Zhang (surname 章)
Zhāng is a Chinese surname. According to a 2013 study it was the 122-most common surname, shared by 1,570,000 people or 0.120% of the population, with the province with the most people being Zhejiang. It is the 40th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.
The surname written 章 in Chữ Nôm is clearly distinguished and written as Trang or Chương. 章 was unlisted among the top 100 in either location. In 2015 it was reported 88th.
章 combines the characters and . It originally meant "brilliant", "to display", "a distinctive mark" and was used as the name of a fief, but as a common noun in modern use it means an "article" in a newspaper or magazine or a "chapter" in a book or law.
The surname 章 originated from the legendary Yan Emperor, whose personal surname was Jiang. On the establishment of the state of Qi, Jiang Ziya apportioned the land among his many descendants, including a one known as Zhang. Some of the people of this state simplified the character and took 章 as their surname, particularly after it was annexed by Qi. The Middle Chinese pronunciation of the name was Tsyang, the beginnings of what we now know to be the "Zhang" surname.
It means "stamp, seal" in Chinese.
- Gordon G. Chang, American writer and attorney who wrote The Coming Collapse of China
- Cheang Hong Lim, Singaporean philanthropist
- Teresa Cheung Siu-wai, Canadian actress
- Zhang Binglin, Chinese philologist, textual critic, and anti-Manchu revolutionary.
- Zhang Hanzhi Chinese diplomat who was Mao Zedong's English teacher and U.S. President Richard Nixon's interpreter during his historic 1972 trip to China.
- Yingying Zhang, Chinese student who was murdered while studying in the US at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
- Zhang Zetian, also known as Nancy Zhang, a Chinese businesswoman and investor who is the chief fashion adviser of the luxury business of JD.com
- Zhang Zhong, Chinese chess grandmaster who now plays for Singapore.
- Zhang Ziyi, Chinese actress and model
- Zhang Hao, Chinese singer active in South Korea, member of South Korean Boy Group Zerobaseone.
- Zhang Xichen, Chinese editor and publisher
- Zhang Xuelei, Chinese basketball player.