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Eight Great Surnames of Chinese Antiquity
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The eight great surnames of Chinese antiquity were among the most important Chinese surnames in Chinese antiquity.[1][2] They are all Chinese ancestral surnames[citation needed], and as such, have Chinese clan surnames branching off from them.[3] During the earliest Chinese antiquity, Chinese society focused on women. Family names often passed from women to their children. Because of this phenomenon, these eight surnames have a component of their hanzi representing the character woman (女).[1][4]
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2022) |
As of 2019, very few people had one of these surnames as a family name.[2] An exception is the surnames Yao[5][2] and Jiang.[6][2] Of these, there are some well-known Chinese of modern times with these names today. One example is Yao Ming (姚明).[7]
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The eight surnames
姞 is also sometimes considered one of the eight great surnames of Chinese antiquity. 姞 then replaces the surname 妊.
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See also
References
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