Zheng or Zhèng or Cheng is a Chinese surname and also the name of an ancient state in today's Henan province. It is written as 鄭 in traditional Chinese and 郑 in simplified Chinese. It is the 7th name on the Hundred Family Surnames poem. In 2006, Zheng ranked 21st in China's list of top 100 most common surnames. Zheng belongs to the second major group of ten surnames which makes up more than 10% of the Chinese population. Zheng was a major surname of the rich and powerful during China's Tang dynasty. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, the name is normally romanized as Cheng or Tcheng. In Malaysia, Cheng is commonly romanized as Cheng, Cheang, Chang, Tay, Tee and Teh. It is spelled as Tay in Singapore and Teddy in Indonesia and Ty in Philippines, from the Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew pronunciation of the character. It also pronounces Dâng in Hokchew. The surname also has taken form outside of Chinese societies: in Vietnamese as Trịnh. In Korean, the name is written 정 and transliterated as Chung, Jung, or Jeong. It is the fifth most common Korean surname, with about 4.85% of the South Korean population having this name.
Origin
The Zheng surname originated in Henan. In 806 BC, King Xuan, the penultimate king of the Western Zhou Dynasty, enfeoffed his younger brother Prince You, who became posthumously known as Duke Huan of Zheng, at Zheng. Duke Huan was killed along with King You of Zhou when the Quanrong tribes sacked the Zhou capital Haojing in 771 BC. Duke Huan was succeeded by his son Duke Wu, who helped King Ping of Zhou establish the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in Luoyang, and his feudal state of Zheng was also moved east to present-day Henan. His descendants and many people of the state later adopted Zheng as their surname. The city ofXingyang is considered as the origin place of the people whose surname is Zheng. Today, Xingyang is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou which translates to "Settlement of Zheng". Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan province and is located within the boundaries of the ancient state of Zheng. There is also another city called Xinzheng, also under the administration of Zhengzhou. The Zheng clan character is featured prominently on the flag of the short-lived rebel Kingdom of Tungning founded by Ming-loyalist Koxinga in Taiwan. Also called the Kingdom of Formosa. During the Tang dynasty the Li family of Zhaojun, the Cui family of Boling, the Cui family of Qinghe, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Zheng family of Xingyang, the Wang family of Taiyuan, and the Li family of Longxi were the seven noble families between whom marriage was banned by law. The marriages between the families were performed clandestinely after the prohibition was implemented on the seven families by Emperor Gaozong. Their status as "Seven Great surnames" became known during Gaozong's rule.
Zheng Chenggong, Ming dynasty military leader who founded the rebellious Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan during the Qing dynasty. The flag of Tungning featured the character 鄭 in its flag. He is better known in the West under the name Koxinga.
Zheng Yi , a powerful Chinese pirate operating from Guangdong and throughout the South China Sea in the late 1700s.
Ching Shih, a well known female Chinese pirate and the widow of Zheng Yi, known for fighting the Qing, British, and Portuguese navies with 300+ junks and 20,000 - 40,000 Chinese pirates.
Carrie Lamnée Cheng Yuet-ngor, Hong Kong politician
Claudio Teehankee, Chinese-Filipino judge, later ambassador. He is included here under Cheng, Zheng because in Hokkien, his surname is Tee; similar to Malaysian or Singapore surnames Teh or Tay.
