Zheng (surname)
Encyclopedia
Zhèng or Cheng
Cheng
Cheng can be a transcription of one of several Chinese surnames. Since the syllable Cheng represents different sounds in Hanyu pinyin and the Wade-Giles systems of Chinese romanization, some ambiguity will exist as to which sound is represented by the letters "Cheng" if the romanisation and tone...

 (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...

) is a Chinese family name
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...

 and is the name of an ancient state
Zheng (state)
Zheng () was a vassal state in China during the Zhou Dynasty located in the centre of ancient China in modern day Henan Province on the North China Plain about east of the royal capital at Luoyang. It was the most powerful of the vassal states at the beginning of the Eastern Zhou...

 in today's Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...

. It is written as 鄭 in traditional Chinese script or as 郑 in simplified Chinese script.

When China released its 2006 list of top 100 most common surnames, Zheng was 21st in the list. Zheng belongs to the second major group of ten surnames which makes up more than 10% of the Chinese population. Zheng was a major surname of the rich and powerful during China's Tang dynasty.

In Taiwan, the name is often Romanized "Cheng". The surname also has taken form outside of Chinese-speaking societies: in Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...

 as "Trịnh". In Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...

, the name is written 정 and is transliterated as "Chung
Chung (Korean name)
Chung, also often spelled Jeong, Jung, Joung, Chong, Tseung, Cheong or Choung, is a common Korean family name...

," "Jung
Jung (surname)
Notable People with the surname Jung:* Ali Yavar Jung , Indian diplomat* Anuja Jung, Indian air pistol sport shooter* André Jung, Brazilian journalist and rock drummer...

" or "Jeong". It is the fifth most common Korean surname (after Kim, Yi, Park, and Choi), with about 4.85% of the South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

n population (2,230,611 people) having this name.

The meaning of the Zhèng surname can be translated roughly as an adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....

: either "class" or as "seriousness", "sincere", or "reserved". The use of it as a surname might have started as an adoption of the "Zheng" in Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou , is the capital and largest city of Henan province in north-central China. A prefecture-level city, it also serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational centre of the province, as well as a major transportation hub for Central China...

, the provincial capital of Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...

 where the family once ruled. However, the history of Zhengzhou predates the family as Aodu of the Shang Dynasty
Shang
The shang is a flat ritual upturned handbell employed by Bönpo and Asian shamans. The sizes of the shang range from approximately 3 to 20 inches in diameter. It is traditionally held to have originated in Zhangzhung and is symbolically similar to the tantric dril-bhu. Shang are traditionally...

 and subsequent renaming of the city came during Sui Dynasty
Sui Dynasty
The Sui Dynasty was a powerful, but short-lived Imperial Chinese dynasty. Preceded by the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it ended nearly four centuries of division between rival regimes. It was followed by the Tang Dynasty....

 in 581 A.D. after the family has already adopted Zheng as their name.

Origin

The Zhèng family originated in Henan Province. King Xuan
King Xuan of Zhou
King Xuan of Zhou was the eleventh sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 827-782 BC or 827/25-782 BC.He worked to restore royal authority after the Gong He interregnum. He fought the 'Western Barbarians' and another group on the Huai River to the southeast. In...

 or Xuan Wang (827–781 bc) the penultimate king of the Western Zhou Dynasty bestowed on his younger brother Ji You the title Duke Xuan of Zhèng, along with the fiefdom of Zhèng (today's eastern Hua county, Shaanxi), the last vassal state decreed by the Zhou Dynasty. Duke Xuan of Zheng was succeeded by his son, Luo Yang, Duke Gong of Zhèng. When Luo Yang was duke of Zhèng the king of Zhou was killed and his capital, destroyed. Luo Yang, Duke Gong of Zhèng moved his people to the east, where Henan province in central China lies, and established his new state, Zhèng, on the south banks of the Yellow River. His descendants took Zhèng as their surname.

Spelling and pronunciation

Chinese Mandarin / Hanyu Pinyin Hakka Pinjim/Jyutping Cantonese / Jyutping Hokkien / Minnan Other
Trad. Simp.
Zheng4 or Zhèng cang3 cang5 ch'ang6 chang5 ch'ang5 (Siyan: cang5) zeng6, zing6, ze6 Tēⁿ WAV Files: Pinyin Zheng4, Hakka Cang5, Cantonese Zeng6, Zing6, Ze6

Notable people named 鄭/郑

There are over 400 Zhengs listed in the Who's Who in Chinese History.

