Huang (surname)

Huang
Simplified Chinese character representing Huang
Romanization
Language(s)Chinese
Origin
MeaningHuang Kingdom or Yellow
Region of originChina
Other names
Derivative(s)Hutomo, Widodo, Wijaya, Winata, Witular, Wiyono (Chinese-Indonesian)
Ancestral Hall of the Huang Family in Majianglong, Kaiping, China

Huang (/ˈhwɑːŋ/; traditional Chinese: 黃; simplified Chinese: 黄) is a Chinese surname that originally means and refers to jade people were wearing and decorating in ancient times. While Huáng is the pinyin romanization of the word, it may also be romanized as Hwang, Wong, Waan, Wan, Waon, Hwong, Vong, Hung, Hong, Bong, Eng, Ng, Uy, Wee, Oi, Oei, Oey, Ooi, Ong, or Ung due to pronunciations of the word in different dialects and languages. It is the 96th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.

This surname is known as Hwang in Korean. In Vietnamese, the name is known as Hoàng or Huỳnh.

Huang is the 7th most common surname in China. Hoang/Huynh is the 5th most common surname in Vietnam. The population of Huangs in China and Taiwan was estimated at more than 35 million in 2020; it was also the surname of more than 2 million overseas Chinese, 5.7 million Vietnamese (6%), and an estimated 1 million Koreans (The 2015 census of South Korea revealed it was the surname for 697,171 South Koreans, ranked 16th).

Huang is also the pinyin romanization of the very rare surname 皇.

Pronunciations/transliterations

Origins

Huang is an ancient surname. According to tradition, there are several different sources of Huang surname origin, for example as descendants of Bo Yi, Lu Zhong (陸終) or Tai Tai (臺駘). There were also at least three Huang Kingdoms 黃國 during Xia 夏朝, Shang 商朝 and Zhou 周朝 dynasties. Most of the people with surname Huang could track back their ancestors to one of the Huang Kingdoms.

Dong Yi Tribe 東夷

The Dong Yi or Eastern Barbarians were ancient people who lived in eastern China during the prehistoric period. They were one of the Four Barbarians in Chinese culture, along with the Northern Di 北狄, the Southern Man 南蠻, and the Western Rong 西戎. The Dong Yi tribe was the tribal alliance group that consisted of nine tribes in the Huai River Basin 淮水流域: Quan Yi 畎夷, Yu Yi 於夷, Fang Yi 方夷, Huang Yi 黃夷, Bai Yi 白夷, Chi Yi 赤夷, Xuan Yi 玄夷, Feng Yi 風夷 and Yang Yi 陽夷. The Dong Yi tribe people used different birds as their totems and for Huang Yi 黃夷 tribe, Yellow Oriole 黃鶯 was the totem. Later when the people from Huang Yi 黃夷 tribe moved and settled in different parts of China, they adopted Huang 黃 as their surname.

Ying Clan 嬴姓

Shaohao 少皋 had a son, Gao Yao and Gao Yao had a son, Bo Yi. Bo Yi helped Emperor Shun and Yu the Great control the Great Flood and got surname Ying (嬴) at early Xia dynasty period. Bo Yi married Emperor Shun's youngest daughter and had three sons (some accounts mentioned only two sons - Da Lian and Ruo Mu):

Xia Yu awarded the Huang kingdom to Da Lian, and his descendants are known as the Huangs. There are total of 14 clans derived from Bo Yi Ying Clan: Lian (廉), Xu (徐), Jiang (江), Qin (秦), Zhao (趙), Huang (黃), Liang (梁), Ma (馬), Ge (葛), Gu (谷), Miao (繆), Zhong (鍾), Fei (費), and Qu (瞿). Rulers of Qin Kingdom, Zhao Kingdom, Qin dynasty and Song dynasty could trace back their ancestor to Bo Yi. Hata Clan (秦氏) of Japan, and Aisin Gioro Clan, Irgen Gioro Clan and Gioro Clan of Manchuria (one of several different opinions) were also derived from Bo Yi Ying Clan.

