Yang (; ) is the

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, often th ...

of a

Chinese family name Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in Greater China, Korea, Vietnam and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the W ...

. It is the sixth most common surname in

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

. It is the 16th surname on the ''

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

'' text. The Yang clan was founded by Boqiao, son of

Duke Wu of Jin Duke Wu of Jin (), personal name Ji Cheng, also known as Duke Wu of Quwo (), was the last ruler of the Quwo (曲沃) state who later became a ruler of the Jin state. Reign in Quwo In 716 BC, Count Zhuang of Quwo died and his son Cheng ascended ...

in the Spring and Autumn period of the Ji (姬) surname, the surname of the royal family during the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

) who was enfeoffed in the state of Yang.

History

The German sociologist

Wolfram Eberhard Wolfram Eberhard (March 17, 1909 – August 15, 1989) was a professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley focused on Western, Central and Eastern Asian societies. Biography Born in Potsdam, German Empire, he had a str ...

calls Yang the "Monkey Clan", citing the totemistic myth recorded in the ''

Soushenji ''In Search of the Supernatural'' (), is a 4th-century Chinese compilation of legends, short stories, and hearsay concerning Chinese gods, ghosts, and other supernatural phenomena in the '' zhiguai'' and '' chuanqi'' styles. Although the author ...

'' and ''

Fayuan Zhulin ''Fayuan Zhulin'' (; "Forest of Gems in the Garden of the Dharma"), in 100 ''juan'' (卷 "volume", "fascicle"), is a Buddhist encyclopedia compiled AD 668 by Daoshi (道世). It comprises Buddhist and other ancient texts otherwise lost, and is th ...

'' that the Yangs living in southwestern Shu (modern

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

) were descendants of monkeys. The ''Soushenji'' "reported that in the southwest of Shu there were monkey-like animals whose names were ''jiaguo'' (猳國), ''mahua'' (馬化), or '' jueyuan'' (玃猿). These animals abducted women and sent them back when they became pregnant. If the baby were not accepted, the woman would have to die. Therefore these children were raised and they received the clan name the Yang surname. For this reason this clan occurred quite frequently in Southwest Shu."

Emperor of Hua Xia System

Direct descendants of Huang Di of Hua Xia include descendants of

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch, or Huangdi ( zh, t=黃帝, s=黄帝, first=t) in Chinese, is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He is revered as ...

and

Chiyou Chiyou () is a mythological being that appears in Chinese mythology. He was a tribal leader of the Nine Li tribe () in ancient China. He is best known as a king who lost against the future Yellow Emperor during the Three Sovereigns and Five Empero ...

during the

Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty (; ) is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, it was established by the legendary figure Yu the Great, after Emperor Shun, Shun, the last of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Fiv ...

, also many sons and grandsons of

Yu the Great Yu the Great or Yu the Engineer was a legendary king in ancient China who was credited with "the first successful state efforts at flood control", his establishment of the Xia dynasty, which inaugurated Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic ru ...

, have taken Yang as surname, some of its sub-domains are the prominent Yang Jian of Zhou which take role as a Heavenly Marshal take his colony to seek peace after the Zhou dynasty win and erected his colony peacefully. And also Yang Ren is known through the title of Grand Counselor. Which appear at

Fengshen Yanyi ''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese titles () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Co ...

or Investiture of the Gods, novel accordingly to the historical founding of the

Korean System

Descendants of Yang Eulna (梁乙那), the first historical ancestor of the Jeju's Yang clan was a Shilla figure, but according to another source, his distant ancestor was one of three men who ascended from a cave on the north side of

Cheju Island Jeju Island ( Jeju/) is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of , which is 1.83% of the total area of the country. Alongside outlying islands, it is part of Jeju Province and makes up the majority of the province. The island lies in ...

’s Halla Mountain,

Jeju’s Tamnagook kingdom Tamna () was a kingdom based on Jeju Island from ancient times until it was absorbed by the Korean Joseon dynasty in 1404, following a long period of being a tributary state or autonomous administrative region of various Korean kingdoms. The Go ...

who built the Yang Clan there.

