Xu (胥, ) is a Chinese surname. It is romanized as Hsü 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 Seoi 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 ...
. According to a 2013 study, it was the 267th most common name in China; it was shared by 285,000 people, or 0.021% of the population, being most popular in
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 ...
. It is the 285th name 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 ...
'' poem.
[K. S. Tom. ]989
Year 989 ( CMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Emperor Basil II uses his contingent of 6,000 Varangians to help him defeat Bardas Phokas (the Younger), who suffe ...
(1989). Echoes from Old China: Life, Legends and Lore of the Middle Kingdom. University of Hawaii Press
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
. .
Origins
The character 胥 means "assist," "store" or "all;" it formerly referred to a kind of low-ranking official or assistant. The surname is traced to:
*Xu Chen (胥臣),
style name
A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
of an official in the
state of Jin during 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 ...
(770–476 BC)
*He Xu Shi (赫胥氏), a name of the legendary
Yan Emperor
The Yan Emperor () or the Flame Emperor was a legendary ancient Chinese emperor in pre-dynastic times. Some modern Chinese scholars have identified the Sheep's Head Mountains (''Yángtóu Shān'') Weibin District, Baoji as his homeland and terri ...
Notable people
*
Xu Wumei (胥午梅, born 1962), news anchor
*
Stefano Xu Hongwei (胥红伟, born 1975), Catholic bishop
*
Xu Xu (胥栩, born 1998), footballer
References
{{reflist
Individual Chinese surnames