Cheng
Encyclopedia
- ChengGuzhengThe guzheng or "gu zheng", also called zheng is a Chinese plucked zither. It has 18-23 or more strings and movable bridges....
(pinyin: zheng) is also a Chinese plucked string instrument.
Cheng can be a transcription of one of several Chinese surname
Chinese surname
Chinese family names have been historically used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and among overseas Chinese communities. In ancient times two types of surnames, family names and clan names , existed.The colloquial expressions laobaixing...
s. Since the syllable Cheng represents different sounds in Hanyu pinyin and the Wade-Giles
Wade-Giles
Wade–Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Wade during the mid-19th century , and was given completed form with Herbert Giles' Chinese–English dictionary of 1892.Wade–Giles was the most...
systems of Chinese romanization, some ambiguity will exist as to which sound is represented by the letters "Cheng" if the romanisation and tone is not known. Also within each system of romanisation, each syllable can represent one of several different characters, as with any Chinese syllable.
In the pinyin system of romanization (usually used in mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
), the most common surname romanized as Cheng is 程 (pinyin Chéng)and 成.
In names romanized in Wade-Giles (usually those from Taiwan), Cheng is most commonly a transcription of 鄭/郑 (pinyin Zhèng
Zheng (surname)
Zhèng or Cheng is a Chinese family name and is the name of an ancient state in today's Henan. It is written as 鄭 in traditional Chinese script or as 郑 in simplified Chinese script....
).
Further confusion arises because Wade-Giles often appears without the required apostrophes (which indicates aspiration
Aspiration (phonetics)
In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ...
), and thus some Wade-Giles names which are properly romanized Ch'eng (such as 程 pinyin Chéng) will appear as Cheng.
Famous people named 程
- Cheng PuCheng PuCheng Pu was a military general serving under the warlord Sun family of Eastern Wu for three generations during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history.-Early service under Sun Jian:...
, a general during the Three Kingdoms - François ChengFrançois ChengFrançois Cheng is a French academician, writer, poet and calligrapher...
, a French writer, poet and calligrapher - Ch'eng Mao-yünCh'eng Mao-yünCheng Maoyun , 25 Aug 1900 - 31 Jul 1957) was a Chinese composer and a professor at National Central University and Hangzhou Societal University . He composed the "National Anthem of the Republic of China"....
, composer - Brian ChingBrian ChingBrian Ching is an American professional soccer forward currently playing for the Montreal Impact of Major League Soccer.-Youth and College:...
, an American-born Chinese football player - Woeser (Han name Cheng Wensa [程文萨]), a Tibetan poet and essayist
- Ching CheongChing CheongChing Cheong is a senior journalist with The Straits Times. He is best known for having been detained by the People's Republic of China on allegations of spying for Taiwan. He was imprisoned from April 2005 to February 2008, spending more than 1000 days in prison. Human rights advocates and...
, a Chinese journalist with Singapore's The Straits Times, imprisoned for five years on charges of espionage - Willard Cheng - ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs Malacañang Correspondent