An (Chinese name)

The surname An , literally means "peace" or "tranquility", also serves as an abbreviation of Anxi , meaning Parthia in ancient Chinese; Anxi is a transcription of "Arsaces", the founder of the Arsacid Dynasty of Iranian Parthia. Most Parthian visitors to China took the name An to indicate their origin.

People with the name An

* An Shih Kao, the first Buddhist missionary to China
* An Hsuan, who followed An Shih Kao to Luoyang several decades later
* An Lushan, a provincial military governor during the Tang dynasty
* An Yangfeng, a Chinese Woman International Master-titled chess player
* An GuoJun, an Oracle Bone Script Calligraphy Scholar from Henan, China living in Taiwan
* An YiQiong, an master in the University of Bristol from China, was one among the first 46 Chinese students participating in the China/UK internship programme sponsored by UK and China governments

Aisin Gioro

Aisin Gioro was the clan name of the Manchu of the Qing dynasty . The word ''aisin'' means ''gold'' in the Manchu language, and "gioro" means clan in the Manchu language.

It is notable that the of the Jurchens, ancestors of the Manchus, was known as ''aisin gurun'', and that the Qing dynasty was initially named ''amaga aisin gurun,'' or Later Jin dynasty. It has been suggested that Nurhaci, the founder of the Later Jin dynasty, added ''aisin'' to his original clan name of ''gioro'', perhaps at the same time he proclaimed his new dynasty in 1616, but there is no definitive evidence to support this proposition. Since the fall of the Empire, a number of members of the family have changed their surnames to ''Jin'' after the former dynasty. For example, Puyi's younger brother changed his name from Aixinjueluo Puren to Jin Youzhi and his children in turn are surnamed Jin. Clan members of the direct imperial succession line were able to change their surname to ''Long'' meaning "dragon" in Chinese,

Family naming code

Before founding the Qing Dynasty, naming of children in the Aisin Gioro clan was done quite randomly. After taking control of China, however, the family gradually incorporated Han Chinese ways of . During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, all of Kangxi's sons were to be named with a preceding the given name. There were three characters chosen, Cheng , Bao , and Chang , before finally deciding on Yin in Kangxi-20. The Yongzheng Emperor's sons switched from Fu to Hong . Following Yongzheng, the Qianlong Emperor decided that all subsequent male offspring will have a generation code placed in their name according to a Generation Poem, of which Qianlong composed the first four characters, 永綿奕載. Moreover, the names of brothers will often contain a similar or meaning. Sometimes, an emperor will change the generation code of his brothers as a way of keeping his own unique .



Subsequent: Qi 启, Dao 焘, Kai 闿, Zeng 增, Qi 祺

Foundation myth

The ''Veritable Records'' and other documents contain the foundation of the Aisin Gioro clan:

:There was a lake called Bulhūri at the foot of Bukūri Mountain, located to the east of the Changbai Mountains . When three angels bathed in that lake, a magpie left a fruit on the youngest angel Fekulen's clothes. She ate the fruit and became pregnant. She mothered Bukūri Yong?on, the founder of Aisin Gioro. He was later welcomed by the people as the Beile. He settled at Odoli Castle on the Omohoi Plain and became the founder of the Manchu State.

This myth has interested many historians. Similar stories can be found in other northern people's mythology. Yong?on seems to have come from Chinese yingxiong and Odoli would be modern-day Hoeryong in North Hamgyong Province , North Korea. A recent study found that a 1635 article of ''Jiu Manzhou Dang'' , which was omitted from later documents, says that a man from the Hūrha tribe on the Upper Amur River told the exactly same myth. In fact, period maps shows Bukūri Mountain and Bulhūri Lake near Heilongjiang. It is considered that the Manchu imperial family incorporated Hūrha's legend into their own foundation myth.

Although the Changbai/Paekdu Mountains are regarded as the birthplace of the Aisin Gioro clan, their relationship with this legend is questionable. As explained above, the mythical arena was near Heilongjiang, not the Changbai Mountains. In addition, a careful analysis on early Manchu records proved that the description of the Changbai Mountains at the beginning of this legend had been inserted for the first time in the -era version of the ''Veritable Records for Nurhaci''.

From Fanca to Ningguta Beise

Suffering from tyranny, the people raided Odoli and killed all Bukūri Yong?on's descendants but Fanca. A magpie saved Fanca's life. Fanca's descendant Mengtemu went eastward to execute his ancestors' revenge in Hetu Ala and settled there. Mengtemu's sons were Cung?an and Cuyan. Cung?an's sons were Tolo, Toimo and Sibeoci Fiyanggū Sibeoci Fiyanggū's son was Fuman and Fuman's six sons were called Ningguta Beise , who lived around Hetu Ala.

