born in Taiwan while it was under control of Empire of Japan. At age 6, Lu's father died. As a result, the income of his family d ...

(盧修一; Liu Xiuyi; 1941–1998), Taiwanese politician *

Lowell Lo Lowell Lo Kwun Ting (, born 12 October 1950) is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor and film composer. He wrote the film scores to many Hong Kong films. He is now also an environmental activist. Early life Lowell Lo Kwun Ting was born on 12 ...

(盧冠廷; Lu Guanting; born 1950), Hong Kong musician * Anna Lo (盧曼華; Lo Manwah; born 1950), Hong Kong-born Northern Ireland politician *

Lu Zhangong Lu Zhangong (; born May 1952) is a Chinese politician. He is, since 2013, a Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and previously served as the Communist Party Secretary of Fujian and Henan provinces, and Gove ...

(卢展工; born 1952), party chief of

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

and

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

provinces * Ken Lo (盧惠光; Lu Huiguang; born 1959), Hong Kong actor and martial artist * Money Lo (盧敏儀, born 1960), a Hong Kong actress * Ed Lu (盧傑; Lu Jie; born 1963), Chinese-American physicist, NASA astronaut of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

* Lu Shaye (卢沙野; born 1964), diplomat * Chris Lu (盧沛寧; Lu Peining; born 1966), Chinese-American politician *

Candy Lo Candy Lo is a Canto- rock singer-songwriter and film actress from Hong Kong. Formerly the lead vocalist of the band Black and Blue, Lo launched her solo career in 1998 and is best known for the singles, "Trash" () and "Please Break Up" (). C ...

(盧巧音; Lu Qiaoyin; born 1974), Hong Kong singer and actress *

Monica Lo Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...

(卢淑仪; Lu Shuyi; born 1978), Hong Kong-based Canadian actress and model * Lu Rui En (卢瑞恩; born 1981), Singaporean actress and singer * Lu Yen-Hsun (盧彥勳; Lu Yanxun; born 1983), Taiwanese tennis player * Lo Kwan Yee (盧均宜; Lu Junyi; born 1984), Hong Kong football player * Lo Chun Kit (盧俊傑; Lu Junjie; born 1985), Hong Kong football player * Lu Ying-chi (盧映錡; born 1985), Taiwanese weightlifter *

Crowd Lu Crowd Lu (; born 15 July 1985) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter and actor. He is also nicknamed "Vitas Lu" after making a parody of the song Opera No. 2 by the Russian singer Vitas, having the ability to hit the same high notes. Due to a seri ...

(盧廣仲; Lu Guangzhong; born 1985), Taiwanese singer-songwriter * Lu Lin (卢琳; born 1985), football player * Ellen Joyce Loo (盧凱彤; Lu Kaitong; born 1986), Hong Kong-based Canadian singer-songwriter *

Lu Lan Lu Lan (born 2 May 1987) is a badminton player from China. Career In 2004, she won the Polish Open (badminton), Polish Open. In 2006, she won the 2006 Korea Open, Korea Open and finished the year in the 5th position in the BWF World Ranking. In ...

(卢兰; born 1987), badminton player *

Lu Junyi Lu Junyi is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Jade Qilin", he ranks second among the 36 Heavenly Spirits, the first third of the 108 Stars of Destiny. In some Ch ...

(盧俊義), fictional character in the novel ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is ...

'' *

Anson Lo Anson Lo Hon-ting (; born 7 July 1995) is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. In 2018, Lo made his debut as a member of the Hong Kong boy group Mirror. Lo made his solo debut in February 2020 with his first single "A Lifelong Mission" (一 ...

(盧瀚霆; born 1995), Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor

Notable Korean people with the 盧 surname

Lho Shin-yong Lho Shin-yong (Korean: 노신영, 28 February 1930 – 21 October 2019) was a South Korean politician, diplomat and intelligence chief, who served as the 18th Prime Minister, the 18th Foreign Minister and the 12th Director of the Agency of Nat ...

(盧信永; born 1930), 18th Prime Minister of South Korea *

Roh Tae-woo Roh Tae-woo (; ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. Roh was a close ally and friend of Chun Doo-hwan, the predecessor leader ...

(盧泰愚; born 1932), South Korean president *

Ro Jai-bong Ro Jai-bong (born February 8, 1936) is a South Korean politician. He served from December 1990 to May 1991 as the 22nd prime minister of South Korea The prime minister of the Republic of Korea (PMOTROK or PMOSK; ) is the deputy head of gover ...

(盧在鳳; born 1936), 22nd Prime Minister of South Korea * Roh Moo-hyun (盧武鉉; born 1946), South Korean president

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames