Dugu (surname) explained

Dugu (獨孤) is an extremely rare Chinese compound surname of Xianbei origin.^[1] There is also a small Korean population (Namwon Dokgo clan) with this surname (stylized as Dokgo or Tokko (독고) in Korean); many of them are found in North Korea, mainly in Ryongchon County and Uiju County near the Chinese border.

During the 6th century the Dugus were a powerful aristocratic family based in northwest China. They are best remembered today by the Dugu sisters, whose marriages linked the imperial families of 3 successive dynasties — the Northern Zhou (557–581), Sui (581–618), and Tang (618–907).

Shimunek (2017) reconstructs Tabgach *dʊqʊ which underlaid Chinese transcription Chinese: 獨孤, which was glossed as Chinese: 劉 "battle-axe".^[2]

Notable people

• Dugu Xin (503–557), Western Wei general and official
• Dugu sisters (6th century), Dugu Xin's daughters
  • Empress Dugu (Northern Zhou) (died 558), Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou (Yuwen Yu)'s empress
  • Dugu Qieluo (544–602), Emperor Wen of Sui (Yang Jian)'s empress
• Consort Dugu (died 775), Emperor Daizong of Tang (Li Chu)'s concubine
• Dugu Sun (died 905), Tang dynasty minister
• Dugu Qiubai, a fictional master swordsman that has been mentioned in several of Jin Yong's works.

Notes and References

1. Book: Shang, Huping. The Belt and Road Initiative: Key Concepts. 2019-06-27. Springer. 978-981-13-9201-6. 78. en. The Xianbei surnames which were changed to Han surnames include: [...] Dugu [...].
2. Book: Shimunek, Andrew. Languages of Ancient Southern Mongolia and North China: a Historical-Comparative Study of the Serbi or Xianbei Branch of the Serbi-Mongolic Language Family, with an Analysis of Northeastern Frontier Chinese and Old Tibetan Phonology. Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden. 2017. 978-3-447-10855-3. 993110372.