Jing Family History

Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 景 meaning ‘scenery’ or ‘revere’ in Chinese: (i) in some families the surname is borne by descendants of nobles in the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). (ii) from Jing (景) posthumous title of Duke Jing of Qi (ruler of the state of Qi, died 490 BC). (iii) from Jing Qing (景清) an official in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD) who changed his original surname 耿 (Geng) to 景.

Mandarin form of the surname 荊, a word meaning ‘brambles’: from Jing (荊) the original name of the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). Mandarin form of the surname 井 referring to a ‘well’ in Chinese: from the personal name Jing Bo (井伯), the name of an official in the state of Yu (located in Shanxi province) during the Warring States Period (475–221 BC).

Mandarin form of the surname 敬 meaning ‘respect’ in Chinese: (i) from Jing (敬) posthumous title of a son of Duke Li of Chen (ruler of the state of Chen, died 700 BC). (ii) said to be borne by descendants of Jing Kang (敬康), a grandson of the legendary emperor Huang Di ‘the Yellow Emperor’ (c. 27th century BC). (iii) borne by descendants of Gou Hua Nan, an official during the Qing dynasty (1616–1911 AD) who was endowed with the surname Jing (敬).

Mandarin and Cantonese form of the surname 靖 meaning ‘peaceful’ in ancient Chinese: (i) from Jing Guo (靖郭), the conferred title of Tian Ying known as Jing Guo Jun (靖郭君 Lord Jing Guo), son of King Wei of Qi (ruler of the state of Qi, 378 - 320 BC). (ii) from Jing (靖) posthumous title of Shan Jing Gong (单靖公 Duke Jing of Shan) ruler of the state of Shan during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC).

Mandarin form of the surname 經 meaning ‘warp (textile)’ in Chinese: (i) adopted in place of another Chinese surname Jing (京) by the descendants of Jing Fang (京房) (77–37 BC), a famous scholar during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC – 25 AD) who was persecuted and imprisoned for his unwelcome political proposals. His descendants thus changed the surname to Jing (經) in order to escape from persecution. (ii) traced back to Jing Hou (經侯 ‘Marquis Jing’), an official in the state of Wei during the Warring States Period (475–221 BC). Variant Romanization of the surname 金, see Jin; variant Romanization of the surname 鄭, see Zheng; variant Romanization of the surname 曾, see Zeng.