Liang Family History

Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 梁 meaning ‘roofbeam’ or ‘bridge’ in Chinese: (i) from Liang (梁) the name of a state (located in present-day Hancheng in Shaanxi Province) which was granted to Kang the youngest son of Qinzhong (died 822 BC) because the latter made great contributions to the fight against minority ethnic groups in western China during the reign of King Ping of Zhou (died 720 BC). After the state was annihilated by the state of Qin in 641 BC, some people kept the name of the state as their surname.

(ii) from the second element of the placenames Jie Liang (解梁), Gao Liang (高粱), and Qu Liang (曲梁), names of several cities originally within the border of the state of Jin (located mainly in present-day Shanxi province). In 645 BC, the Duke Hui of Jin (ruler of the state of Jin, died 637 BC) ceded these cities to the state of Qin (located originally in present-day western Shaanxi province). Later, people from these cities adopted 粱 as their surname.

(iii) from Liang (梁), also known as South Liang, the name of another state (located in present-day Longxi in Gansu Province) which was granted to Tang, son of King Ping of Zhou (died 720 BC). After this state was annihilated by the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC), some people kept the name of the state as their surname.

(iv) from the Ba Lie Lan (拔列蘭) family, members of an ethnic group in northern China who changed their original surname to 梁 during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD). Variant Romanization of the surname 龍, possibly based on its Taiwanese pronunciation (mainly in Taichung) see Long.

5. Hokkien or Teochew form of the surnames 連 and 練 see Lian.