Ding (surname) explained

Ding
Romanisation:Mandarin: Ding, Ting
Korean: Jeong, Chung
Vietnamese: Đinh
Origin:China

Ding is a Chinese family name. It consists of only 2 strokes. The only two characters that have fewer strokes are "一" and "乙".

Distribution

In 2019 it was the 48th most common surname in mainland China.[1]

Origins

There are four main hypothesized sources of Ding:

The Ding hometown is supposedly northwest of Dingtao (定陶), Shandong.[2]

Among the non-Han people

Among the Hui Muslims, the surname Ding is thought to originate from the last syllable of the Arabic honorific "ud-Din" or "al-Din" (as in, for example, the name of the Bukharan Muslim Sayyid Ajjal Shams ud-Din (1210–1279; also spelled al-Din), who was appointed Governor of Yunnan by the Mongol Yuan dynasty).[3]

In particular, descent from Sayyid Ajjal Shams ud-Din, known in Chinese as Saidianchi Shansiding (赛典赤赡思丁), is attested in the Ding lineage of Chendai, near Quanzhou, Fujian.[3] [4]

Although some do not practise Islam, the Ding clan remains as one of the better-known Hui clans around Quanzhou, Fujian that still identify as Muslim.[5] [6] These Hui clans merely require descent form Arab, Persian, or other Muslim forebears, and they need not be Muslim.[7] Due to their historical ancestors' religion, it is considered a taboo to offer pork to ancestors of the Ding family; the living Ding family members themselves consume pork nonetheless.[8]

One branch of this Ding (Ting) family descended from Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar resides in Taisi Township, Yunlin County, Taiwan. They trace their descent through him via the Ding family from Quanzhou, Fujian. Although they feigned to be Han Chinese while in Fujian, they practised Islam when they originally arrived in Taiwan in the 1800s, soon thereafter building a mosque. In time, all their descendants have eventually converted to Buddhism or Taoism and the mosque built by the Ding family is currently a Taoist Temple.[9]

The Ding family also has branches in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore among the diaspora Chinese communities there but no longer practise Islam; some maintain their Hui identity.

A Hui legend in Ningxia links four surnames common in the region — Na, Su, La, and Ding — with the descendants of Shams al-Din's son, Nasruddin, who "divided" their ancestor's name (in Chinese, Nasulading) among themselves.[10]

Other Romanizations

Notable people

Academics

Businesspeople

Government

Military personnel

Sport and games

Others

Fictional characters

Other Surnames

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 新京报 - 好新闻,无止境.
  2. Web site: Origin of the surname Ding.
  3. News: The barbarians' writing is like worms, and their speech is like the screeching of owls": Exclusion and acculturation in the early Ming period. Kühner. Hans . Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft. 0341-0137. 2001. 151. 2. 407–429.
    p. 414
  4. Book: The East Asian Mediterranean: Maritime Crossroads of Culture, Commerce and Human Migration. Angela Schottenhammer. Angela Schottenhammer. 2008. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. 123. 978-3-447-05809-4. 2010-06-28.
  5. Book: Gladney, Dru C. . C. Hurst & Co. Publishers . 2004. 1-85065-324-0. Dislocating China: reflections on Muslims, minorities and other subaltern subjects. 294.
  6. Book: Market cultures: society and morality in the new Asian capitalisms. Robert W. Hefner. 1998. Westview Press. 113. 0-8133-3360-1. 2010-06-28.
  7. Book: Muslim Chinese: ethnic nationalism in the People's Republic. Dru C. Gladney. 1996. Harvard Univ Asia Center. Cambridge Massachusetts. 286. 0-674-59497-5. 2010-06-28.
  8. Book: Muslim Chinese: ethnic nationalism in the People's Republic. Dru C. Gladney. 1996. Harvard Univ Asia Center. Cambridge Massachusetts. 271–272. 0-674-59497-5. 2010-06-28.
  9. News: FEATURE : Taisi Township re-engages its Muslim roots. Loa Iok-Sin / STAFF REPORTER. Taipei Times. 4. Aug 31, 2008. May 29, 2011.
  10. Book: Dillon, Michael . Routledge . 1999. 0-7007-1026-4. China's Muslim Hui community: migration, settlement and sects. 22.