Jì is the

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

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 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, ...

written in

simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one that is simpler (usually shorter), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...

and in

traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

. It is romanized as Chi in

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles ( ) is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from the system produced by Thomas Francis Wade during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert Giles's '' A Chinese–English Dictionary'' ...

, and Kai or Gai 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 ...

. Ji is listed 113th in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

classic text ''

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 ...

''. Relatively uncommon, it is not among the top 300 surnames in China. A 2013 study found it was the 316th-most common surname, being shared by 165,0000 people or 0.012% of the population, with the province with the most being

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

Origins

According to the

text '' Lushi'', a lineage that descended from

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 ...

was enfeoffed at Ji 计, and adopted it as their surname. According to the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

genealogy text ''Xingshi Kaolue'' (姓氏考略), another source of the Ji surname was 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 ...

Dongyi The Dongyi or Eastern Yi () was a collective term for ancient peoples found in Chinese records. The definition of Dongyi varied across the ages, but in most cases referred to inhabitants of eastern China, then later, the Korean peninsula and Jap ...

state of Ju, whose capital was at Jijin (计斤, in present-day Jiaozhou,

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

). Some citizens of Jijin adopted Ji as their surname.

Notable people

* Ji Ran (計然),

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 ...

scholar of the

state of Yue Yue (), also known as Yuyue ( or ), was a state in ancient China which existed during the first millennium BC the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of China's Zhou dynasty in the modern provinces of Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangsu ...

Ji Yougong Ji may refer to: Names and titles * Ji (surname), the pinyin romanization of several distinct Chinese surnames * Ji (Korean name), a Korean surname and element in given names (including lists of people with the name) * -ji, an honorific used a ...

( 計有功; fl. 12th century),

scholar and official *

Ji Sheng Ji Sheng (), was a Chinese imperial painter during the Xuande era of the Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse ...

(計盛; 15th century),

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

painter * Ji Cheng (計成; 1582 – c. 1642), Ming dynasty garden designer *

Ji Liuqi Ji may refer to: Names and titles * Ji (surname), the pinyin romanization of several distinct Chinese surnames * Ji (Korean name), a Korean surname and element in given names (including lists of people with the name) * -ji, an honorific used a ...

( 計六奇; 1622 – ?), Ming and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

dynasty historian *

Ji Zhiwen Andrew Gih or Ji Zhiwen ( zh, t=計志文, s=计志文, first=t, w=Chi Chih-wên, p=Jì Zhìwén; January 10, 1901 – February 13, 1985) was a Chinese Protestant evangelist who cofounded the Bethel Worldwide Evangelistic Band in the early 192 ...

(计志文; 1901–1985), Christian leader, founder of the Evangelize China Fellowship *

Ji Chunhua Ji Chunhua (; 20 July 1961 – 11 July 2018), sometimes romanized as Gai Chun Wa, was a Chinese actor and action choreographer. Just like Jet Li and Yu Chenghui, he was a Mainland China-trained wushu athlete who started his acting career in th ...

(计春华; born 1961), film actor * Ji Cheng (计成; born 1987), first Chinese cyclist to race in a Grand Tour * Yusheng Ji (計宇生), Japanese electrical engineer

References

{{surname Individual Chinese surnames