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If your surname is CHONG (張 or ZHANG in Hanyu Pinyin)
Zhang means: magnification; to establish.
People with this surname usually introduce themselves as Gong Chang (弓長) or Long Bow Zhang. Actually it should be Gong Zhang Zhang(弓長張) or superior officer in charge of bows.
The surname Zhang is more than 3,000 years old.
The surname Zhang originated in an area referred to during the Han Dynasty (漢朝 206BC to 220AD) as the Qinghe prefecture (清河郡). The present day location of Qinghe prefecture is the Qinghe county (清河縣, 115.4 degree East and 38.3 degree North on the world map) of Hebei province (河北省).
The weapons used in wars during ancient times were nothing more than stones that were thrown at an opponent. Xuanyuan (軒轅), who eventually became to be known as Huang Di (黃帝) or the Yellow Emperor, the legendary leader of the united clans before the formation kingdoms, was the first person to develop spears made of wood.
Xuan Yuan had twenty five sons. Hui (揮), his fifth son, invented a weapon by tying a vine to the two ends of a bamboo stick. Hui called it Gong (弓) or bow. Hui also invented the arrows made of bamboo strips and he used
the bow and arrows to shoot and kill animals. It was also believed that he was the first man in China to use bows and arrows in battle.
According to Chinese historical records, in about 2700BC Xuan Yuan, then the leader of the Xia Clan (夏族), with the assistance of the Jiang Clan (姜族) and Yi Clan (夷族) fought a decisive battle against their mutual enemy, the Li Clan (黎族). The battle took place at Zhuolu (涿鹿 in present day Jie county 解縣 in Shanxi province 山西省).
The Li clan's armaments consisted of stones, which were thrown at their opponents, while Xuan Yuan's troops were using wooden spears and bows and arrows. With better weapons the troops of the clans of Xia, Jiang and Yi defeated the forces of the Li Clan even though the Li's were stronger and more numerous (footnote: it is unclear whether Xuan Yuan shared this new technology with the rest of the Xia-Jiang-Yi alliance).
Xuan Yuan was eventually installed as the Leader of all the federated tribes. He was given a title called Yellow Emperor (黃帝) named after the yellow earth. He appointed Hui as the Gong (弓) Zhang (長) which means "superior officer-in-charge of producing bows". Hui adopted his official title Gong-Zhang (弓-長) as his surname.
Generations later his descendants combined the two characters of Gong and Zhang into one as their surname which ultimately became and pronounced as ZHANG (張).
The couplet for surname Zhang is,
兩銘門第,---Liang3 ming2 men2 di4,
百忍家聲.---Bai3 ren2 jia sheng
By using the two radicals of Gong 弓 and Chang 長
this poem was composed.
弓力千鈞東風勁,---Gong li4 qian jun dong feng jing4,
長空萬里北斗明.---Chang2 kong4 wan4 li3 bei3 dou3 ming2.
The strength of the bow is very strong like the Easterly wind,The arrow flies in the vast sky to the bright distance star of Beidou.
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Famous persons produced by the Zhang clan.
(1) Zhang Liang (張良)
Zhang Liang (張良) was from Peng Cheng (彭城 present day Pei county 沛縣 about 55 southeast of Xu Zhou city 徐州市 in Jiangsu province 江蘇省. There is a Zhang Liang temple in the city of Xu Zhou) and his original surname
was Ji (姬). In order to avoid from being arrested by the Qin Authority (秦朝) he changed his surname to Zhang (張). Zhang Liang's grandfather was called Kai Di (開地) who was an official and had served in the administrations of Han Zhao Hou (韓昭侯 who ruled the State of Han 韓國 from 358BC to333BC), Han Xuan Hui Wang (韓宣侯 who ruled Han from 332BC to 323BC, then in 323BC he called himself King until he died in 312BC) and Han Xiang Ai Wang (韓襄哀王 who ruled Han 331BC to 296BC). Zhang Liang's father was called Ping (平) who was also an official and had served in the administrations of Han Li Wang (韓釐王 who ruled Han from 295BC to 273BC) and Han Dao Hui Wang (韓悼惠王 who ruled Han from 272BC to 239BC). Zhang Ping died during the 23rd year reign (250BC) of Han Dao Hui Wang. Zhang Liang's grandfather and father had served five rulers in the State of Han. In 230BC, when Han An Wang (韓安王) was the ruler, the State of Han was subjugated by the State of Qin (秦國). Han An Wang was captured by the Qin general Nei Shi Sheng (內史勝). The State of Han was absorbed into the State of Qin as the prefecture of Ying Chuan (潁川郡).