Some notable people named Zhèng are:
  • Adam Cheng
    Adam Cheng
    Adam Cheng Siu-chow is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer.-Career:Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB Wuxia drama series based on the works of Louis Cha and Gu Long, such as The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and Chor Lau Heung...

     (b. 1947), Hong Kong singer and actor
  • Cheng Man-ch'ing
    Cheng Man-ch'ing
    Cheng Man-ch'ing was born in Yongjia , Zhejiang Province . He died March 26, 1975; his grave is near the city of Taipei. Cheng was trained in Chinese medicine, t'ai chi ch'uan, calligraphy, painting and poetry...

     (1902–75), martial artist, doctor, calligrapher, painter, poet
  • Cheng Yu-tung
    Cheng Yu-tung
    Cheng Yu-tung GBM is a Hong Kong billionaire with extensive business dealings and real estate interests in both Hong Kong and Macau. He owns the privately-held Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, a conglomerate which operates the Sheraton Marina hotel and controls the publicly listed New World group...

     (b. 1925), Hong Kong billionaire
  • Chung Keng Quee
    Chung Keng Quee
    Kapitan China Chung Keng Quee was the founder and administrator of modern Taiping. He was a millionaire philanthropist and known as an innovator in the mining of tin. He was involved in many other industries including farming, pawnbroking and logging. He was respected by both Chinese and European...

  • Chung Thye Phin
    Chung Thye Phin
    Kapitan Chung, Thye Phin , MSC, JP was a wealthy Malayan tin miner and rubber planter of Hakka ancestry who was raised on the island of Penang in the state of the same name in Malaysia, known at that time as British Malaya. He was a member of the Perak Advisory Board and the last Kapitan China of...

  • Chung Thye Yong
    Chung Thye Yong
    Chung Thye Yong , also known as Chung Ah Yong , was a Malaysian philanthropist, tin miner, rubber planter, rugby player and racehorse owner of the 19th century.- Family And Pedigree :...

  • Chung Kok Ming
    Chung Kok Ming
    Chung Kok Ming , also known as Chung Ah Ming, was a Malaysian Chinese Perak State councillor and the only Asian committee member of the Perak Turf Club for many years...

  • Ekin Cheng
    Ekin Cheng
    Ekin Cheng is a Hong Kong actor and Cantopop singer. Early in his career he used the name Dior as a first name. He has also been referred to as Noodle Cheng, after a popular noodle product with a similar name...

     (b. 1967), Hong Kong singer and actor
  • Harry Zheng (b. 1972) Famous Chinese Basketball Player
  • Kevin Cheng
    Kevin Cheng
    Kevin Cheng Ka-wing is a Chinese American singer and television actor from Hong Kong. He is currently an artist under the management of TVB. Kevin Cheng rose to fame in late 2004 after his first lead role in Hard Fate as "Ken"...

     (b. 1969), Hong Kong actor
  • Nien Cheng
    Nien Cheng
    Nien Cheng was a Chinese author who recounted her harrowing experiences of the Cultural Revolution in her memoir Life and Death in Shanghai. In 1966, she became a target of attack by Red Guards due to her former management of a foreign firm in Shanghai, Shell...

     (b. 1915), author and survivor of seven years of solitary confinement at the hands of the Communist party
  • Sammi Cheng
    Sammi Cheng
    Sammi Cheng Sau-Man is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. Having enjoyed much success in the Hong Kong music industry, Sammi has been known as a diva and has been one of the most successful female singer in Hong Kong since the 1990s. Her albums have sold more than 25 million copies through...

     (b. 1972), Hong Kong singer and actress
  • Taksin
    Taksin
    Taksin ; was the only King of the Thonburi Kingdom...

     (1734–82), born Zheng Chao, king of Siam
  • Teh Hong Piow
    Teh Hong Piow
    Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr. Teh Hong Piow , the Chairman of Public Bank Berhad in Malaysia, was born in Singapore on 14 March 1930. He attended his formal primary and secondary education at the Anglo-Chinese School in Singapore...