Mengtemu is identified as M?ngke Temür , who left Odoli at the invitation of the Ming Dynasty and was appointed as leader of the . On the other hand, the founder of the Jianzhou Right Guard was M?ngke Temür's half-brother Fanca. It is unclear whether he may not the same person as Mentemu's ancestor, or it was just a mistake by the Manchus. The Jianzhou Left Guard fell into chaos in the early 16th century. In addition, Sibeoci Fiyanggū and Fuman seem to have been fictional because they did not appear in Chinese or Korean records. Maybe they were fabricated by the imperial family to claim its linkage to M?ngke Temür.

¹ Although Aisin Gioro is usually pronounced "Aixin Jueluo" in Mandarin, some argue that it should be "Aixin Jiaoluo" since the only pronunciation of the character 覺 corresponding to Manchu ''gio'' is ''jiao''.

Famous Aisin-Gioros

The Emperors

*Nurhaci, Tianming Khan, postumous Emperor
*Hung Taiji, Tiancong Khan, Chongde Emperor
*Fulin, the Shunzhi Emperor
*Xuanye, the Kangxi Emperor
*Yinzhen, the Yongzheng Emperor
*Hongli, the Qianlong Emperor
*Yongyan, the Jiaqing Emperor
*Minning, the Daoguang Emperor
*Yizhu, the Xianfeng Emperor
*Zaichun, the Tongzhi Emperor
*Zaitian, the Guangxu Emperor
*Puyi, the Xuantong Emperor

Iron-cap princes & their descendants

By Qing tradition, the sons of Princes do not automatically inherit their father's title, but rather will inherit a title one level lower. However, there were 12 princes during the Qing Dynasty who were named "iron-cap princes", meaning that their princely titles will be "passed on forever" through each succeeding generation.

*Dai?an, 1st Prince Li, second son of Nurhaci, seniormost Beile
**Yuetuo, Prince Kejin, Dai?an's eldest son
**Lokodhui, Prince Shuncheng, Dai?an's grandson
**Shiduo, descendant of Dai?an, active during reign of Empress Dowager Cixi
*Jirhalang, 1st Prince Zheng, 6th son of Nurhaci's brother Surhaci, regent during Shunzhi's reign.
**Duanhua, 7th Prince Zheng, regent to Tongzhi Emperor, ousted by Empress Dowager Cixi
**Sushun, 7th-generation descendant, brother of Duanhua, executed by Empress Dowager Cixi
**Jin Shaoxun, last Prince Zheng
*Laimbu, Prince Fu, 13th son of Nurhaci, ruler during Shunzhi's reign
*Dorgon, Prince Rui, 14th son of Nurhaci, regent, ''de facto'' ruler during Shunzhi's reign
*, Prince Yu, 15th son of Nurhaci
*Hooge, Prince Su, eldest son of Hung Taiji
**Shanqi, 10th Prince Su, prominent during Puyi restoration of 1919
*Shuosai, Prince Chengze, 5th son of Hung Taiji
**Yinlu, 16th son of the Kangxi Emperor, inherited the princely title and changed it to ''Prince Zhuang''
*Yinxiang, Prince Yi, 13th son of the Kangxi Emperor
**Zaiyuan, 6th Prince Yi, regent to Tongzhi Emperor, ousted by Empress Dowager Cixi
*Yixin, Prince Gong, 6th son of the Daoguang Emperor
**Puwei, grandson of Yixin, supported 's restoration
*Yixuan, Prince Chun, 7th son of the Daoguang Emperor
**Zaifeng, 2nd Prince Chun, son of Yixuan, last regent of Imperial China during the reign of his son Puyi
*Yikuang, Prince Qing, grandson of Qianlong Emperor's 17th son Yonglin
**Zaizhen, 2nd Prince Qing, early republican entrepreneur, infamous for corruption

Prominent political figures

*Ajige, Prince Ying, 12th son to Nurhaci
*Yinsi, 8th son to Kangxi, expelled form clan.
*Yinti, 14th son to Kangxi, general in Xinjiang, rumoured successor to the throne
*Hongzhou, Prince He, 5th son to Yongzheng Emperor
*Yonghuang, eldest son of the Qianlong Emperor
*Miankai, 3rd son of the Jiaqing Emperor
*Mianyu, 5th son of the Jiaqing Emperor
*Yicong, 5th son of the Daoguang Emperor
*Zaixun, 6th son of Yixuan, Minister of the Navy in Yikuang's cabinet
*Zaize, Mianyu's grandson, Chinese envoy to the United States and Europe, Minister of Finance in Yikuang's cabinet
*Pulun, grandson of Yiwei, Daoguang's eldest son, Minister of Industry and Agriculture in Yikuang's cabinet

Others

*Pujie, Zaifeng's 2nd son, later member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
*Jin Youzhi , Zaifeng's 4th son
*Pu Xuezhai, guqin player and Chinese painting artist

Present-day

*Bryna Aisin Gioro, socialite
*Hengzhen, son of Yuyan
*Yuyan, friend of Puyi and pretender to the throne of Imperial China
*, ninth generation descendant of the Yongzheng Emperor, eminent Chinese calligraphy artist.
*Jin Youzhi, Half-brother of Puyi and pretender to the throne of Manchukuo
*Jin Yuzhang, deputy Governor of Chaoyang District in Beijing.
*Yuhao, Chair of the Laos Economic Bureau.
*Zhao Junzhe, football player.

