Taishan surnames

The 赵 surname

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赵姓是台山的姓氏之一。台山赵氏自称都是宋太宗一系的后裔，以斗山浮石、海宴、斗山田稠三支为主要宗支：浮石赵氏的始迁祖赵宗远于明洪武十三年（1380年）在浮石立村；海宴赵氏奉南宋进士赵崇垓为始祖，元初在今海宴街立村；田稠赵氏的开族祖赵仲宝，相传为宋太宗第四子赵元份的十四世孙。[1][2]

Origin of the surname

The Zhao surname comes from the Ying (嬴) surname; the progenitor of the surname was Zaofu (造父), a descendant of Boyi (伯益). Zaofu was skilled at driving chariots, and when King Mu of Zhou made his tour to the west, Zaofu drove for him; when King Yan of Xu (徐偃王) rose in revolt, Zaofu drove King Mu back, covering a thousand li in a day, and the revolt was put down. King Mu then granted him Zhaocheng (赵城; in the area of today's Hongdong (洪洞), Shanxi) as his fief, and his descendants took Zhao as their clan name.[1][3] In the Warring States period the Zhao founded the state of Zhao; the Northern Song was founded by Zhao Kuangyin (赵匡胤), and Zhao was the imperial surname of the Song.[3]

Coming to Taishan

The Fushi Zhao

According to Origins of Taishan's Surnames (《台山姓氏源流》) and the Fushi Zhao Genealogy (《浮石赵氏族谱》), Zhao Bitang (赵必樘), first ancestor in Guangdong of the Fushi Zhao, had served the Southern Song as Supreme Pillar of State Grand Master (上柱国大夫); at the end of the Song, when the battle at Yamen (崖门) was lost and Lu Xiufu (陆秀夫) leapt into the sea with Emperor Bing (帝昺) on his back, he too leapt into the sea and died. Before his death he entrusted his two young sons, Liangqian (良钤) and Liangcong (良聪), to Lin Xuanfu (林玄辅), a former prefect of Qiongzhou (琼州), to bring up; to escape the Yuan's searches, the two took the surname Lin and were called Danu (大奴) and Ernu (二奴). Only in the third generation, with Youtong (友通), when the Yuan had fallen and the Ming had risen, did they resume the Zhao surname. These three generations all lived at Muzhou (睦洲), Xinhui (新会).[1][2][4] According to the genealogy, the Zhao of Xialu (霞路), Xinhui, are also of the same lineage as Fushi; the forebears of the two villages were brothers.[4]

Zhao Zongyuan of the fourth generation, courtesy name Fuguan (复观), art name Jufu (居浮), left Muzhou with his mother, née Li (李), in his care, and with his wife, née Liu (刘), and his young son, and first moved to Shimiao Village (十庙村; today Zhaocun (赵村), Xinhui). In the 11th year of Hongwu (1378) he came to Chonglou (冲蒌), where he and a young man surnamed Ni (倪) together opened up wasteland in the west of Chonglou; later, finding the land cramped and poor, he gave the fields he had cleared to Ni, and went east to Duhu and south to Tiantou (田头), but neither was to his liking. In the 13th year of Hongwu (1380) he came to the foot of Fei'e Ridge (飞鹅岭) at Fushi and settled on the southern slope of Danao Peak (大脑峰).[1][2] When Zongyuan arrived, the Zhong (锺), Li, Kuang (邝), Meng (蒙) and other surnames already lived at Huashan (花山), Yangkengshan (羊坑山), Mengshe (蒙社), Yuangang (圆岗) and other places at the eastern foot of Fushan (浮山); later these surnames either moved away or declined, and Fushi gradually became a place where the Zhao lived together.[1][2]

The lines that moved out from Fushi include: Jiaoya Village (蛟牙村) in Doushan, the descendants of Jiyuan Gong (季愿公) of the 14th generation of the Linju Gong branch (林居公房); Hushan Village (虎山村) in Doushan, whose founder, Zhao Shelie (赵社烈), was the 14th-generation descendant of Zongyuan; and at Sijiu (四九), Chonglou and other places, too, descendants of Zongyuan founded villages.[1][2]

