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Ancient family leaves mark on history
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AN estimated 85 million people in China have the surname Zhang, making it the third most common surname in the country. Though one can find talented people with this name in a variety of fields today, the earliest Zhangs are believed to have been expert bow makers.
The earliest Zhangs are said to be descendents of the semi-mythical Yellow Emperor. As most of these descendents were involved in bow production, they were given the name Zhang, a compound character which features the radicals for “bow” and “long.” This early branch of the Zhang lineage can be traced back to Qingyang, in today’s Hebei Province.
Another early branch of the Zhangs is derived from the rulers of the Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-221 BC). Xiezhang of the Ji family was a senior official of the Jin Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). He was addressed respectably as Marquis Zhang, so his offspring carried Zhang as their surname afterward. They lived primarily in today’s Shanxi Province.
When the Jin Kingdom divided into three kingdoms — Zhao, Wei and Han — the Zhangs of this particular branch scattered to the capitals of the three kingdoms in Shanxi, Hebei and Henan.
The surname of Zhang was also given to people of other origins. For example, Long-You-Na, a tribal leader in Yunnan Province, was given the surname Zhang by Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms era (AD 220-280).
As with many other Chinese surnames, the family name Zhang spread to minority peoples as they interacted more with the Han.
The Zhang population expanded both northward and southward in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). And a branch of Zhangs in today’s Suzhou, in Jiangsu Province, rose and prospered first. More people surnamed Zhang migrated south in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) and covered almost all China by Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Due to its long history and large population, there are many noteworthy Zhangs in Chinese history. These include Zhang Liang, a well-known ancient politician and strategist; Zhang Heng, a scientist in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) who is credited with inventing one of the world’s fist seismographic devices to measure earthquakes.
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