Wat (surname)

Wat (Chinese: 屈; pinyin: Qū) is a Chinese surname. Wat is the Cantonese Jyutping and Yale and Hong Kong romanization of the Chinese family name 屈 (Chinese: 屈). It is also transliterated as Qū in pinyin.

Not to be confused with Qu (surname 曲).

History

The origin of the Wat (屈) surname is from the Hubei (湖北) region.[1] Historically, the Hubei region was part of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period of Ancient Chinese history. The King Wu of State of Chu awarded his son Xia with the Qu Yi as feud to recognize his outstanding service to the court of Chu. The people called Xia "Qu Xia" and the offspring of Xia adopted Qu as their surname.[2]

The royal family of State of Chu was descendants of Zhuanxu, the grandson of Emperor Huangdi (i.e. Yellow Emperor). Therefore, Qu is also the descendant of Emperor Huangdi. During the reign of the Northern Wei dynasty, the people with last name of Qutu adopted Qu as their surname.

The most famous individual with surname Qu, is Qu Yuan, the patriotic poet of the State of Chu in the Warring States Period of ancient Chinese history.[2] He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the Chu Ci (Chinese: 楚辭) and Li Sao (Chinese: 離騷) anthology.[2] His works is still widely read by many people till this very day. On May 5th of every year Dragon Boat races are held to celebrate the Duanwu Festival across the country and in communities across the world in honor of Qu Yuan.[2]

Romanization

Within China and Taiwan, names are written using Chinese characters and are currently romanized using the Hanyu Pinyin, but previously Wade-Giles was used and many people retain names as such. In Hong Kong and Macau and among the Chinese diaspora abroad, though, many choose to romanize their name according to their regional pronunciation.

Notable people

Notable Han Chinese people with the surname include:

See also

References
  1. "屈姓起源湖北" from Wat Surname History Sheet, Xuanyuan Temple (轩辕庙) in Huangling County, Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province, China.
  2. "Chinese surname history: Qu". People's Daily Online (人民日报) [English]. 2015-12-26. Archived from the original on 2018-08-17. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
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