The Haiyan Zhao

The founding ancestor of the Haiyan Zhao, Zhao Chonggai, had the courtesy name Sanzhou (三州) (meaning that in his life he lived in turn at Hangzhou, Fuzhou and Guangzhou; he built the Sanzhou Study (三州书室) on Caolang Street (草朗街) in Taicheng (台城)); he was a jinshi of the 16th year of Jiading of the Southern Song (1223), in the list headed by Jiang Zhongzhen (蒋重珍), and held the rank of Grand Master for Forthright Service (奉直大夫). As the Southern Song was about to fall, he left Lin'an (临安) and went by way of Fuzhou and Nanxiong (南雄) to Guangzhou, then took a roundabout way through Enping (恩平) to Yangjiang (阳江), buying land all along the way through Hezai (河仔), Beigui (北桂) and Doumen (陡门) but settling at none of them; later he crossed the sea from Doumen to Dadan (大担), went on to Nayong (那雍), and finally founded the village at Fucheng Village (附城村; also written Fuchang Village (附场村), that is, today's Haiyanjie), early in the Yuan.[1][2] At that time 33 households of four surnames, Chen (陈), Huang (黄), Ma (马) and Fei (费), already lived at Fucheng Village; as the Zhao clan grew, the Chen moved to Fukeng (富坑) in Shenjing (深井), and the Fei later died out. According to Origins of Taishan's Surnames, Haiyanjie then had four great surnames: Zhao, Lei (雷), Huang and Rong (容).[1][2] The Taishan County Gazetteer of Local Lore (《台山县乡土志》) further says that the Zhao of Haiyanjie came from Zhuji Lane (珠玑巷) in Nanxiong.[5]

According to the genealogy, Chonggai had four sons, Bixin (必锌), Bibing (必炳), Biqin (必钦) and Biliu (必鎏), and two of the branches later had no descendants. Biliu's son Chouping (畴平) was the founding ancestor of the Yangjiang branch. Bixin's line passed down through Lianglin (良霖), Yousong (友松) and Zongliang (宗谅) to Zhonghe (仲和); of Zhonghe's sons, Shitong (士通) was the founding ancestor of the West Residence (西宅), whose ancestral hall is called Zuanjiang Hall (缵江堂), and Shida (士达) was the founding ancestor of the East Residence (东宅), whose ancestral hall is called Lieguang Hall (烈光堂) (that is, the ancestor Danxuan (淡轩祖)). Dongshan Gong (东山公) of the Danxuan line had three branches, Bimei (必美), Biyi (必益) and Bida (必大); of these, Bimei's descendants moved to Hepu (合浦), Guangxi.[1][2]

The Zhao of Shenjing, on the other hand, came from Luoding (罗定) at the end of the Qing.[1][2]

The Tianchou Zhao

据《台山姓氏源流》，田稠赵氏的先世在南宋时为躲避元兵，移居福建连江县东湖乡。传到必宖（字昂甫，号子清），为宋度宗时进士，出任双恩、矬洞、海宴、淡水等地的盐课司大使，由福建入粤，是为田稠赵氏的一世祖；他先住赤溪田头，后迁龙溪乡，也是龙溪赵氏的开族祖。[1][2]

The founder of the clan, Zhao Zhongbao, often carried goods to sell in nearby villages; taking a liking to the land and water of Tianliao Village (田寮村; later renamed Tianchou Village), he moved there to settle. In the Qing, Tianchou belonged to Tianchou bao (田稠堡), the 13th tu (十三图) of Cuodong Township (矬峒乡), Xinning County (新宁县); it lies between Duhu and the Doushan market (斗山墟), and today belongs to Doushan Town. The village has the Angfu Zhao Gong Ancestral Hall (昂甫赵公祠), the founding ancestor's hall, with the hall name "Baode" (报德), which shares one origin with the "Baoben Hall" (报本堂) of Longxi Village.[1][2]

田稠原有白姓住在东边、罗姓住在西边。仲宝数传至不少公，生璧山、璧溪、璧庄（后迁新会）、璧轩、璧寰（后迁广海）五子。其后白姓东迁另立伏华村，罗姓逐渐式微；赵族则先后建立东成村、西就村（后改称龙塘村，1907年起扩建到黄茅墩）和东溪村。清咸丰年间，凝作祖的全部后人及凝佳、凝彩两祖的部分后人由田稠村西边陆续迁到龙塘村。田稠村的璧轩祖公祠、心稠赵公祠和龙塘村的学禺赵公祠，都是纪念凝作祖先世的祠堂。[1][2] 田稠村委会今辖伏华、长山、东成、田稠、龙塘五条自然村。[6]

