Ji (surname 冀)

Jì is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written 冀 in Chinese character. It is romanized as Chi in Wade–Giles, and Kei in Cantonese.[1] Ji is the 294th most common surname in China, with a population of 160,000. It is listed 316th in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames.[2]

For other Chinese surnames also romanized as "Ji", see Ji (surname).
For the Chinese province abbreviated 冀, see Hebei.
Ji (冀)
PronunciationJì (Mandarin)
Kei (Cantonese)
Language(s)Chinese
Origin
Language(s)Old Chinese
Other names
Variant form(s)Chi, Kei

Demographics

As of 2008, Ji 冀 is the 294th most common surname in China, shared by 160,000 people, or 0.013% of the Chinese population.[3][4] It is concentrated in the provinces of Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan. Shanxi has the highest number of people with the surname, accounting for 29% of the total.[4]

Origins

According to tradition, there are three main origins of the Ji 冀 surname:

1. According to the Song dynasty text Lushi, King Wu of Zhou (reigned 1046–1043 BC) enfeoffed a descendant of Emperor Yao at the state of Ji 冀, located in present-day Jishan or Anze County, Shanxi province. During the Spring and Autumn period, Ji was conquered by the neighbouring state of Jin, a major power of the time. The people of Ji subsequently adopted the name of their former state as their surname.[4][5]

2. After Jin conquered the state of Ji, the Duke of Jin enfeoffed his minister Xi Rui (郤芮, died 636 BC) at Ji, Xi Rui was subsequently also called Ji Rui, and his descendants adopted the name of his fief as their surname.[4][5]

3. A third origin of the Ji surname is the state of Song of the Zhou dynasty. A branch of the ruling house of Song adopted Ji as their surname, and this source of Ji is a branch of Zi, the ancestral name of the lords of Song.[4]

Notable people

References
  1. "冀". Zdic. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  2. "百家姓" [Hundred Family Surnames] (in Chinese). Guoxue. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  3. 中国最新300大姓排名（2008） [300 most common surnames in China (2008)] (in Chinese). Taiwan.cn. 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  4. 冀姓起源 [Origin of the Ji surname] (in Chinese). Greater China Genealogy. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  5. 冀姓起源,名人及家谱 [Origin and famous people of the Ji surname] (in Chinese). Shangdu. 2008-07-17. Archived from the original on 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
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