Renaming System

The Yang clan was founded by Boqiao (伯僑) and later become Yang Boqiao (楊伯僑) with Yang, as usual ducal courtesy name, son of

in the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

of the Ji (姬) surname, the surname of the royal family during the

(c. 8th to 5th centuries BC) who was enfeoffed a vast land, the state of Yang, with its central in at ancient's Shaanxi. This name was derived from Yangshe (羊舌) literally “sheep’s tongue”. During the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

(403–221 BC) his descendants fled to escape destruction by the conquering the Qin, and simplified their surname to Yang. Yang clan of Hongnong refer to themselves as "Yang of the Hall of Four Wisdoms (楊四知)". The "Hall of Four Wisdoms (四知堂)" refers to a story concerning Yang Zhen (楊震), an official of the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

(206 BC - 220 AD), and known for his erudition as well as moral character. When a man named Wang Mi (王密) visited Yang Zhen at night and attempted to bribe him 10

catties The jin () or catty (from Malay ''kati'') is a traditional Chinese unit of mass used across East and Southeast Asia, notably for weighing food and other groceries. Related units include the picul (dan/shi), equal to 100 catties, and the tael (l ...

of gold, Yang rejected the gift. Wang Mi persevered, saying that nobody would know. Yang Zhen famously retorted "Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know and I know. How can you say that nobody would know?" Descendants of Yang Zhen adopted the "four wisdoms", or "Si Zhi (四知)" as the title of their clan hall. Some Yang family clan halls in various parts of China still carry this name.

Translation of Yangs System

Homogenization of another surname pronounced ''Yang'' join into the Yang surname, written with a "hand" radical rather than the "wood" radical. The two characters were used interchangeably in ancient times. The Yang surname members adopted many local sounding and customizable Western style or another language beside Mandarin Chinese surnames with even neutralization name and changes rapidly through generations, but some still preserved Mandarin Chinese character name as secondary name beside the legal name, and appear a lot in some countries like Laos, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, etc. Some examples of it are

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding white woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand * House of Karen, a historic ...

and other names at Thailand. Yang is most often the transliteration of the character

楊 Yang (; ) is the Transcription (linguistics), transcription of a Chinese family name. It is the list of common Chinese surnames#People's Republic, sixth most common surname in Mainland China. It is the 16th surname on the ''Hundred Family Surnames ...

. The same character can also mean a type of poplar. The character is composed of a "wood" radical ''mu'' (木) on the left and the character ''yi/yang'' ( 昜) on the right, which indicates the pronunciation of the whole character.

Lineage

This is current asserted prevalent lineage for the Yang surname prior to Boqiao: Huangdi (黃帝) ->

Shaohao Shaohao (), also known as Jin Tian (), was a legendary Chinese sovereign, usually identified as a son of the Yellow Emperor. According to some traditions, such as that within the ''Book of Documents'', Shaohao is one of the Five Emperors. His pla ...

(少昊) ->

Emperor Ku Kù (, variant graph ), usually referred to as Dì Kù (), also known as Gaoxin or Gāoxīn Shì () or Qūn (), was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. He went by the name Gaoxin until receiving imperial authority, when he took the name Ku and t ...

(帝喾) ->

Hou Ji Hou Ji (or Houji; ) was a legendary Chinese culture hero credited with introducing millet to humanity during the time of the Xia dynasty.. Millet was the original staple grain of north and South China, northern China, prior to the introduction of ...

(后稷) ->

Gugong Danfu King Tai of Zhou () or Gugong Danfu () was a leader of the Predynastic Zhou during the Shang dynasty in ancient China. His great-grandson King Wu of Zhou, Fa would later conquer the Shang and establish the Zhou dynasty. Name "King Tai" was a posth ...

(古公亶父) ->

King Wen of Zhou King Wen of Zhou ( zh, c=周文王, p=Zhōu Wén Wáng; 1152–1050 BC, the Cultured King) was the posthumous title given to Ji Chang ( zh, c=姬昌), the patriarch of the Zhou state during the final years of Shang dynasty in ancient China. J ...

(周文王) ->

King Wu of Zhou King Wu of Zhou (; died ), personal name Ji Fa, was the founding king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BCE and ended with his death three years later. Ki ...

(周武王) ->

Shu Yu of Tang Ji Yu, commonly known as "Yu, oyalUncle of Tang" (), was the founder of the Tang state (later renamed "Jin" by his son and successor, Ji Xie). He was a son of King Wu of Zhou and Yi Jiang and the younger brother of King Cheng of Zhou. He was a ...

(唐叔虞) ->

Marquis Mu of Jin Marquis Mu of Jin (), personal name Ji Feiwang, was a monarch of the Jin state. He succeeded his father, Marquis Xian, to the throne of Jin. In 808 BC, Marquis Mu married a woman from the royal family of Qi to be one of his concubines. In 805 ...