Distribution

The figures below are all from past counts:

  • Fushi: according to the count by branch at the last jiao ceremony (建醮) held at Fushi, in 1948, the Zhao numbered 8,561 (including those overseas); when Origins of Taishan's Surnames was written, they were estimated at over ten thousand.[1][2] A 2012 report gives Fushi as having more than 20,000 villagers.[4]
  • Haiyan: according to an incomplete count from before 1992, Chonggai's descendants numbered 3,290 households and 13,978 people, living mainly at Haiyanjie (1,093 households, 4,450 people), Xiachuan (下川; 575 households, 2,500 people), Beiji (北记) in Beidou (北陡) (200 households, 1,000 people), Zaoheshi (早禾石), Lunding (仑定), Nayong, Tiantouli (田头里), Shatou (沙头), Tangchang (塘厂), Yongning (永宁), Xingzhong Taipingli (兴中太平里), Tianxinli (田心里), Wangtou Xishaxin Village (望头西沙新村), Dakengdong (大坑东) in Shenjing, Gaodong (高洞) and other places; there were also 21 households at Zhaojiahe (赵家和) in Shangchuan (上川).[1][2]
  • Tianchou: when Origins of Taishan's Surnames was written, Tianchou Village had more than 1,000 Zhao, Longtang Village more than 300 and Dongcheng Village more than 100.[1][2]

In the Tabian Village Committee (塔边村委会) on Xiachuan Island (下川岛), Zhao is the most common surname among the residents; local tradition holds that their ancestors were remnant subjects of the Southern Song who retreated to Xiachuan Island with the Southern Song imperial house, and Tabian Village is therefore called "the Imperial Clan Village" (皇族村).[7]

Overseas, taking Fushi as an example: according to incomplete counts, in 1972 there were 1,011 Fushi Zhao living overseas, among them 484 in the United States, 184 in Burma, 88 in Malaysia, 80 in the Philippines, 77 in Canada and 71 in Mexico; by 1993 the number had grown to 2,078, of whom 1,443 lived in the United States (New York and San Francisco).[1][2]

Culture and overseas Chinese magazines

  • Fushi Village: named in 2009 to the second group of Historical and Cultural Villages of Guangdong Province[4]; according to the Doushan Town government website, Fushi Village has also been named a Historical and Cultural Village of China, a Chinese Traditional Village and more.[8] According to the count by the Taishan local historian Cai Feng (蔡锋), between 1380 and 1905 Fushi produced 6 civil juren, 5 military juren, 10 gongsheng, 67 xiucai, 90 jiansheng (监生) and 11 wusheng (武生).[4]
  • Fushi Piaose (浮石飘色): Fushi's traditional folk parade art, entered in June 2008 on the second national list of intangible cultural heritage. The parade was originally held each year on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month; in the mid-1980s it was moved to the 6th day of the 1st lunar month.[9]
  • Fushan Monthly (《浮山月报》): Fushi's emigrant magazine; Fushi has also compiled the Fushi Gazetteer (《浮石志》).[1]
  • Ancestral halls: in Haiyan, Zuanjiang Hall of the West Residence and Lieguang Hall of the East Residence; in Tianchou, the Angfu Zhao Gong Ancestral Hall (Baode Hall), the Bixuan Zugong Ancestral Hall and the Xinchou Zhao Gong Ancestral Hall; and in Longtang Village, the Xueyu Zhao Gong Ancestral Hall.[1][2]

Genealogies

  • 《浮石赵氏族谱》二十四卷首一卷：家谱目录的一条著录作赵伯勋总编辑，记宗祖为宋代赵元份，广东始祖为赵必樘，新宁浮石始祖为明代赵宗远，族人散居浮石及台湾、香港等地；另一条著录作赵宗坛总纂。[10][11] 同一目录中另有1966年的版本。[12] 据报道，谱首印有宋朝历代皇帝像、崖山总图、慈元殿图等。[4]

