Chinese surname · rank 291
储
储 is read as chǔ.
chǔ
Simplified 储 · Traditional 儲
save money, store, reserve; heir
Earth
Time: Spring-and-Autumn or Warring-States Qi Chuzi/Chu Taibo tradition, Han Shanggu record, Tang Runzhou-Yanling record, Song Jinjiang and Baijiaxing rank layer, Ming Taizhou-Yingzhou record, Qing Yixing lineage layer; Tang-layer tradition, 618-907 CE
Place: Qi and Lu cultural region; Shanggu/Huailai in Hebei; Runzhou Yanling/Danyang in Jiangsu; Jinjiang/Quanzhou in Fujian; Taizhou and Yixing in Jiangsu; Yingzhou/Fuyang and Anqing/Qianshan in Anhui; Shanghai, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Tianjin, Beijing, Hebei, Hunan, Henan, Fujian, and Shaanxi distribution contexts
Origin note
Chu is read chu as a surname. The strongest source-backed origin layer is an ancestor-name tradition: modern Chu families often honor the Qi figure Chuzi, also remembered as Chu Taibo, and later descendants are said to have taken the ancestral name Chu as a surname. A second, weaker layer comes from the character's older meanings: storing, waiting, deputy status, or assisting, as in words such as chujun and chufu; this is useful background but not treated as a proven single origin. Sources also mention minority changed-surname branches. The historical footprint then becomes clearer in records: Han figures appear around Shanggu, Tang poet Chu Guangxi is tied to Runzhou Yanling, Song Chu Dunxu to Jinjiang/Quanzhou, Ming officials to Taizhou and Yingzhou, and Qing Yixing becomes an important Jiangsu Chu lineage center.
Historical figures
Historical figures to enrich
This surname page is ready for a fame-ranked figure list. Later passes can add generals, poets, rulers, artists, scholars and modern public figures with source links.