(晉穆侯) -> Zhuang Bo of Quwo (曲沃莊伯) ->

(晉武公) -> Boqiao () -> Yang Shíwo ()

Notable people

* Bryant Y Yang (born 1981/1982), American state court judge *

Cassie Yeung Cassie Yeung (born April 13, 1994) is an American chef, TikToker, and dancer. Early life and education Yeung was born on April 13, 1994, and grew up in South Brunswick, New Jersey. She is of Chinese Singaporean descent. Yeung attended South Br ...

, American chef, social median influencer, and dancer * Denise Yeung, Hong Kong racing driver *

Suzie Yeung Suzie Yeung (born June 12, 1991) is an American voice actress. She is known for playing Yuffie Kisaragi in ''Final Fantasy VII Remake'' and ''Final Fantasy VII Rebirth'', Eula in ''Genshin Impact,'' Makima in ''Chainsaw Man,'' Chitose Fujinom ...

, American voice actress *

George Yeo George Yeo Yong-Boon ( zh, s=杨荣文, p=Yáng Róngwén; born 13 September 1954) is a Singaporean former politician and brigadier-general who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs between 2004 and 2011. Yeo served in the Singapore Army an ...

, Singapore Minister of Foreign Affairs *

Michelle Yeoh Yeoh Choo Kheng (; born 6 August 1962), known professionally as Michelle Yeoh (), is a Malaysian actress. In a career spanning over four decades, Yeoh has appeared Michelle Yeoh filmography, in projects encompassing a wide array of genres, a ...

, Malaysian actress and

Oscar Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

winner *

Momo Yeung Momo Yeung ( Chinese: 楊敏軒) is a Hong Kong actress and ballerina based in the United Kingdom. She began her career dancing with St. Margaret's Festival Ballet and Manchester City Ballet, appearing in ''The Nutcracker'', '' The Sleeping Beauty ...

, Hong Kong actress *

Yang Shangkun Yang Shangkun (3 August 1907 – 14 September 1998) was a Chinese Chinese Communist Party, Communist military and political leader, president of the People's Republic of China from 1988 to 1993, and one of the Eight Elders that dominated the par ...

(1907–1998), former

President of the People's Republic of China The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state representative of the China, People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a Fig ...

Yang Chen-Ning Yang Chen-Ning or Chen-Ning Yang (; born 1 October 1922), also known as C. N. Yang or by the English name Frank Yang, is a Chinese theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to statistical mechanics, integrable systems, gauge th ...

(born 1922), Chinese Nobel laureate and

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...

* Yang Jian (541–604), emperor of the Chinese

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

* Yang Jingru, (born 2006), gold medal-winning speed skater *

Yang Ling-fu Yang Ling-fu (, December 16, 1889 – September 4, 1978) was a Chinese artist. Early life and education Yang was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, the daughter of Yang Zhongji, a government official and diplomat. Her older brother, , was a poet, editor, g ...

(1889–1978), Chinese artist *

Yang Pao'an Yang Pao'an (, 1896–1931) was a Chinese Marxist and early member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Born in Xiangshan County, Guangdong, he promoted the spread of Marxism in southern China through newspaper publications and involveme ...

(1896–1931), Chinese Marxist and writer *

Yang Tengbo Yang Tengbo (, born ), also known as Chris Yang, is a Chinese businessman. He was barred from the United Kingdom by the Home Office in 2023 following accusations that he was using his relationship with Prince Andrew, Duke of York to Chinese intel ...

(born c. 1974), Chinese businessman *

Yang Jianxin Yang Jianxin ( zh, 杨建新), more commonly known as Tony Yang or Antonio Lim in the Philippines, is a Chinese businessman based in Cagayan de Oro. Early life A Chinese citizen, Tony Yang was born as Yang Jianxin in Jinjiang, Quanzhou in Fujia ...

(born c. 1970), Chinese businessman *

Yang Hongming Yang Hongming ( zh, 杨鸿明; born 1976), commonly known as Michael Yang in the Philippines, is a Chinese businessman who is an associate of Rodrigo Duterte, the 16th president of the Philippines. From 2016 to 2018, Yang served as president D ...

, Economic adviser to President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

References

External links

Chinese surname history: Yang杨氏寻根网: Yang
{{surname, Yang Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames