Zhang is among the most common Chinese surnames. In the 1990 edition of Guinness Book of Records, it was listed as the world's most common surname, with over 100 million people worldwide with this surname. It was also ranked third in the People's Republic of China by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in early 2006. . The use of this surname dates back to about 4,700 years ago.
Zhang is pronounced and transliterated in a variety of ways. In it is Hanyu Pinyin:
Zhāng, Wade-Giles:
Chang, Tongyong Pinyin:
Jhāng. In it is :
Jèung, Jyutping:
Zoeng1, :
Cheung. In Shanghainese, it is
Tsan or
Tsaon. In Minnan, it is Pe?h-oē-jī:
Tiu?, in Southeast Asia where a variety of dialects are spoken:
Teo or
Teoh in the Minnan/ dialects,
Chong in ,
Cheong in Cantonese and many other spellings based on the romanisation of the Chinese dialects used. The corresponding is ? which is frequently transliterated as
Jang or
Chang. Some confusion arises with the surnames Zhuang and Jiang that are also written as ? in Korean, and which are also frequently transliterated as ''Jang'' or ''Chang''. The corresponding version is
Tr??ng or
Trang.
Another Zhang, 章, is a less common surname which also has the same pronunciation of ''Zhāng'' in Mandarin, ''Cheung'' in Cantonese, and ''Jang'' in Korean. However, this name is pronounced differently in Minnan than ''Tiu?'' . Likewise, the Vietnamese can clearly distinguish this name, pronounced Ch??ng, or Trang from Tr??ng .Although both of the Zhang and have the same pronunciation,both are not related and had different story of it's origin.
Character analysis
The character comprises 弓 and 长 . Appropriately, the ancient form of this character uses 巨 in place of 长, thereby suggesting an even more concrete idea; this form is considered today to be that of an ancient variant which has since faded from everyday usage. Zhāng's literal translation is "to open forth", or "to spread", although its common use is a measure word for flat objects such as paper and mattresses.
History of the surname
The origin of the surname Zhang is legendary. The fifth son of , the legendary supreme ancestor of all Han Chinese, was Qīng Yáng Shì . Qīng Yáng Shì's son Huī was inspired by the Chinese Arc Constellation -- Tiān Gōng Xīng in the sky and invented the bow. Later Hui was assigned as Gōng Zhèng , the minister in charge of observing the Arc Constellation and making bows. Then Hui and his descendants were bestowed the surname Zhang, which, if broken into its constituent radicals, would mean "the master of bows" in Chinese. It is believed that the ancestors of Zhangs were archers and the bow as a totem of their tribe.
Prominent people with Chinese family name 張/张
Entertainment
* , Taiwanese talk-show host, more commonly known as Fei Ge
* Angela Chang Tawainese Musician/Singer
* , Taiwanese singer/ Tribal Princess
* , Taiwanese singer
* , Taiwanese singer-songwriter and TV presenter
* Chang Yu-Sheng , Taiwanese singer and producer
* Chang Chen-yue, Taiwanese rock musician
* , actress and singer from Hong Kong
* , actor and singer
* , actor and singer
* or Zhang Man Yu , actress
* , actress
* Cheung Tak Lan, singer
* , Miss Malaysia, 1997
* , Miss Malaysia, 1998
* Zhang Liyin, Chinese singer but a Korean artist. Part of SM Entertainment.
* , Chinese film director
* Zhang Yimou , Chinese film director
Literature, writing, journalism
* , American writer
* or Zhang Rong , author of Wild Swans
* Zhang Ailing or Eileen Chang , female story writer
* Zhang Chengzhi , writer
* Zhang Dai Ming dynasty essayist, historian.
* Zhang Xiguo or Chang Hsi-kuo , Taiwanese science fiction author
Sports
* , tennis player
* , figure skater
* Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao , figure skaters. Won silver in and at the 2006 Winter Olympics
* Zhang Juanjuan, athlete
* Zhang Liangliang, Olympian, foil fencer
* Zhang Ning , badminton player
* Zhang Yining, table tennis player
* Zhang Yuning , footballer aka ''Chinese David Beckham''
* , beach volleyball player
Government, military
* Teo Chee Hean, Singaporean Defence Minister
* Zhang Aiping, Communist Party of China general
* Zhang Chunqiao , member of the
* , military leader in the period of Three Kingdoms
* Zhang Hongfan , Yuan Dynasty general
* Zhang Liang, aide of Liu Bang. His ancestors were the ministers of State of Han
* Zhang Liao, general of Wei during Three Kingdoms period
* P. C. Chang , Chinese scholar, diplomat, and drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
* Zhang Tingyu , Qing Dynasty politician
* Zhang Tian Australian politician, Acting Member for Moreton and former Transport Minister
* Zhang Xueliang or Chang Hsüeh-liang , Manchurian
* , northern warlord Three Kingdoms Period
* , strategist during the Warring States Period
* , military general of the Kingdom of Shu during the period of Three Kingdoms.
* Zhang Zhidong, Late-Qing Dynasty politician
* Zhang Zizhong, military leader
* Zhang Zongchang, , warlord in Shandong
* Zhang Zuolin or Chang Tso-lin , Manchurian warlord, Zhang Xueliang's father
* Zhang Jue Miao, lady of unmatched beauty and daughter of warlord Zhang Da Quan; the only female warrior in her time
* Zhang Wentian, an important leader of Chinese Communist Party.
* Zhang YiJun, an ambassador to Canada from China.
Others
* , surgeon
* Zhang Shuanglin, prominent statistical genetician
* , kidnapping and murder victim
* Zhang Guo Lao, one of the Eight Immortals
* Zhang Wen Bin, one of the phenomenon figure in Borneo 1889-1956
* Zhang Hanyun, ''''
* Zhang Heng or Chang Heng , astronomer and mathematician
* Zhang Hongbao , businessman and founder of Zhong Gong
* Zhang Qian or Chang Ch'ien , spent 12 years starting in 138 BC exploring much of Central Asia for Emperor Han Wu Di
* Zhang Sanfeng or Chang San-Feng, semi-mythical Taoist master
* UMIST senior lecturer
* Zhang Zilin, Miss World 2007
* The Cheung family, active maintainers of
Prominent people with Chinese family name 章
* , Taiwanese politician
* Zhang Binglin, Phonologist
* Zhang Zhong , Chess player
* , Badminton player
* Zhang Ziyi , Actress
Zhang Ze duan- artist of the along the river during the qing ming festival.
Prominent people with Korean family name ?
Prominent people with Vietnamese family name Tr??ng
* Truong My Hoa, Vice President of Viet Nam
* Truong Dinh Tuyen, Min. of Trade of Viet Nam
* Truong Vinh Trong, Viet Nam Dep. Prime Min.
* Truong Cong Dinh, chief commander in repealing French forces between 1859-1864
* Truong Van Cam-better known as Nam Cam, a famous Vietnamese gangster and former soldier
* Tr??ng V?nh K?, recognised as an important figure of 19th century literature
* Thi Trong Truong or André Truong Trong Thi or Tr??ng Tr?ng Thi,considered to be the "father of the personal computer" for creating the Micral microcomputer based on an Intel 8008 processor in 1973.
* Tr??ng Ng?c ?nh, Miss Asia Model 1995 and Miss International Fashion 1998 , model, actress
Others
* , fictitious character in the Harry Potter novels
* P.F. Chang's China Bistro, a United States restaurant chain
