Zhao (surname)

Zhao (surname)

Zhao / Chao or Chiu (simplified Chinese: 赵; traditional Chinese: 趙; pinyin: Zhào; Wade–Giles: Chao, Vietnamese: Triệu, Hangul: 조) is a common Chinese family name, ranking as the 7th most common surname in Mainland China. Zhao is the first surname in the famous Hundred Family Surnames – the traditional list of all Chinese surnames – because it was the royal surname of the Song Dynasty (960–1279) when the list was compiled.

Zhao is one of the 14 clan names that derived from a common ancestral name: Ying 嬴. The 14 clan names are: 'Lian'廉、'Xu'徐、'Jiang'江、'Qin'秦、'Zhao'赵、'Huang'黄、'Liang'梁、'Ma'马、'Ge'葛、'Gu'谷、'Mou'缪、'Zhong'钟、'Fei'费、'Qu'瞿.

Zhao is one of the most ancient of Chinese surnames, and its origins are partly shrouded in legend. During the reign of King Mu of Zhou (976/956 BC – 922/918 BC), an officer named Zaofu (Chinese: 造父) proved exceptionally adept at training horses and driving chariots and won the respect of King Mu. During a battle with the eastern state of Xu, a non-Chinese state which was resisting Zhou rule, Zaofu drove a chariot into the battle and escorted King Mu back to the Zhou capital. In gratitude, King Mu enfeoffed Zaofu as the lord of Zhao, a town in what is now Hongdong County, Shanxi Province, to be held by his descendants in perpetuity. Zaofu's descendants took Zhao as a surname to mark their prestigious association with the city. Records such as Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian say that Zaofu was a descendant of legendary kings Zhuanxu, Shaohao, and the Yellow Emperor.

The town Zhao became part of the state of Jin during the Warring States Period, when the Zhou Dynasty began to collapse. In 403 BC, Jin split into three smaller states, one of which was the state of Zhao. The Zhao rulers were highly successful, and were one of the last major states conquered by the Qin Dynasty during its unification of China.

As with all ancient Chinese surnames, the Zhao family was constantly added to by marriages, its bestowal upon commoners for meritorious deeds, and its adoption by non-Chinese peoples assimilated into Han Chinese culture. The Zhao name experienced a great revival after Zhao Kuangyin became the first emperor of the Song Dynasty in 960 AD, leading to 300 years of Zhao rule over China.

Rarely, Zhao can denote the much less common family name Zhào (兆).