Jin (Chinese surname)
Jin (Chinese: 金; pinyin: Jīn; Cantonese Yale: Gum) is a Chinese family name. It literally means "gold" and is No. 29[1] of the Hundred Family Surnames. The surname is also used in Vietnam and Korea, where it is pronounced Kim and in Hong Kong, in Cantonese, Kam. As of 2006, it is ranked the 64th most common surname out of the top 100.
Other less common surnames Romanized as Jin include 靳, 秦, and 晉.
History
Jin is an ancient surname, dating over 4,000 years. It was first mentioned during the period of the Yellow Emperor, a legendary Chinese sovereign and cultural hero who is considered in Chinese mythology to be the ancestor of all Han Chinese. The legend behind the Jin surname is as follows.
The Yellow Emperor's son, Yi Zhi (Shaohao), eventually succeeded him. On the same day he was installed as leader, a golden phoenix flew down and perched on top of a house exactly opposite of where he sat. His followers reckoned it was an auspicious beginning. They decided to use gold as the emblem of their tribe. Yi Zhi was retitled Jin Tian Shi ("golden skies") by his people, and headed the Jin Tian Tribe. Their settlement was located in Qufu (presently Qufu city in Shandong province). Yi Zhi died in 2515BCE. Some of his descendants adopted Jin as their surnames and left off the words Tian Shi ("skies").[2]
The surname also appeared in an area called Pengcheng (now known as Tong Shan Xian) during the Han Dynasty, from 206BCE to 220CE.
Other uses
Jin was among the surnames granted to the Kaifeng Jews by an unnamed Song Dynasty emperor.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, many members of the imperial family changed their surname from the Manchu name Aisin Gioro to Jin. Aisin also means "gold" in the Manchu language.
Additionally, Jin uses the same character as the Korean surname Kim, where it is the most common surname. It is also a widely found surname among the ethnic Koreans in China because of this.
Notable people with the surname 金
- Jin Shengtan (金聖嘆) (born Jin Renrui 金人瑞)
- Jin Yuelin (金岳霖)
- Jin Di (金迪)
- Jin Jing (金晶)
- Jin Fengling (金鳳玲)
- Jin Jingdao (金敬道)
- Jin Liqun (金立群)
- Jin Xing (金星)
- Jin Renqing (金人慶)
- Jin Zhiyang (金志扬)
- Elaine Jin (金燕玲)
- Ha Jin (born Jin Xuefei 金雪飛)
- Jin Sha (stage name Jin Sha 金莎)
Notable people with the surname 晉
- Jin Xiaomei (晉小梅)
References
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