Zhang (surname 章) explained

Zhāng is a Chinese surname. According to a 2013 study it was the 122-most common surname, shared by 1,570,000 people or 0.120% of the population, with the province with the most people being Zhejiang.^[1] It is the 40th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.

The surname written Chinese: 章 in Chữ Nôm is clearly distinguished and written as Trang or Chương. 章 was unlisted among the top 100 in either location. In 2015 it was reported 88th.

Chinese: 章 combines the characters Chinese: {{linktext|音 (yin, "sound", "(musical) note") and Chinese: {{linktext|十 (shi, "ten"). It originally meant "brilliant", "to display", "a distinctive mark"^[2] and was used as the name of a fief, but as a common noun in modern use it means an "article" in a newspaper or magazine or a "chapter" in a book or law.

The surname Chinese: 章 (Old Chinese: *taŋ^[2]) originated from the legendary Yan Emperor, whose personal surname was Jiang (Chinese: {{linktext|姜). On the establishment of the state of Qi, Jiang Ziya apportioned the land among his many descendants, including a one known as Zhang (Chinese: 鄣国). Some of the people of this state simplified the character and took Chinese: 章 as their surname, particularly after it was annexed by Qi.^[3] The Middle Chinese pronunciation of the name was Tsyang, the beginnings of what we now know to be the "Zhang" surname.^[2]

It means "stamp, seal" in Chinese.

• Gordon G. Chang (章家敦, born 1951), American writer and attorney who wrote The Coming Collapse of China (2001)
• Teresa Cheung Siu-wai (章小蕙, born 1963), Canadian actress
• Zhang Binglin (章炳麟, 1868–1936), Chinese philologist, textual critic, and anti-Manchu revolutionary.
• Zhang Hanzhi (章含之, 1935–2008) Chinese diplomat who was Mao Zedong's English teacher and U.S. President Richard Nixon's interpreter during his historic 1972 trip to China.
• Yingying Zhang (章莹颖, 1990–2017), Chinese student who was murdered while studying in the US at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
• Zhang Zetian (章泽天, born 1993), also known as Nancy Zhang, a Chinese businesswoman and investor who is the chief fashion adviser of the luxury business of JD.com
• Zhang Zhong (章钟, born 1978), Chinese chess grandmaster who now plays for Singapore.
• Zhang Ziyi (章子怡, born 1979), Chinese actress and model
• Zhang Hao (章昊, born 2000), Chinese singer active in South Korea, member of South Korean Boy Group Zerobaseone.
• Zhang Xuelei (1963–2024), Chinese basketball player.

Notes and References

1. [Yuan Yida]
2. Book: Baxter . William H. . Sagart . Laurent . 2011. Baxter–Sagart Old Chinese Reconstruction . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064509/http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 . April 25, 2012 . 162 . 11 October 2011. .
3. The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland