Xiong is the

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

of the

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicization, 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, ...

熊 (''Xióng''). It is 41st in 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 ...

, contained in the verse 熊紀舒屈 (Xiong, Ji, Shu, Qu).

Romanizations

熊 is also romanized as Hsiung² in Wade-Giles. It is Hung or Hong in

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

; Him in

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

, Hong or Yoong in

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

; Hiōng in

Gan The word Gan or the initials GAN may refer to: Places * Gan, a component of Hebrew placenames literally meaning "garden" China * Gan River (Jiangxi) * Gan River (Inner Mongolia), * Gan County, in Jiangxi province * Gansu, abbreviated '' ...

; Hùng in

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

; and Xyooj in

Hmong Hmong may refer to: * Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand * Hmong cuisine * Hmong customs and culture ** Hmong music ** Hmong textile art * Hmong language, a continuum of closely related ...

. Note that "Hong" and "Hung" may also refer to the unrelated surname

洪 Hong is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname (''Hóng''). It was listed 184th among the Song-era ''Hundred Family Surnames''. Today it is not among the 100 most common surnames in mainland China but it was the 15th-most-common surname ...

Distribution

熊 is the 71st 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 ...

. Although Chinese make up the largest part of the United States' population of

Asian Pacific Americans Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian ...

,United States Census Bureau.
Census 2000: Chinese Largest Asian Group in the United States
. 4 Mar 2002. Accessed 29 Mar 2012. none of the romanizations of 熊 appeared among the 1000 most common surnames during the 2000 United States census.

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

.
Genealogy Data: Frequently Occurring Surnames from Census 2000
. 27 Sept 2011. Accessed 29 Mar 2012.

Origins

Xiong's literal meaning is "

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

". In

ancient China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

, it was used as a clan name by a branch of the Mi (), the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

of the

state of Chu Chu (, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was an Ancient Chinese states, ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BC. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted ...

. As recorded by

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

, they claimed descent from

Zhuanxu Zhuanxu (), also known as Gaoyang (), was a mythological emperor of ancient China. In the traditional account recorded by Sima Qian, Zhuanxu was a grandson of the Yellow Emperor. Association with Four Barbarians At the age of ten with Shao ...

, a son of the

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 ...

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...

, and

Yuxiong Yuxiong (, reigned 11th century BC), also known as Yuzi or Master Yu (), was an early ruler of the ancient Chinese state that was later known as Chu. He was an ally and teacher of King Wen of Zhou (reigned 1099–1050 BC), the first king of the Zh ...

(), a

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

of the

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 ...

in the 11th century BC. After the victory of the

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 ...

over the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...

at the

Battle of Muye The Battle of Muye, Mu, or Muh () was fought between forces of the ancient Chinese Shang dynasty led by King Zhou of Shang and the rebel state of Zhou led by King Wu. The Zhou defeated the Shang at Muye and captured the Shang capital Yin, ...

Yuxiong's descendants supposedly remained prominent at the Zhou court and took the surname Xiong. The

King Cheng of Zhou King Cheng of Zhou (; 1055–1021 BC), personal name Ji Song, was the second king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1042–1021 BCE or 1042/35–1006 BCE. Ji Dan, Duke of Zhou served as regent during his minority. His pare ...

then appointed

Xiong Yi Xiong Yi is the personal name of: * Xiong Yi (11th century BC), ruler of Chu * Ruo'ao (died 764 BC), ruler of Chu * King Dao of Chu (died 381 BC), ruler of Chu {{hndis ...

, Yuxiong's great-grandson, viscount of the

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of Chu. More likely, the clan name is a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

of a non-

Sinitic The Sinitic languages (), often synonymous with the Chinese languages, are a group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute a major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is frequently proposed that there is a primary split be ...

dynasty, with modern scholarship believing the character was used to transcribe a Kam–Tai word also meaning "bear". Eventually rising to the status of

kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations. *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...

, the family retained control of Chu until its conquest by Qin 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 ...

. Some regained control of later successor states and the surname remains prominent in the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

formerly comprising the territory of Chu.

List of persons with the surname

Xiong

Xiong Ni Xiong Ni (; born January 11, 1974, in Changsha, Hunan) is a Chinese diver who won his first Olympic medal at the age of 14 at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. He also competed at the Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000. Biography He atten ...

, Chinese diver and triple

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

ist *

Xiong Qinglai Xiong Qinglai, or Hiong King-Lai (, October 20, 1893 – February 3, 1969), courtesy name Dizhi (), was a Chinese mathematician from Yunnan. He was the first person to introduce modern mathematics into China, and served as an influential preside ...

, Chinese mathematician *

Xiong Xianghui Xiong Xianghui (April 12, 1919 – September 9, 2005) was a Chinese Communist Party spy during the Chinese Civil War, and, after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, a high-ranking official in diplomacy and intelligence. He ...

, Chinese diplomat *

Xiong Shili Xiong Shili (, 1885 – May 23, 1968) was a Chinese essayist and philosopher whose major work ''A New Treatise on Vijñaptimātra'' (新唯識論, ''Xin Weishi Lun'') is a Confucian critique of the Buddhist ''Vijñapti-mātra'' "consciousnes ...

, Chinese philosopher *

Xiong Xiling Xiong Xiling, or Hsiung Hsi-ling (); 23 July 1870 – 25 December 1937) was a Chinese philanthropist and politician, who served as premier of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from July 1913 to February 1914. Biography

Bo ...

, Chinese philanthropist and politician * Xiong Zhaoren, Chinese general *

Hui Xiong Hui Xiong () is a data scientist. Xiong Hui holds esteemed positions at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) as a Chair Professor, and Associate Vice President for Knowledge Transfer. Before joining HKUST(GZ), he was a ...

, data scientist *

Jeffery Xiong Jeffery Xiong (born October 30, 2000) is an American chess grandmaster. He earned the Grandmaster title in September 2015 at the age of fourteen, the fourth youngest player to qualify in the US. Chess career Xiong was aged seven when he play ...

, United States

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...

* Dylan Xiong Ziqi, Chinese artist * Li Xiong (computer scientist)

Hsiung

* Chao Agnes Hsiung, Taiwanese biostatistician * Hsiung Shih-I, Chinese writer *

Tiffany Hsiung Tiffany Hsiung is a Canadians, Canadian documentary filmmaker. She is most noted for her 2016 documentary film ''The Apology (2016 film), The Apology'', which won a Peabody Award in 2019, and her 2020 short documentary film ''Sing Me a Lullaby'', ...

, Canadian documentary filmmaker

Hung

Lynn Hung Xiong Dailin (熊黛林, born 10 October 1980), better known as Lynn Hung, is a Hong Kong–based fashion model and actress originally from mainland China. Born in Nanjing, China, Hung moved her base of modeling activities to Hong Kong in 2006 ...

, Chinese model

Song

Brenda Song Brenda Song (born March 27, 1988) is an American actress of Hmong and Thai descent. Born in Sacramento, California, Song began her career at the age of six, working as a child model. She made her screen debut with a guest appearance on the ...

, Hmong American actress

Yoong

Alex Yoong Alexander Charles Yoong Loong (; born 20 July 1976) is a Malaysian racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One at 18 Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix from to . Yoong remains the only Malaysian driver to ...

, Malaysian race car driver

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . {{Authority control Chinese-language surnames Multiple Chinese surnames Bears in human culture