Chinese surname No.1

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan]

Chinese surname No.1 Zhao4

Zhao4 means : a Chinese surname; to return the goods to the
original owner; to go away rapidly.
e.g. Zhao4 Kuang Yin4 the founder of the Song4 Dynasty (960AD to 1279AD).
Surname Zhao4 is about 2990 years old.
This is the history of surname Zhao4.

King Mu4 (reigned 1001BC to 947BC) the fifth King of the Zhou
Dynasty (1134BC to 250BC) employed a man named Zao4 Fu4 a person of
all trades. King Mu4 directed him to train his horses. He did
a good job. He was excelled in driving chariot too. He drove for
the King to all his inspection trips. He became the King's favourite
chariot driver. The King adored him. Later, the King rewarded him by
appointing him as mayor of a city called Zhao4 (present day Zhao4
Xian4 in Shanxi province).
After his death his children adopted the name of the city ZHAO4
as their surnames.

In 453BC at the beginning of the period of Warring States (453BC
to 221BC) one of Zao4 Fu4's descendants named Zhao4 Wu2 Xu2 established
a State. He named it after his own surname Zhao4. State of Zhao4 (present
day Han Dan Xian4 in Hebei province) existed for about 225 years and in
228BC it was conquered by the State of Qin2 (present day Feng4 Xiang2
Xian4 in Shaanxi province). Later the State of Qin2 conquered all the
other States in the land and united China in 221BC and established
the Qin2 Dynasty (221BC to 207BC).

Zhao4 was the family surname of all the 18 emperors during the Song2
Dynasty (960AD to 1279AD). It was during this Dynasty that all the Chinese
surnames were compiled into a book called Bai3 Jia Xing4 (Hundred Families
Surnames).
There were 438 Chinese surnames in China during the Song2 Dynasty.
408 of them were single character surnames.
30 of the were double characters surnames.
An anonymous scholar compiled the 408 single character surnames into 102
phrases of 4 characters per phrase. Later he also compiled the 30 double
characters surnames into 15 phrases of 2 double characters per phrase
(4 characters per phrase). Every phrase had a meaning and it read smoothly
when it were being read aloud.
Zhao4 the family surname of the Emperor at the time when this book was
compiled as Chinese surname No.1. Qian (money) the surname of the Empress
of the founder of Song2 Dynasty (Zhao4 Kuang Yin4 reigned 960AD to 976AD)
was compiled as Chinese surname No.2. The rest of the surnames were compiled
according to the sounds and meanings to suit the phrases.
The numbering of the 438 surnames can be best explained by showing the
examples.
Chinese surname No.106 Mao2 (for Chairman Mao Ze Dong) is the 2nd word
in phrase number 27.
Therefore 26 phrases X 4 words per phrase = 104
2nd word in phrase number 27 = 104 + 2 = 106.

Surname Zhao4 was originated in an area called Tian Shui3 Prefecture
during the Qin2 Dynasty (221BC to 207BC).
Tian means : sky. Shui3 means : water.
The present day location of Tian Shui3 Prefecture is in
Tong Wei Xian4 in the province of Gansu China.

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan. chu...@mozart.collective.com.au "the story teller".