Qian (surname)

Qian, also variously spelt Ch'ien, Chien, Chin, Tsien, and (from its Wu pronunciation) Zee, is a common Chinese surname. It is particularly common in Eastern China, where members of the family ruled from Hangzhou as kings of Wuyue in the 10th-century interregnum between the Tang and Song dynasties. In 2008, Qian was the 96th most common surname in mainland China, shared by 2.2 million people, with the greatest concentration of Qians being in southeast Jiangsu.

Character

The traditional character for the name is a phono-semantic compound formed by a (copper, metal, gold) radical on the left and a character now pronounced and meaning "to harm", "tiny", or "accumulating" in different contexts but used at the time for its closer pronunciation in Old Chineseon the right. itself was an ideograph taking its meaning from Chinese dagger-axes (, ) used originally in opposition and later in conjunction. The simplified form of the character uses a more stylized on the left and a new glyph on the right that adds an extra line to to indicate its previous duplication.

The name literally means "money" but previously particularly referred to the cash, a low-denomination coin made from copper, bronze, and other base metals that was used in imperial and early Republican China. Less commonly, the word is used metonymically for expense, property, value, etc.; for small round discs similar to the coins; and for the mace, the small traditional unit of mass equivalent to the notional weight of the coins after Tang-era monetary reforms.汉典：钱的解释 Still less commonly, it is used for small metal farm tools, particularly spades (cf. spade money, once common in China under the Zhou).

History

According to legends related in the Song-era Tongzhi encyclopedia, the Qian surname supposedly originated from a Zhou official named Fu who worked in the royal treasury, then known as the (, "Money Office"). His descendants adopted the surname from his office and title. The legend further claimed that Fu had been a descendant of Pengzu, a long-lived and extremely virile "marquis" of Dapeng in present-day Jiangsu under the Shang, who was himself a descendant of Zhuanxu, one of the Five Emperors of remote antiquity sometimes conflated with the North Star and its gods, who was himself reckoned a grandson of the Yellow Emperor, the culture hero credited with beginning Chinese civilization.Tongzhi. Dynasts and residents of Peng, the Qian family were thought to have originally congregated around its capital Xiapi, present-day Pizhou in Jiangsu. The surname spread from there but remains most common in Jiangnan, the region of eastern China around the Yangtze River Delta and Hangzhou Bay.

From 907960, Qian Liu and his descendants ruled the largely independent Kingdom of Wuyue during the interregnum between the Tang and Song dynasties. Qian Liu had many, many sons by many wives and concubines and posted them to prominent positions across different parts of his realm, greatly expanding the prominence of the surname across a territory comprising present-day Zhejiang, Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, and northern Fujian. Following the submission of Qian Chu to the Song in 978, he and some members of his immediate family were removed to the Song capital Bianjing, now Kaifeng in Henan. Considered loyal and capable, the family remained prominent at the Song court for generations. This period spread the family through central and northern China as well. The Chinese classic list of the Hundred Family Surnames was composed under the Song. As the royal dynasty of the successful and loyal realm of Wuyue, Qian placed second in the list only behind Zhao, the surname of the imperial Song dynasty itself. Further, almost all the other families in the list's first lineSun, Zhou, Wu, Zheng, and Wangseem to have been given their placement as the families of Qian Chu's wives in their order of status.

Notable people

Pre-modern Qian Qi (; born 710–782), Tang dynasty poet The royal family of Wuyue (), especially: Qian Chu (; born 929–988), last king Qian Liu (; born 852–932), founder Qian Qianyi (; born 1582–1664), Ming dynasty official and author Qian Weiyan (; born 962–1034), Song Chancellor, Duke Empress Qian, wife of Emepror Zhengtong

Modern Roger Y. Tsien (; –2016), Nobel Prize winner Chin Harn Tong, Hainamese politician Collin Chee (錢昶均), businessman, actor and national football team assistant manager Sung Shu Chien (; born 1883–1965), botanist Ch'ien Mu (; born 1895–1990), historian Qian Baojun (; born 1907–1996), polymer chemist and educator, co-founder of Donghua University Chin Harn Tong (; born 1937), Singaporean politician Chin Ka-lok (; born 1965), Hong Kong actor and action choreographer Fredrick Chien (; born 1935), Republic of China politician, diplomat Qian Changzhao (; born 1899–1988), industrialist and politician Qian Liren (; born 1924), People's Republic of China politician, diplomat Qian Nairong (; born 1945), linguist Qian Nancy (; born 1978), economist, Northwestern University Professor Qian Nengxun (; born 1869–1924), Republic of China politician Qian Qichen (; born 1928–2017), Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China Qian Sanqiang (; born 1913–1992), nuclear physicist Chien Shih-Liang (; born 1908–1983), chemist and educator Qian Weichang (; born 1913–2010), physicist and mathematician Qian Xingcun (; born 1900–1977), Chinese writer and literary critic Qian Xiuling (; born 1912–2008), Chinese emigrant to Belgium who helped save hundreds of Belgians from execution by the Nazis Qian Xuantong (; born 1887–1939), linguist Qian Xuesen (; born 1911–2009), rocket scientist and physicist Qian Ying (; born 1903–1973), People's Republic of China politician Qian Ying () Chinese politician Qian Qihu (; born 1937), military engineer Qian Yunlu (; born 1944), People's Republic of China politician Qian Wen-yuan ( (; born 1936–2003)), Chinese-American physicist and historian Qian Zhengying (; born 1923–2022), hydrologist, People's Republic of China politician Qian Zhijun (; born 1987), actor and subject of the "Little Fatty" internet meme Qian Zhimin (born 1960) (; born 1960), former President of China National Nuclear Corporation Qian Zhongshu (; born 1910–1998), scholar and writer Qian Zhuangfei (; born 1895–1935), Chinese intelligence agent Robert Tienwen Chien (; born 1931–1983), American Computer Scientist, University of Illinois Professor, Director of Coordinated Science Laboratory Ronny Chieng (; born 1984/1985), Malaysian Chinese standup comedian and actor Shu Chien (; born 1931), biological scientist and engineer Tsien Tsuen-hsuin (; born 1909–2015), sinologist, University of Chicago professor Qian Min (; born 1927–2019), mathematical physicist, winner of the 11th Hua Luogeng Prize in Mathematics Joe Z. Tsien (; born 1962), Neuroscientist and geneticist, the pioneer of Cre/lox neurogenetics and the creator of smart mouse Doogie. He is also known for his Theory of Connectivity regarding the basic logic of brain computation and the origin of intelligence. Chang-Kan Chien (; born 1904–1940), engineer, builder of Hangzhou bridge, bridges on the Burma Road during WWII. Was killed by Japanese fighter planes during the war. Qian Kun (; born 1996), singer, member of South Korean group NCT and its Chinese sub-unit WayV (威神V)

Qian (surname)

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