Fen (name)

Fen may be either a given name or family name. As a given name, it is represented in simplified Chinese as . As a family name, it is represented in simplified Chinese as .

Fen may also be a surname in countries other than China, such as Uzbekistan where it is represented in Cyrilic as .

Fen as a given name

* Yao Fen , Chinese badminton Olympic medal winner

''Fen'' is also a part of the names of several other notable people, including:

* Lin Yan Fen , Chinese badminton Olympic medal winner
* Min Xiao-Fen , Chinese-American musician

Fen as a family name or surname

* Fen Jie , Chinese badminton Olympic competitor
* Vitaly Fen , Uzbekistani ambassador to South Korea

Fei (surname)

Fei is a traditional Chinese surname. It is ranked 65th in the Hundred Family Surnames.

Prominent people

* Fei Yi, regent of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period
* Fei Junlong, commander of the second Chinese space flight
* Fei Hsiao-Tung, professor of sociology and anthropology

Fang (surname)

Fang is the 47th most prevalent Chinese surname. In Chinese, "方", means "square" or "four-sided".

Some more uncommon surnames that appear with the same pinyin are "房" and "芳". "房" means "house" or "building", and "芳" means "fragrant" or "smell of flowers" in Chinese.

Etymology

During Emperor Huang Di's reign, a called Yu Lei was awarded the land of Fang for his contributions in defeating a foreign tribe. He was thus known as Fang Lei, and his descendants were given the last name Fang.

Ji Yuan is considered as another forefather of the Fangs. Ji was a general of Zhou Xuan Wang, and was known for his contributions in conquering the north and the south. Since his nickname was Fang Shu, the king awarded him the last name of Fang.

Fang

*Fang Xuanling

Fong

* Fong Sai-Yuk, Chinese folk hero.
* Dennis Fong, an Internet entrepreneur and gamer, CEO of GX Media and co-founder of Xfire
* Alex Fong Lik-Sun, a professional swimmer-turned-actor and singer based in Hong Kong.
* Michael Peter Fong. First person to ride a Singaporean registered motorcycle around the world in aid of 'The Community Chest of Singapore'
* Edsel Ford Fong, a San Francisco waiter made famous by Herb Caen.
* Ben Fong-Torres, radio DJ and editor for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine

Fan (surname)

Fan is a Chinese family name.

Origin and branch

*The Fan trace their origin to the , a legendary Chinese ruler who lived from 2358 - 2258 BCE. Until the Zhou Dynasty 1122–256 BCE they are grouped with the clan. Legend has it that the Fan became an independent clan when a descendant of Du Bo was created Duke of Fan. His son took the name of Fan Quan or Fan Ziwen, and must have lived in the ancient state of in the beginning of the Spring and Autumn period.
*Later the Fan clan lived in the area situated in the southern part of present day Shanxi and western part of present day Henan. There is nowadays a Fan county in Puyang prefecture situated in the north east of Henan province.
*Some families of this name are derived from the Mǐ surname.
*From some ancient people in , Yunan
*From Jurchen 孛鲁术氏
*From Manchu

Notables

*Fan Li , advisor of
* , Chinese historian
*Fan Zhen , a Chinese philosopher of the Southern Dynasty
*Fan Yun , poet and friend of Emperor Wu of Liang
*Fan Zhongyan
*Fan Chengda

Modern Times
*Fan Bingbing , Chinese actress
*Fan Changjiang , Chinese journalist
*Fan Chun Yip , Hong Kong soccer player
*FanFan , Taiwanese singer
*Fann Wong , Singaporean actress
*Mavis Fan , Taiwanese singer

Du (surname)

Du is a . The name is spelled Tu in Taiwan.In Hong Kong it is translated as To, the pronunciation of 杜 in Cantonese

Origin and Branch

Du ancestors are known as the Tangdu. The Tangdu resided south east of Xian in Shaanxi province. The and Du clans share a common ancestor.

Notables

*Du Fu
*Du Yan
*Du Ruhui , nephew of Du Yan
*Du Mu a poet in the Tang dynasty
*Du Fuwei
*Tu Cheng-sheng, Taiwanese politician
*Johnnie To , a Hong Kong Director
*Chapman To , a Hong Kong Actor