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Zheng (Hanyu Pinyin) (鄭/郑) or Cheng (Wade-Giles) is a Chinese surname. It is currently the 22nd most common of Chinese surnames or belongs to the second major group of ten surnames which make up more than 10% of the Chinese population, behind the first group which make up 40% of the population. The ranking varies according to different sources.
The word Zheng means solemn or sincere in Chinese. The use of it as a surname might have started as an adoption of the Zheng in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan where the family once ruled. However, the history of Zhengzhou predates the family as Aodu of the Shang Dynasty and subsequent renaming of the city came during Sui Dynasty in 581 A.D. after the family has already adopted Zheng as their name.
Origin
King Xuan of the Zhou Dynasty made his younger brother Ji You the Duke of Zhengzhou, establishing what would be the last bastion of Western Zhou. Ji You was known posthumously as Duke Heng of Zheng. He later served as prime minister to King You of Zhou. His son, Duke Wu of Zheng, succeeded him when he was killed during a rebellion. The son helped suppress a rebellion for King Ping of Zhou and reestablished the Zheng kingdom. The Zheng kingdom was later conquered by the Han kingdom in 375 B.C. and the family has borne the name of the kingdom ever since.
Famous people named 鄭/郑:
- Zheng BanQiao, famouse artist and poet, Qing Dynasty
- Cheng Man-ch'ing, doctor, painter, poet
- Sammi Cheng, singer, actress
- Zheng He, (1371 - 1435) Chinese mariner, explorer
- Zheng Chenggong, Ming dynasty military leader
- Zheng YiLi, well-known translator and author
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