GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 52

沈

沈 is read as shěn.

Pinyin

shěn

Script forms

Simplified 沈 · Traditional 瀋

Basic meaning

sink; deep

Five element

Water

Origin

Time: Western Zhou Shen-state tradition; Spring and Autumn records through 506 BCE

Place: Ancient Shen state, placed by Han Dian north of today's Pingyu, Henan

Origin note

A major Shen surname tradition traces the surname to the ancient Shen state. Han Dian identifies Shen as a Western Zhou enfeoffed state, gives the founding-ruler tradition as Ji Zai, son of King Wen of Zhou, and places the state north of today's Pingyu, Henan. The Spring and Autumn record shows Shen still active before Cai destroyed it in 506 BCE; later descendants used the state name as the surname Shen.

Historical figures

沈括 (Shen Kuo)

1031-1095 CE · Northern Song polymath

Author of Dream Pool Essays, remembered for science, statecraft and observation.

沈约 (Shen Yue)

441-513 CE · writer and historian

A Southern Dynasties scholar associated with literary theory and history.

Sources checked