Guo Explained

Guo
Pronunciation:Guō (Mandarin Pinyin)
Gwok3 (Cantonese Jyutping)
Koeh / Keh (Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Language:Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese
Derivation:State of Western Guo
Meaning:"outer city wall"
Variant:Kwok, Guok (Cantonese)
Guo, Kuo (Mandarin)
Kue, Koay, Kwek, Quek, Kwik (Hokkien)
Kue, Koay, Quek (Teochew)
Kuncoro, Kusuma, Kartono etc. (Indonesia)
Kuoch (Khmer - Cambodian)
Quách (Vietnamese)
Kwak (Korean)
Kaku (Japanese)
Derivative:Quách, Kwak
C:郭
P:Guō
J:pronounced as /yue/
W:ko1
Wuu:pronounced as /wuu/
Poj:pronounced as /nan-TW/
Mc:/kwɑk̚/
Oc-Zz:/*kʷaːɡ/
Gan:pronounced as /gan/[1]

"Guo", written in Chinese: 郭, is one of the most common Chinese surnames and means "the wall that surrounds a city" in Chinese. It can also be transliterated as Cok, Gou, Quo, Quach, Quek, Que, Keh, Kuo, Kwo, Kuoch, Kok, Koc, Kwee, Kwek, Kwik, Kwok, Kuok, Kuek, Gock, Koay, or Ker. The Korean equivalent is spelled Kwak; the Vietnamese equivalent is Quách.

The different ways of spelling this surname indicate the origin of the family. For example, the Cantonese "Kwok" originated in Hong Kong and the surrounding area. In the Philippines, the spelling is "Que", "Ke", "Quepe", and "Kepa". In 2019, Guo was the 16th most common surname in mainland China.[2]

Origins

There are eight legendary origins of the Guo surname, which include a Persian (Hui) origin, a Korean origin, and a Mongolian origin, as a result of sinicization. However, the majority of people bearing the surname Guo are descended from the Han Chinese.

Hui surname

One of the Guo family is from the Hui clans around Quanzhou in Fujian.

Early in the 14th century, a Persian Al-Qudsan Al-Dhaghan Nam (伊本·庫斯·德廣貢·納姆) was sent to Quanzhou by Külüg Khan for assisting grain transportation by sea. He failed to return to Khanbaliq due to war, then got married and settled at Quanzhou. Because his Persian surname Qudsan pronounces similar to Chinese Guo, Al-Qudsan Al-Dhaghan Nam's grandsons began to change their surname to Guo in order to assimilate with local Han Chinese. It was politically expedient to claim they were descendants of Guo Ziyi in order to be better accommodated by local people and later the Ming dynasty government. After Haijin policy applied and the Portuguese began to dominate the China-Middle East maritime trade, they were more localized and recognized as descendants as Guo Ziyi by themselves and by local people.

Due to more people of these clans identifying as Hui, the population of Hui has grown.[3] [4] All these clans needed was evidence of ancestry from Arab, Persian, or other Muslim ancestors to be recognized as Hui, and they did not need to practice Islam.[5] The Communist party and its policies encouraged the definition of Hui as a nationality or ethnicity.[6] [7] The Chinese government's Historic Artifacts Bureau preserved tombs of Arabs and Persians whom Hui are descended from around Quanzhou.[8] Many of these Hui worship their village guardian deities and are non-Muslims; they include Buddhists, Taoists, followers of Chinese Folk Religions, secularists, and Christians.[9] Many clans with thousands of members in numerous villages across Fujian recorded their genealogies and had Muslim ancestry.[10] Hui clans originating in Fujian have a strong sense of unity among their members, despite being scattered across a wide area in Asia, such as Fujian, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Philippines.[11] [12]

In Taiwan there are also descendants of Hui who came with Koxinga who no longer observe Islam, the Taiwan branch of the Guo (romanized as Kuo in Taiwan) family are non-Muslims, but maintain a tradition of not offering pork at ancestral shrines. The Chinese Muslim Association counts these people as Muslims.[13] The Taiwanese Guo clan view their Hui identity as irrelevant and don't assert that they are Hui.[14]

Various different accounts are given as to whom the Hui Guo clan is descended from. Several of the Guo claimed descent from Han chinese General Guo Ziyi.[15] They were then distressed and disturbed at the fact that their claim of descent from Guo Ziyi contradicted their being Hui, which required foreign ancestry.[16] The Encyclopædia Iranica claims the ancestor of the Guo clan in Baiqi was the Persian Ebn Tur (Daqqaq).[17]

Notable people

Historical

Modern

Fictional people

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: 熊正辉. 南昌方言词典. 1995. 289. 江苏教育出版社.
  2. Web site: 新京报 - 好新闻，无止境.
  3. Book: Gladney, Dru C. . C. Hurst & Co. Publishers . 2004. 1-85065-324-0. Dislocating China: reflections on Muslims, minorities and other subaltern subjects. 294.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Book: China's Muslim Hui community: migration, settlement and sects. Michael Dillon. 1999. Curzon Press. Richmond. 2. 0-7007-1026-4. 2010-06-28.
  7. Book: Muslim Chinese: ethnic nationalism in the People's Republic. Dru C. Gladney. 1996. Harvard Univ Asia Center. Cambridge Massachusetts. 272. 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. 266. 0-674-59497-5. 2010-06-28.
  9. Book: Making majorities: constituting the nation in Japan, Korea, China, Malaysia, Fiji, Turkey, and the United States. Dru C. Gladney. 1998. Stanford University Press. 112. 0-8047-3048-2. 2010-06-28.
  10. Book: Islamic family law. Chibli Mallat, Jane Frances Connors, University of London. Centre of Middle Eastern Studies. 1990. BRILL. 364. 1-85333-301-8. 2010-06-28.
  11. Book: Property rights and economic reform in China. Jean C. Oi . Jean C. Oi . Andrew George Walder . 1999. Stanford University Press. 62. 0-8047-3788-6. 2010-06-28.
  12. Book: Property rights and economic reform in China. Jean C. Oi . Jean C. Oi . Andrew George Walder . 1999. Stanford University Press. 63. 0-8047-3788-6. 2010-06-28.
  13. News: Islam in Taiwan. Peter G. Gowing. SAUDI ARAMCO World. July–August 1970. 2011-06-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20140911170917/https://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197004/islam.in.taiwan.htm. 2014-09-11. dead.
  14. Book: Muslim Chinese: ethnic nationalism in the People's Republic. Dru C. Gladney. 1991. Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University. 279. 2, illustrated, reprint. 0-674-59495-9. 2010-06-28.
  15. Book: Muslim Chinese: ethnic nationalism in the People's Republic. Dru C. Gladney. 1991. Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University. 279. 2, illustrated, reprint. 0-674-59495-9. 2010-06-28.
  16. Book: China: new faces of ethnography. Bettina Gransow . Pál Nyíri . Shiaw-Chian Fong . 2005. Lit Verlag. 126. illustrated. 3-8258-8806-1. 2010-06-28.
  17. Web site: Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica.

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