Monday, October 6, 2008

Qiu

Qiu is the Hanyu Pinyin transliteration of the Chinese family names 丘, 邱, 秋, 仇, and 裘. The names are transliterated as Chiu in Wade-Giles.


There are two origins of the surname 丘. One sect stems from descendants of Jiang Ziya who named themselves after the fiefdom their ancestor was given, Yingqiu , and dropped the "Ying"; this clan thrived in the Fufeng County of Shaanxi. The second sect came from the Qiudun clan of the Wuhuan, who changed their clan name to Qiu when they became sinicized during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

;Prominent people with the surname
* Qiu Chuji , Chinese taoist known for his journey from China to Persia
* Qiu Le , Chinese weightlifter
* Yau Kin Wai , Hong Kong football player


During the reign of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, the surname 丘 was determined to be colliding with the name of Confucius, Kong Qiu . To avoid this naming taboo, many of those whom bore the surname changed their surname to 邱. This is why the surname 邱 is now more commonplace than the surname 丘.

邱 ranks 151th in the ''Hundred Family Surnames'', and many with the surname come from Luoyang, Henan or , Zhejiang.

;Prominent people with the surname
* Chingmy Yau , Hong Kong actress
* Chiu Yi , Taiwanese legislator
* Herman Yau , Hong Kong film director
* Qiu Hongmei , Chinese weightlifter
* Qiu Hongxia , Chinese weightlifter
* Qiu Jun , Chinese go player
* Qiu Miaojin , Taiwanese lesbian author
* Qiu Zhijie , Chinese visual artist


秋 ranks 237th in the ''Hundred Family Surnames'', and is a rare surname. Many Taiwanese aboriginals have this surname.

;Prominent people with the surname
* Qiu Jin , Chinese revolutionary


There are three sources for the ancestry of 仇:
#A vassal by the name of Jiuwu established the state of Jiu , but it was destroyed by King Zhou of Shang in the Shang Dynasty. To escape prosecution, the descendents of Jiuwu appended the 人 to 九 , thus creating the surname 仇.
#In the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Min of Song was murdered by his subordinate Nangong Wan . The minister Zi Qiumu sought revenge but was also killed by Nangong Wan. Zi Qiumu's descendants then took the first character of his name, Qiu 仇, to be their surname.
#In Northern Wei, a Hou Luoqi of was adopted by the Qiu clan, and thus changed his surname from Hou to Qiu. He rose in ranks due to his military endeavours, and the Qiu clan became prosperous at the time.

;Prominent people with the surname
* Qiu Ying , Chinese painter


;Prominent people with the surname
* Qiu Xiaolong , Chinese-American author

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