Ji Clan 姬姓

The lineage of Huang Clan from the Yellow Emperor is as follows: 1) Yellow Emperor 黃帝 -> 2) Chang Yi 昌意 -> 3) Zhuanxu Emperor 顓頊帝 -> 4) Da Ye 大業 (aka Ye the Great) -> 5) Shao Dian 少典 -> 6) Nu Shen 女莘 -> 7) Da Fei 大費 (aka Fei the Great) -> 8) Juan Zhang 卷章 -> 9) Wu Hui 吳回 (also known as Zhurong) -> 10) Lu Zhong 陸終 -> 11) Hui Lian 惠連 (Some accounts state that Hui Lian is son of Fan Ren, son of Lu Zhong). Lu Zhong had six sons:

In 2220 BC during the reign of Emperor Yao 帝堯, Hui Lian 惠連 scored merits in harnessing river floods. Emperor Yao conferred on Hui Lian the title of Viscount 子 (but the nobility system of ancient China is still not clear) and the state of Can'hu 參胡 (in present-day region of Fenyang, Shanxi province). Emperor Yao renamed Can'hu as State of Huang, and bestowed on Hui Lian the surname Huang 黃 and the name "Yun" 雲. Hence, Hui Lian was also known as Huang Yun 黃雲 or Nan Lu 南陆. Hui Lian became the Progenitor of the Huang surname clan. During Western Zhou dynasty, the rulers of the Huang State was given the title of Duke 公. The descendants of Huang Yun (Hui Lian) ruled the Huang State of Shanxi until the early Spring and Autumn period (722 BC-481 BC) when it was conquered by the State of Jin.

Another lineage of Huang Clan from the Yellow Emperor is as follows: 1) Yellow Emperor 黃帝 -> 2) Shao Hao 少昊 -> 3) Jiao Ji 嬌極 -> 4) Hui Gong 揮公 -> 5) Mei 昧 -> 6) Tai Tai 臺駘. Tai Tai helped Zhuan Xu Emperor 顓頊, and he and his descendants (Jin Tian Clan 金天氏) were enfeoffed with Fen Zhou 汾州 at Fen River 汾河 which was further divided into four kingdoms - Huang Kingdom 黃國, Shen Kingdom 沈國, Ru Kingdom 蓐國 and Si Kingdom 姒國.

Development and emigration

In 891 BC King Xiao of Zhou conferred on the 53rd generation descendant of Hui Lian, Huang Xi 黃熙 (aka Huang Shi 黃石) the nobility of 'Hou' 侯 (marquis) and a fiefdom in the region east of the Han river 漢水 (in present-day region of Yicheng, Hubei province) called 'Huang' 黃 (Not to be confused with the Huang State of Fenyang, Shanxi) with the four states Jiang 江, Huang 黃 (founded by 伯益 Bo Yi's descendants), Dao 道, and Bo 柏 in the Huang river 潢水 valley as vassals. The Huang State of Yicheng, Hubei was known as the Western Huang (Xi Huang 西黃) in history.

During the Jin dynasty (266–420), when northern China was invaded by the barbarian tribes, many northerners (especially the aristocratic clans) moved to south China with the Jin court. It was during this period that the Huang clansmen migrated to Fujian.

According to Min Shu 閩書 (Book of Min) (Quoted from Chung Yoon-Ngan): "During the second year (of the reign) of Yongjia (308AD) the Central Plain was in chaos and the eight clans:- Lin 林, Huang 黃, Chen 陳, Zheng 鄭, Zhan 詹, Qiu 邱, He 何, and Hu 胡, entered Min 閩 (present day Fujian province, China)."