     (b. 1930), chairman of Public Bank Berhad in Malaysia
  • Zheng Banqiao (1693–1765), famous artist and poet, Qing Dynasty
  • Zheng Chenggong (1624–62), Ming dynasty military leader better known in the West as Koxinga
  • Zheng Chenggong (b.1981)(Alyx Ty) Filipino-Chinese, dancer, 2009 Asian Open Salsa Champion
  • Zheng He
    Zheng He
    Zheng He , also known as Ma Sanbao and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from...

     (1371–1435), Chinese mariner and explorer (Please note: Zheng He was not an original Zheng. The original name of Zheng He was Ma (马). He was a native of Yunnan and was given the surname Zheng during his service with a Ming prince.)
  • Joe Cheng
    Joe Cheng
    Joseph Cheng, also known as Joe Cheng, was born on 19 June 1982. He is a Taiwanese model, actor and singer. Although he started his career as a model, Cheng is well known for his role as Jiang Zhishu in Taiwanese drama serial version of Japanese manga Itazura Na Kiss, It Started with a Kiss...

     (b. 1982), Taiwanese actor and model
  • Zheng Jie
    Zheng Jie
    Zheng Jie is a Chinese professional tennis player. Her career high ranking is World No. 15 which she achieved on May 18, 2009. As of August 15, 2011, Zheng is ranked World No. 65 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles....

     (b. 1983), Chinese tennis player
  • Zheng Zhenduo
    Zheng Zhenduo
    Zheng Zhenduo , Chinese courtesy name Xidì , was a journalist, a modern writer, an archeologist and a literature scholar. His pen names were Baofun , Guo Yuanxin and CT....

     (1898–1958), journalist, modern writer, archeologist and literature scholar
  • Zheng Zhi
    Zheng Zhi
    Zheng Zhi is a Chinese professional association football player who currently plays for Guangzhou Evergrande. Starting his career as a defender, he would be moved into central midfield by his coach at Shenzhen Jianlibao and experienced immediate success there by winning the 2004 Chinese Super...

     (b. 1980), Chinese footballer
  • Zheng Tian Shou a pirate who pillaged during the Bei Song Dynasty

Notable people named Jung/Jeong (정)

  • Jung Myung Seok
    Jung Myung Seok
    Jung Myung-Seok is the founder of an international organization called Providence. He is also known by the names of Joshua Jung, Joshua Lee Jung, Joshua Lee, and JMS....

    , a controversial Korean religious leader
  • Rain (entertainer), a famous male R&B and pop
    Pop music
    Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

     singer whose birth name is Jung Ji-Hoon
  • Jeong Cheol
    Jeong Cheol
    Jeong Cheol was a Korean statesman and poet. He used the pen-names Gyeham and Songgang, and studied under Kim Yunjae at Hwanbyeokdang.-Literary works:...

    , Korean administrator and poet of the 16th century
  • Jeong Seon, Korean landscape painter of the Joseon era
  • U-Know
    U-Know
    Jung Yunho , better known by his stage names, U-Know, U-Know Yunho and , is a Korean singer and occasional actor. He is the leader of the South Korean boyband and now duo TVXQ.-Early life:...

    , the leader of boyband and currently music duo TVXQ
    TVXQ
    TVXQ, an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi , is a South Korean pop group formed in 2003 under SM Entertainment. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Ki , often abbreviated by international fans as DBSK; they were later introduced in Japan as Tohoshinki under the Avex sub-label Rhythm Zone...

     whose birth name is Jung YunHo
  • Jessica Jung
    Jessica Jung
    Jessica Jung , better known by her first name Jessica, is a Korean-American singer, dancer, actress and model. She was born in San Francisco, and is fluent in both Korean and English...

    , one of the main vocalists of the South Korean girl group
    Girl group
    A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...

     Girls' Generation
    Girls' Generation
    Girls' Generation is a nine-member South Korean electropop girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2007. The nine members are: Taeyeon , Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun...


External links


Further reading

  • Surnames of a Hundred Families (Bai Jia Xing), 960AD-1127AD
  • Annal of Surnames by Gao Shilian, 627AD
  • Chinese Dimensions: Their Roots, Mindset and Psyche by Dr.Yow Yit Seng, 2006, Malaysia, 1st Edition; ISBN 9679789276
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