''Jī'' () was the
ancestral name of the
Zhou dynasty which ruled China between the 11th and 3rd centuries BC. Thirty-nine members of the family ruled China during this period while many others ruled as
local lords, lords who eventually gained great autonomy during the
Spring and Autumn and
Warring States periods. Ji is a relatively uncommon surname in modern China, largely because its bearers often adopted the names of their states and fiefs as new
surnames
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...
.
The character is composed of the radicals (
Old Chinese: ''nra'', "woman") and (OC: ''ɢ(r)ə'', "chin").
[Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. '' '', pp. 61, 106, & 175. 2011. Accessed 11 October 2011.] It is most likely a
phono-semantic compound, with ''nra'' common in the earliest
Zhou-era
family names and ''ɢ(r)ə'' marking a rhyme of (OC: ''K(r)ə'').
The legendary and historical record shows the Zhou Ji clan closely entwined with the
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, an ancient riv ...
(), who seem to have provided many of the Ji lords' high-ranking spouses.
A popular theory in recent Chinese scholarship has suggested that they represented two important clans the Ji originally centered on the
Fen River in
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
and the Jiang around the Wen River in
Shaanxi whose union produced the
Zhou state ruled by
Old Duke Danfu, although the theory remains problematic.
In the family hymns recorded in the ''Classic of Poetry'', the Ji (姬) family is traced from the
miraculous birth of the
Xia dynasty culture hero and court official
Houji caused by his
mother's stepping into a footprint left by the supreme god
Shangdi.
['' Book of Songs''. III.2.1.] The ''
Records of the Grand Historian'' instead make Houji the son of the
Emperor Ku, descendant of
Yellow Emperor.
Sima Qian
Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years b ...
. '' Records of the Grand Historian''.
It is sometimes listed as one of the
Eight Great Surnames of Chinese Antiquity, replacing when present.
Ancient rulers with the surname
*Kings of the
Zhou dynasty (周朝)
*Rulers of the
State of Wu
Wu (; Old Chinese: ''*'') was one of the states during the Western Zhou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn period. It was also known as Gouwu ( /''*''/) or Gongwu ( /''*''/) from the pronunciation of the local language.
Wu was located at the ...
(吳), who claimed descent from
Taibo
*Rulers of
Eastern Guo (東虢) and
Western Guo (西虢), descended from
Jili's two younger sons
*Rulers of
Han (韓), descended from a son of
King Wen of Zhou
King Wen of Zhou (; 1152–1050 BC, the Cultured King) was Count of state of Zhou, Zhou during the late Shang dynasty in ancient China. Although frequently confused with his fourth son Duke of Zhou, also known as "Lord Zhou", they are different hi ...
*Rulers of
Teng, descended from a son of King Wen of Zhou
*Rulers of
Wey
Wey may refer to:
Places
*Wey (state) (衞), or Wei, ancient Chinese state during the Zhou Dynasty
*River Wey, river in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex, England
*River Wey (Dorset), river of Dorset, south west England
*Wey and Arun Canal, canal ...
(卫), descended from a son of King Wen of Zhou
*Rulers of
Wei
Wei or WEI may refer to:
States
* Wey (state) (衛, 1040–209 BC), Wei in pinyin, but spelled Wey to distinguish from the bigger Wei of the Warring States
* Wei (state) (魏, 403–225 BC), one of the seven major states of the Warring States per ...
(魏), descended from a son of King Wen of Zhou
*Rulers of the State of Liu (劉) from Duke Kang of Liu (劉康公), son of
King Qing of Zhou
*Rulers of
Xing (邢), descended from Pengshu of Xing
*Rulers of
Cai (蔡), descended from
Cai Shu Du
*Rulers of
Cao, descended from Cao Shu Zhenduo
*Rulers of
Jin state (晉), descended from
Tang Shu Yu
Shu Yu of Tang (), ancestral name (姓): Ji (姬) given name (名): Yu (虞), and Ziyu (子於), was the founder of the State of Tang during the early Zhou Dynasty (1046–771 BC) of ancient China. The State of Tang would later be renamed Jin by ...
*Rulers of
Lu (魯), descended from
Bo Qin, son of the
Duke of Zhou
*Rulers of
Zheng
*Rulers of
Han, which claimed descent from
Han Wuzi, a grandson of
Marquis Mu of Jin
*Rulers of
Shen (沈), from sons of
King Wen of Zhou
King Wen of Zhou (; 1152–1050 BC, the Cultured King) was Count of state of Zhou, Zhou during the late Shang dynasty in ancient China. Although frequently confused with his fourth son Duke of Zhou, also known as "Lord Zhou", they are different hi ...
*Rulers of
Xi (息)
*Rulers of
Yan (燕) from
Duke of Shao, brother of
King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhou () was the first king of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BC and ended three years later in 1043 BC.
King Wu's ancestral name was ...
*Rulers of Cen (岑), from Viscount Ji Qu, nephew of the
Duke of Zhou
*Rulers of Xianyu (鮮虞), who dwelt among the
Di.
Other notable people
*Ji Jin-chun (born 1877), Governor of Rehe and Suiyuan (1921–28), fought the Russians and the Japanese
*Ji Hong-chang (born 1895), Governor of Ningxia and prominent Nationalist
*
Ji Pengfei (born 1910), a prominent Communist
*
Ji Shengde, former head of Chinese military intelligence
Other surnames adopted by descendants of Ji
* Any surname
derived from the Zhou dynasty Ji-descent vassal states
*
Qiū (秋)
*
Wēng (翁)
**
Hóng (洪)
**
Jiāng (江)
**
Fāng (方)
**
Gōng (龚)
**
Wāng (汪)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ji (surname)
Chinese-language surnames
Individual Chinese surnames
Eight Great Surnames of Chinese Antiquity