In 221BC, Ying Zheng (嬴政), the ruler of the State of Qin, conquered all the states in the land and unified the land into a big empire called the Qin Dynasty (秦朝). Ying Zheng proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huang Di (秦始皇帝) or the First Emperor of Qin. Zhang Liang was young and he hated the Qin First Emperor so much that he wanted to assassinate him in avenging on having absorbed the state of Han. Zhang Liang travelled from place to place in search of someone who could help him to kill the Qin First Emperor.
One day, in 218BC, Zhang Liang went to a pub for a drink. He saw a few middle aged men sitting at a table drinking wine and talking about the past. One of them called Zhao San (趙三) talked nostalgically about the golden past era. When Zhao San was approached to talk about the present day he would not said a word because he was afraid that there might be an informer for the Qin Authority lurking around. Zhang Liang shouted loudly at Zhao San and said:
" If you are afraid to talk about the present, then let me talk and you listen."
Zhang Liang criticised the Qin Authority. People suffered greatly under the rule of the Qin First Emperor who burned all the valuable books. The Qin First Emperor either executed those who disagreed with his administration or bury them alive. Four hundred scholars, who were against his government, were buried alive.The Qin First Emperor wasted a lot of resources in building many big palaces and constructing a long wall in the north.
After hearing what Zhang Liang was saying, the listeners were afraid. One by one, the crowd left the pub and within a short time Zhang Liang was talking to no one but himeslf. Suddenly, a young man came out from the back of the pub and paid respect to Zhang Liang. This young man introduced himself that his surname was Li (黎) and people called him Li Cang Hai (黎滄海) and he lived near the seacoast. He told Zhang Liang that
wanted to kill the wicked Qin First Emperor. Zhang Liang was very happy because he had finally found someone who could assist him to eliminate the Qin First Emperor. Zhang Liang invited Li Cang Hai to his house to discuss how to kill the Qin First Emperor.
Several days later, there were people in town talking about the Qin First Emperor's tour that was about to pass through the county of Yang Wu county (陽武縣 in present day Henan province 河南省). Zhang Liang and Li Cang Hai went to a place called Bo Lang Sha (博浪沙) where the Qin First Emperor and his entourage had to pass through. They were awaiting for the First Emperor's party to arrive. Bo Lang Sha was about three lis from the town where Zhang Liang lived. They were at the top of a little hill overlooking the main road where the Qin First Emperor's entourage had to pass through.
Several hours later, they saw the party approaching. Zhang Liang and Li Cang Hai found a big rock. They pushed the bog rock down the hill aiming at the royally decorated large carriage which they presumed to be the Qin First Emperor's carriage. The impact of the big rock and the carriage produced a thundering sound. The carriage was smashed into pieces, but there was no one inside it. The Qin First Emperor emerged from one of the supplementary carriages. In order to avoid assassination the Qin First Emperor seldom travelled in the main royally decorated carriage.
Seeing that the Qin First Emperor was not hurt Li Cang Hai rushed down from the hill with a sword. He wanted to kill the Qin First Emperor, but he was succumbed and captured by the royal guards. Li Cang Hai was later executed. As his mission had failed Zhang Liang fled to Xia Pei county (下邳縣 in present day Jiangsu province 江蘇省) and went to live with his friend called Xiang Bo (項伯) who was the offspring of the famous General Xiang Yan (項燕) of the former State of Yan (燕國) which was subjugated by the Qin First Emperor in 222BC. Zhang changed his surname from Ji (姬) to Zhang (張).
