Qian (surname)
| Qian | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A Chinese chop reading 錢氏 ("Qian family") | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 錢 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 钱 | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Money, particularly the cash | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Qian, also variously spelt Ch'ien, Chien, Chin, Tsien, and (from its Wu pronunciation) Zee, is a common Chinese surname. It is particularly common in Eastern China, where members of the family ruled from Hangzhou as kings of Wuyue in the 10th-century interregnum between the Tang and Song dynasties. In 2008, Qian was the 96th most common surname in mainland China, shared by 2.2 million people, with the greatest concentration of Qians being in Jiangsu Province.