tang (t ā ng) surname

It is a commercial contract, with its ancestor being Chengtang (Zilu). It is the 90th surname among the top 100 contemporary surnames in China. The contemporary population with the surname Tang is approximately 2.3 million, accounting for 0.19% of the total population in China. The ancestors of the Tang family, who migrated to Hongdong during the Ming Dynasty, were from Pingyang and Taiyuan prefectures, Ze, Lu, Liao, Fen, and Qin provinces, as well as Hongdong and Zhaocheng counties. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was ordered to relocate the large locust trees in Hongdong to other places. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, their descendants were distributed in Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shanxi and other places. 

The earliest record of the surname Tang can be found in the Northern Song Dynasty's Guangyun.

There are two sources of surnames: ① derived from the child surname. According to the "Annals of Clans", it is said that the leader of a medieval tribe, Emperor Gao Xin, lived in Xibo and had four wives and four sons. Jiang Lei was born and abandoned, and was the ancestor of the Zhou tribe; Jian Disheng Qi is the ancestor of the Shang ethnic group; Qingdu gave birth to Yao, Changyi gave birth to Zhi. Qi was a Situ during the reign of Yao and Shun. Due to his meritorious service in educating the people, he was enfeoffed in Shangqiu and given the surname Zi. The 14th generation descendant Minglu, also known as Tianyi, was the leader of the Shang clan in the late Xia Dynasty. Due to his benevolent governance and love for the people, some small countries around him also surrendered, and his power quickly grew stronger. He originally lived in Nanbo and was the Fang Bo of Xia, specializing in military campaigns. At this time, Emperor Jie became the ruler, cruel and tyrannical, and the domestic situation became increasingly turbulent. This gave rise to the ambition of replacing Xia. He constantly accumulated strength and, after eleven expeditions, destroyed the three important allied countries of the Xia Dynasty, including the states of Biwei, Gu, and Kunwu. Then, he destroyed Xia in one fell swoop and exiled Xia Jie to Nanchao, establishing the second slave state in Chinese history, the Shang Dynasty. Due to his ability to "pacify the people and establish politics, eliminate violence and abuse", he was posthumously honored as Chengtang after his death. One of the descendants of Shang Tang took the Tang character from their ancestor's posthumous title as their surname. It is the Tang surname from Henan.

② Derived from the surname of the child. According to the "Annals of Yin" in the Records of the Grand Historian, in the 11th century BC, after suppressing the rebellion of Wu Geng, Duke Zhou granted the former capital of Shang and the Zhou region to Wei Ziqi, the illegitimate brother of King Zhou of Shang, and established the Song state with its capital in Shangqiu, which was then passed down to Yan and proclaimed himself king. Yan's younger brother's name was Chang. Chang gave birth to Long and changed his surname to Zi. Later, due to Emperor Qin Shi Huang burning books and burying Confucian scholars, fearing his misfortune, he changed his surname to Tang. The ancestors of the two Tang surnames mentioned above are both Chengtang.

The county lords of the Tang surname mainly include Zhongshan Commandery, Fanyang Commandery, etc. Zhongshan Commandery: During the Warring States period, it was the state of Zhongshan and was destroyed by the state of Zhao. During the Qin Dynasty, it was the territory of Julu Commandery. In the early years of Emperor Gao of Han (206 BC), Zhongshan Commandery was established. Equivalent to the northern region of Hebei Province today. The capital was located in Lunu (now Zhengding County, Hebei Province).

Tang's hall names are Zhongshan, Linchuan, and Yuming. Linchuan Hall or Yuming Hall: Both are named after Tang Xianzu of the Ming Dynasty. Tang Xianzu is from Linchuan, so he is called "Linchuan Hall". His study is called "Yuming Hall" and has been given the Tang family's hall name by his clan members. He serves as the head of the Ministry of Personnel in the court and has a straightforward personality. Seeing that the emperor did not accept the advice of loyal ministers and often punished those who raised their opinions, Xianzu decided to risk his life by submitting a memorial to protest to the emperor, and was subsequently dismissed from office. He returned home and continued to protest with memorials, while also writing scripts. He wrote the "Yumingtang Collection" and was a famous playwright in history.