One day, Zhang Liang went for a stroll and ambled to cross a bridge. He saw an old man wearing yellow on the bridge. When the old man saw Zhang Liang walking near him he dropped one of his shoes to the shallow dirty
river under the bridge. He asked Zhang Liang:
"孺子﹐下取履﹗Young man, pick up my shoe for me!"
Zhang Liang was much annoyed and stared at the old man and thought of going to scold him. Seeing him so old Zhang Liang felt pity on him and tolerated him. Zhang Liang went down the bridge to the river and picked up the shoe for the him. Stretching out his foot the old man ordered Zhang Liang:
"履我﹗Put on the shoe for me!"
Zhang Liang could not believe himself that if he had heard the old man correctly. Anyway, as the man was so old that Zhang Liang endured once more and kneed down to put on the shoe for him. The old man did not thank him, but at the same time ignored him. So Zhang Liang walked away. The old man purposely dropped his shoe again and asked Zhang Liang to pick it up for him. Endurance must have a limit. This time Zhang Liang did not get angry but obediently picked up the shoe and put it on for him. After this the old man laughed and said:
"孺子可教也 This child can be taught"
The old man told Zhang Liang to meet him at this bridge in the morning in five days time. The old man walked away, laughingly.
Five days had passed and in the morning Zhang Liang went to the bridge to meet the old man. When he arrived at the bridge the old man was already there. The old man was very annoyed with Zhang Liang for being late. Ignoring Zhang Liang the old man went away and told Zhang Liang to come back in the morning in five days time. So after five days, early in the morning Zhang Liang went to the bridge and he saw the old man was already there. The old man scolded him for being lazy and said the same thing to him and told him to come back in morning in five days time.
Zhang Liang could not understand what the old man was trying to do. However, he had the patience and so he waited patiently for another five days. On the eve of the third appointment Zhang Liang could not sleep as he was thinking of the old man. After midnight he walked to the bridge and he did not see the old man there. So he sat there waiting for the old man. After some time he saw the old man walked slowly towards the bridge. On seeing Zhang Liang the old man seemed to be very happy. From his pocket the old man produced a very old book and gave it to Zhang Liang. He told Zhang Liang:
"讀此則為王者師矣. 後十年興.
十三年孺子見我濟北, 穀城山下黃石即我矣."
"Study this book carefully and soon you will help some one to become an Emperor and you will become his teacher. Ten years from now, you will be well established. Thirteen years after that, go to the east side of the mountain of Gu Cheng (穀城present day Gu Cheng mountain in the northeast of Dong A Xian 東阿縣 in Shandong province 山東省) where, in an open space a ruler of a state was buried. and you will meet me."
Zhang Liang found out that the book entitled 太公兵法 (Tai Gong Bing Fa). The book was about the military instructions that Jiang Zi Ya (姜子牙), who was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Zhou people (周族), used in helping Zhou King Wu (周武王) to destroy the Shang Dynasty (商朝 1783BC to 1122BC). and establish the Zhou Dynasty (周朝 1134BC to 256BC).
Zhang Liang studied the book and learned well the instructions in the book. He became a military strategist.
Ten years later, in 209BC, Chen Sheng (陳勝) staged an uprising against the Qin Autority. Chen Sheng called himself the King of Chu (楚王). In response to Chen Sheng, Zhang Liang organized an armed band of more than 100 men. He met Liu Bang (劉邦) and agreed to merge his band with Liu Bang's group of a few thousand armed men. Liu Bang appointed Zhang Liang a general. Later, Liu Bang joined up with Xiang Yu (項羽). Together they destroyed the Qin Dynasty in 206BC.
