Chinese surname · rank 346

相 is read as xiàng.

Pinyin

xiàng

Script forms

Simplified and traditional 相

Basic meaning

mutual, reciprocal, each other

Five element

Earth

Origin

Time: Xia-dynasty tradition, c. 2070-1600 BCE

Place: Xiangli Xia tradition and Shang court-at-Xiang place layer; Wuluoshan branch noted separately.

Origin note

Xiang is handled as a multi-line surname, not as an explanation from the everyday meaning of . One traditional strand is tied to the Xia royal house: sources say Di Xiang, son of Zhongkang, was connected with Xiangli, and later descendants used Xiang as a surname. A second strand is tied to the Shang royal house: He Danjia is said to have lived at or moved the court to Xiang, after which people associated with that place used Xiang as a place-name surname. A further branch note in surname summaries mentions Wuluoshan producing several surnames including Xiang. Because these accounts belong to different lineage and place traditions, this page records them as parallel source-backed layers rather than merging all Xiang families into one founder line.

Historical figures

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