Bai Jia Xing compound surname #21
公孙
公孙 is read as Gōngsūn. It is one of the 60 compound surnames in the expanded Bai Jia Xing sequence.
Gōngsūn
Simplified 公孙 · Traditional 公孫
duke or lord's grandson; noble-descendant title
Metal
Time: Zhou aristocratic usage, c. 1046-256 BCE
Place: Multiple Zhou-state noble houses
Origin
公孙 is not one single lineage. In Zhou usage, a ruler's sons could be 公子 and their sons 公孙, so many noble branches adopted the term as a surname; some traditions also link it with Huangdi.
Name meaning
The name openly marks aristocratic descent. Shang Yang and Gongsun Long give it strong political and philosophical associations.
Historical figures
公孙鞅 Shang Yang
Gongsun Yang, better known as Shang Yang, was a major Qin reformer.
公孙龙 Gongsun Long
Gongsun Long was a Warring States philosopher.
水浒传
Gongsun Sheng is one of the Liangshan heroes in Water Margin, linking Gongsun with Daoist magic and outlaw-hero fiction.