After the destruction of Qin Dynasty, there was antagonism between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. In order to pacify the situation in the country Liu Bang went to Hong Men (鴻門 in the east of present day county of Lin Tong 臨潼縣 in Shaanxi province 陜西省) to meet Xiang Yu. After the conference there was a feast held in honour of Liu Bang. At the dinner Xiang Zhuang (項莊), an officer, with the pretence of sword dancing, tried to kill Liu Bang. Zhang Liang, knowing that Liu Bang was in danger, gave eye signal to his friend Xiang Bo (項伯) to safe Liu Bang. Xiang Bo took out his sword and danced together with Xiang Zhuang, with the intention of protecting Liu Bang. Eventually, Liu Bang was unharm and returned with his entourage to his home base in Han Zhong (漢中 present day Xin Zheng county 新鄭縣in Shaanxi province).
Shortly after the meeting in Hong Men, a civil war broke out between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. The civil war lasted for five years. At the ending of the civil war, in 202BC, Xiang Yu was besieged by Liu Bang's army at Gai Xia (垓下 present day Ling Bi 靈壁縣 county in Anhui province), Zhang Liang taught Liu Bang's troops how to sing the folk songs of Chu to demoralize Xiang Yu. Finally, Xiang Yu committed suicide and the civil war was over. Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty (漢朝) and became the first emperor of Han Dynasty.
Liu Bang bestowed upon Zhang Liang the title of Liu Hou (留侯) or the Marquis of Liu (the Marquis of Xu Zhou 徐州侯). Zhang Liang went touring the country. Thirteen years later, one day, Zhang Liang went with Liu Bang, the Emperor, for an inspection tour of Ji Bei (濟北) and arrived at Gu Cheng (穀城). While he was travelling near a mountain in the east of Gu Cheng, Zhang Liang came across a big yellow stone. Suddenly, Zhang Liang remembered the old man dressed in yellow who gave him the 太公兵法 military book. Taking possession of the yellow stone Zhang Liang erected a temple to commomerate the old man. He placed the yellow stone inside the temple and worshiped it. Zhang Liang named the temple "Huang Shi Gong (黃石公) or the temple of the Duke of the Yellow Stone."
When Zhang Liang died of old age, he was buried next to the Huang Shi Gong temple.
Source:
From chapter 55 in the book titled "史記 (Shi Ji)"
by 司馬遷 (SiMa Qian 145BC to 86BC)
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(2) Zhang Jiuling (張九齡 678AD to 740AD)
Zhang Jiuling was born in 678AD in Qujiang county (曲江縣) in the present day of Guangdong Province (廣東省). In 733AD he was appointed the Prime Minister by Emperor Xuan Zong Li Longji (玄宗皇帝李隆基 713AD to 755AD),
who was the grandson of Empress Wu or Wu Ze Tian (武則天 690AD to 704AD). Some high-ranking officials wheedled Emperor Xuan Zong into having Zhang Jiuling dismissed as Prime Minister in 736AD. Emperor Xuan Zong had Zhang Jiuling banished back to his hometown in Qujiang county. Zhang Jiuling died in 740AD.
In the Ming Dynasty (明朝 1368AD to 1644AD), during the reign of Emperor Wu Zong Zhu Houzhao (武宗皇帝朱厚照 1506AD to 1521AD), the people of Qujiang county erected a memorial hall called "Qu Jiang Feng Du Lou 曲江風度樓" in honour of Zhang Jiuling. The couplet on the front door was written by Hai Ru (海瑞 1514AD to 1587AD), the contemporary statesman and scholar at
that time. Here is the couplet:
當今皇室雙士,------Dang jin huang2 shi4 wu2 shuang shi4
自古天南第一人.---Zi4 gu3 tian nan2 di4 yi ren2.
On 10th November 1965, an article called "Hai Rui Dismissed From Office 海瑞罷官", was published by the People's Daily in Shanghai, criticizing a play written by Wu Han (吳含), the deputy Mayor of Beijing city. The play
was called "Hai Jui (Rui) Dismissed From Office 海瑞罷官." Few people took notice about this article, but Peng Zhen (彭真), the mayor of Beijing, was annoyed by the article. Peng Zhen asked the Shanghai branch of the People's Daily who authorized that article to be published. Zhang Chunqiao (張春橋) replied that the authority was given by Chairman Mao Zedong (毛澤東主席), who wrote that article. That was the first shot of the "Red Guard Movement 紅衛兵運動."
