GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 45

魏

魏 is read as wèi.

Pinyin

wèi

Script forms

Simplified and traditional 魏

Basic meaning

towering; high; ancient Wei state

Five element

Earth

Origin

Time: Spring and Autumn to Warring States period; Spring and Autumn tradition, 770-476 BCE

Place: Wei fief/state tradition in Jin, associated with today's Shanxi/Henan region

Origin note

A major Wei surname tradition traces the name to Bi Wan, a descendant of Bi Gong Gao, who received Wei as a fief in Jin. His descendants became the Wei clan and later one of the three families that partitioned Jin, forming the Warring States state of Wei. Descendants used Wei as a surname.

Historical figures

魏征 (Wei Zheng)

580-643 CE · Tang statesman

A famous adviser to Emperor Taizong of Tang, remembered for direct remonstrance.

魏源 (Wei Yuan)

1794-1857 CE · Qing scholar and reform-minded thinker

A late Qing scholar known for writings on statecraft and the wider world.

Sources checked