Shao (; HKG Romanisation: Shiu;

Gwoyeu Romatzyh Gwoyeu Romatzyh ( ; GR) is a system for writing Standard Chinese using the Latin alphabet. It was primarily conceived by Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982), who led a group of linguists on the National Languages Committee in refining the system betwe ...

: Shaw) is a common

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 86th most populous family name in China. It corresponds to last name So in Korean; Thiệu or Thiều in Vietnamese; Zau in Wu Chinese/Shanghainese and Siu, Chow, or Sho in other Chinese romanisations. The origin of the family name Shao is thought to have come from the royal lines of 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 ...

in ancient China. The King's loyal subject

Duke of Shao Shi, Duke of Shao (died 1000 ), born Ji Shi, posthumous name Kang (), also known as Lord Shao or Duke of Shao, was a high-ranking minister of the early Zhou dynasty. He was a member of the royal clan, the founding lineage head of the state of Ya ...

(), was thought to have originated the Shao lines.

Notable people

Shao Yong Shao Yong (; 1011–1077), courtesy name Yaofu (堯夫), named Shào Kāngjié (邵康節) was a Chinese cosmologist, historian, philosopher, and poet who greatly influenced the development of Neo-Confucianism across China during the Song dynas ...

(; 1011–1077), philosopher, cosmologist, poet and historian who greatly influenced the development of Neo-Confucianism in China during the Song dynasty * Shao Mi (; 1592–1642), Chinese landscape painter, calligrapher, and poet during the Ming dynasty *

Shao Jiayi Shao Jiayi (; born 10 April 1980) is a Chinese professional football manager and a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the head coach of Chinese Super League club Qingdao West Coast. He represented Beijing Guoan (t ...

(), Chinese soccer player *

Shao Ning Shao Ning (; born 1982-02-17 in Shandong) is a male Chinese judoka who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were ...

(born 1982), Chinese judoka *

Shao Xunmei Shao Xunmei (; Shanghainese: Zau Sinmay; 1906–1968) was a Chinese poet and publisher.Sun and Swindall, p133 He was a contributing writer for ''T'ien Hsia Monthly'', and also was the owner of '' Modern Sketch''.Jones, Andrew F. ''Developmental ...

a.k.a. Zau Sinmay, Chinese poet and publisher * Shao Tong (1994–2014), Chinese student murdered in Iowa *The Shaw brothers: **

Runje Shaw Runje Shaw (1896–1975), also known as Shao Zuiweng (C.W. Shaw) and Shao Renjie, was a Chinese film entrepreneur, producer and director. The eldest of the Shaw brothers, in 1925 he founded Tianyi Film Company (also called Unique Film Productio ...

(1896–1975) **

Runde Shaw Runde Shaw (1898–1973), also known as Shao Cunren and Shao Rendi, was the second-oldest of the Shaw brothers, originally from Ningbo, Zhejiang, China, who established Tianyi Film Company (also called Unique) in Shanghai in the early 1920s, set ...

(1899–1973) **

Runme Shaw Runme Shaw, K.St.J (; 1 January 1901 – 2 March 1985) was the chairman and founder of the Shaw Organisation of Singapore. Runme Shaw and his brother, Run Run Shaw, together known as the Shaw Brothers, were pioneers in the film and entertainme ...

(1901–1985) **

Run Run Shaw Sir Run Run Shaw (born Shao Renleng; 19 November 1907 – 7 January 2014), also known as Shao Yifu and Siu Yat-fu, was a Hong Kong businessman, filmmaker, and philanthropist. He was one of the foremost influential movie moguls in the East As ...

(1907–2014) * Shao Yunhuan (), Chinese journalist killed in the 1999

United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade On May 7, 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia (Operation Allied Force), five U.S. Joint Direct Attack Munition guided bombs hit the People's Republic of China embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, killing three Chinese journalists and outragi ...

Ivy Shao Ivy Shao () is a Taiwanese actress, singer and model. She is best known for her leading role in the 2016 hit drama, '' Back to 1989''. Since then, she has also starred in '' The Perfect Match'' with Wu Kang-jen and Ben Wu in 2017. Career 20 ...

() is a Taiwanese actress

Fictional Characters

Shao Kahn Shao Kahn is a character and one of the antagonists of the ''Mortal Kombat'' fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Depicted as the emperor of the fictional realm Outworld. Feared for his immense strength, which he comp ...

Emperor of Outworld in the

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...

universe. {{surname, Shao Chinese-language surnames Individual Chinese surnames