The grave of the Tang statesman and poet Zhang Jiuling was robbed in early 1960. The government decided to unearthed it from Luoyuandong (羅源洞) in Qujiang county (曲江縣) of Guangdong province. The Hakka professor Yang Hao (楊豪) of the Guangdong University was in-charged of the excavation.
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(3) Zhang Xueliang (張學良)
The young Marshall Zhang Xueliang was the commander-in-chief of the Chinese armed forces in the northeastern provinces (東北省份 or Manchuria). In September 1931 the Japanese perpetrated the notorious September 18th Incident and forcibly occupied the three provinces in China's northeast. The Chinese nation was faced with a national crisis of unprecedented gravity.
When the Japanese invaded the three provinces, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石最高帥), the commander-in-chief of all the Chinese armed forces, ordered Zhang Xueliang and his 3000,000-man northeastern army not to resist the Japanese but to withdraw to the area within Shanhaiguan (山海關 or the Great Wall meets the sea) to join in suppressing the "Communist bandits". As a result, the three northeastern provinces and 30 million people came under the iron heels of the Japanese. Soon after that, vast areas of the province of Hebei (河北省) fell into the Japanese hands. The whole of north China was endangered.
In 1932 Zhang Hanhui (張漢揮?) wrote a song called
"On the Songhua River (松花江上)" that Zhang Xueliang's troops loved to sing. It is like this
我的家在東北松花江上---Wo3 di2 jia zai4 dong bei3 Songhuajiang shang3,
那裏有森林煤礦還有那---Na4 li3 you3 sen lin2 mei2 kuang4 hai2 you3 na4
滿山遍野的大豆高梁.-----man3 shan bian4 ye3 di2 da4 dou4 gao liang2.
My home is in the Northeast, on the banks of the Songhua River,
There are dense forests and coal mines, and endless bean and sorghum fields.
我的家在東北松花江上,---Wo3 di2 jia zai4 dong bei3 Songhuajiang shang3,
那裏有我的同胞還有那----Na4 li3 you3 wo3 di2 tong2 bao hai2 you3 na4
衰老的爹娘.-------------------shuai lao3 di2 die niang2.
My home is in the Northeast, on the banks of the Songhua River,
There live my fellow countrymen
and my old and feeble Parents.
九一八 ! 九一八 !------Jiu3 yi ba! jiu3 yi ba!,
從那個悲慘的時候,---Cong2 na4 ge4 bei can3 di2 shi2 hou4,
拋棄那無盡的寶藏,---Pao qi4 na4 wu2 jin4 di2 bao3 zang4,
流浪 ! 流浪 !------------Liu2 lang4 ! liu2 lang4 !
整日價在關內流浪.--Zheng3 ri4 jia4 zai4 guan nei4 liu2 lang4.
September the 18th ! September the 18th !
In the tragic days of September the 18th,
I left my homeland and abandoned the boundless hidden treasures,
To roam, to roam, day after day far away from home.
哪年哪月------------Na3 nian2 na3 yue4
才能夠回到我那可愛的故鄉?
Cai2 neng2 gou4 hui2 dao4 wo3 na4 ke3 ai4 di2 gu4 xiang?
哪年哪月------------Na3 nian2 na3 yue4
才能夠收回我那無盡的寶藏?
Cai2 neng2 gou4 shou hui2 wo3 na4 wu2 jin4 di2 bao3 zang4?
Which year, which month,
Can I return to my beloved homeland?
Which year, which month,
Can I recover the boundless hidden treasures?
爹娘啊 ! 爹娘啊 !==Die niang2 a4 ! die niang2 a4 !
甚麼時候才能聚在一堂---Shen4 me shi2 hou4 cai2 neng2 ju4 zai4 yi tang2
Oh my dear Parents, my dear Parents,
When will we be together again?
On 12th December, 1936, Zhang Xueliang kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek in Xian city in Shaanxi province (西安市陜西省), forcing Chiang Kai-shek to co-operate with the communists to resist the Japanese. Zhang Xueliang changed the course of Chinese history.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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