People

  • Zhao Tianxi (赵天锡), of Fushi, juren of the 17th year of Guangxu of the Qing (1891), who did not wish to take office; he taught in turn at the Ningyang (宁阳), Ruhai (溽海), Hefeng (和风) and other academies and founded the Fushi School (浮石学堂); he compiled the Ningyang Poetry Collection (《宁阳诗存》), the Ningyang Prose Collection (《宁阳文存》), the Ningyang Learning Collection (《宁阳学存》) and the Ningyang Miscellany (《宁阳杂存》), and was chief compiler of the Guangxu-era Xinning County Gazetteer (《新宁县志》).[1][4]
  • Zhao Zongtan, of Fushi, a diplomat with a juren degree, once deputy consul general at the Consulate General in Canada; to raise funds for the buildings of the Taishan County Middle School (台山县立中学; today Taishan No. 1 Middle School (台山一中)), he went to cities across Canada to collect donations, then returned to China to oversee the building of the school; he later became the school's first principal and head of the Taishan County Education Bureau, and was awarded the Order of the Golden Grain, Fifth Class (五等嘉禾勋章).[1][4]
  • Zhao Chonghuo (赵崇活; Zhao Bin, 赵彬), once consul in Jakarta and Makassar and first secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Sudan.[1]

References

  1. Zhao Longzhu, "Zhao", in "Origins of Taishan's Surnames" (vol. 1), compiled by the Cultural and Historical Materials Committee of the Taishan CPPCC. Reposted on the Taishan Classmates website in "[Share] Origins of Taishan's Surnames", 2007 赵龙柱：「赵氏」，《台山姓氏源流》（第一册），台山市政协文史资料委员会编。转载于台山同学网「[分享]台山姓氏源流」，2007年
  2. "Zhao", in the "Taishan Surnames" column of the Taishan Municipal Government website, 2019 (the original page has been taken down; from the Internet Archive's copy) 「赵 氏」，台山市人民政府门户网站「台山姓氏」栏目，2019年（原页已撤下，据互联网档案馆存档）
  3. "Zhao (surname)", Chinese Wikipedia 「赵姓」，维基百科
  4. "A Visit to Doushan Town, Taishan, Guangdong: Arcade Streets Renovated, a Locomotive Displayed in the Park", "Jiangmen Daily", November 14, 2012, reposted by China News Service 「探访广东台山斗山镇：改造骑楼街 公园摆放火车头」，《江门日报》，2012年11月14日，中国新闻网转载
  5. Huang Renfu, "The Southward Migration of the Zhuji Lane People and the Origins of the People of Taishan", "Xinning Magazine", 2014 no. 1, Xinning Magazine Office 黄仁夫：「珠玑巷人南迁与台山人的来由」，《新宁杂志》2014年第1期，新宁杂志社
  6. "Tianchou Village, Doushan Town", website of the Doushan Town Government, Taishan, 2026 「斗山镇田稠村」，台山市斗山镇人民政府网，2026年
  7. "Tabian Village Committee", website of the Chuandao Town Government, Taishan, 2026 「塔边村委会」，台山市川岛镇人民政府网，2026年
  8. "Fushi Village, Doushan Town", website of the Doushan Town Government, Taishan, 2026 「斗山镇浮石村」，台山市斗山镇人民政府网，2026年
  9. "A Visit to Doushan Town, Taishan, Guangdong: Arcade Streets Renovated, a Locomotive Displayed in the Park (2)", "Jiangmen Daily", November 14, 2012, reposted by China News Service 「探访广东台山斗山镇：改造骑楼街 公园摆放火车头（2）」，《江门日报》，2012年11月14日，中国新闻网转载
  10. "Fushi Zhao Genealogy [24 juan, plus 1 introductory juan]", catalogue entry, Yunjiapu.com 「浮石赵氏族谱[24卷,首1卷]」目录条目，云家谱网
  11. "Fushi Zhao Genealogy" (Zhao Zongtan, chief compiler), catalogue entry, Yunjiapu.com 「浮石赵氏族谱」（赵宗坛总纂）目录条目，云家谱网
  12. "Fushi Zhao Genealogy, Taishan, Guangdong, 1 volume, 55th year of the Republic [1966]", catalogue entry, Yunjiapu.com 「广东台山浮石赵氏族谱，1册，民国55年[1966年]」目录条目，云家谱网

Last edited 2026-10-19 12:38 · Written together by this site’s users: anybody signed in can edit it, and every version is kept under History.