From the Tang dynasty (618-907) onwards, many Han Chinese migrated from Fujian to Guangdong and the other southern provinces. Huang grew into a big clan in south China and it is the 3rd biggest surname in Southern China today. The Cantonese Baiyue adopted Huang surname as well.

Huang migration overseas began as early as the 14th century during the Ming dynasty to destinations in Southeast Asia. Migration to Americas began only in the mid-19th century following the forced opening of China's doors to the West. Huang is one of the largest Chinese surname clans in Americas today. The population of overseas Huang Clansmen was estimated at 2 million in 2000.

The surname 皇 has several origins: 1. The descendants of the Three Emperors of ancient China. 2. The descendants of Duke Dai of Song's prince named Huangfu Chongshi 皇父充石. 3.An ancient book Xing Kao 姓考 says Zheng Kingdom has a royal clan named Huang clan 皇氏.

Huang

Huang is the 7th most common surname in China, and the 3rd most common surname in Taiwan. It is also one of the common surnames among Zhuang People, the largest ethnic minority in China, and is also the most common surname in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. 19% of people from China with Surname Huang live in Guangdong Province. The population of people named Huang in China was approximately 29 million and in Taiwan about 1.4 million. In 2019 Huang was again the seventh most common surname in Mainland China.

A 2013 study found that it was the seventh-most common surname, shared by 32,600,000 people or 2.450% of the population, with the province having the most people being Guangdong.

Historical figures with Huang 黃 surname

Eastern Han dynasty Filial Son and Prime Minister Huang Xiang Shu Han Kingdom General Huang Zhong Song dynasty Calligrapher and Filial Son Huang Tingjian Late Ming dynasty Philosopher Huang Zongxi

Modern figures

Chinese Art Historian Huang Binhong Chinese Revolutionary Huang Xing Senior General of PLA Huang Kecheng General Huang Yongsheng Bronze Bust of Physicist Huang Kun

Modern figures (Overseas Chinese)

Thai Economist, Puey Ungphakorn Former Minister of State of Indonesia, Oei Tjoe Tat Former Secretary of Agriculture of the Philippines, Arthur C. Yap Chinese American Billionaire, Jensen Huang

Hwang

Hoàng/Huỳnh

The Vietnamese versions of this surname are Hoàng and Huỳnh. According to Lê Trung Hoa, a Vietnamese scholar, approximately 5.1 percent of Vietnamese people have this surname. The original form of this surname was Hoàng. But in southern Vietnam, Hoàng was ordered to be changed (excluding the Hoàng Trọng family) to Huỳnh due to a naming taboo with the name of Lord Nguyễn Hoàng.

Notable people with Hoàng surname

Vietnamese General, Hoàng Văn Thái

Notable people with Huỳnh surname

Fictional characters with surname Huang

Prince of Wucheng, Huang Feihu (黃飛虎) God of War, Huang Tianhua (黃天化)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Huang". Collins English Dictionary.
  2. ^ K. S. Tom. (1989). Echoes from Old China: Life, Legends and Lore of the Middle Kingdom. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1285-9.
  3. ^ Meaning of Chinese names - H
  4. ^ "Huang". Archived from the original on February 6, 2008. Retrieved 2005-12-15.
  5. ^ 陈建魁; 黄百鸣 (December 2014). 黄姓简史 (in Chinese). Beijing Book Co. ISBN 978-7-210-06665-1.
  6. ^ 黃氏大族譜. 1973.
  7. ^ "The Origin of Huang". Archived from the original on 25 September 2012.
  8. ^ a b "新京报 - 好新闻，无止境".
  9. ^ 中国四百大姓, 袁义达, 邱家儒, Beijing Book Co. Inc., 1 January 2013
  10. ^ Lê Trung Hoa (2005). Họ và tên người Việt Nam, Hà Nội, Việt Nam: NXB Khoa học Xã hội

External links

100 most common family names in Mainland China (2020)
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76–100
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101–200 Most Common Family Names in Mainland China (2013, Fuxi Culture Association)
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