Bai Jia Xing compound surname #58
西门
西门 is read as Xīmén. It is one of the 60 compound surnames in the expanded Bai Jia Xing sequence.
Xīmén
Simplified 西门 · Traditional 西門
west gate; urban residence surname
Metal
Time: Spring and Autumn period, 770-476 BCE
Place: Zheng city west-gate residence tradition
Origin
西门 is explained as a Spring and Autumn residence-name surname from a Zheng grandee who lived by the city's west gate. Descendants used the gate-location name as a surname.
Name meaning
The name is directional and urban, parallel to Dongmen and Nanmen. Ximen Bao adds a strong Warring States reformer association.
Historical figures
西门豹 Ximen Bao
Ximen Bao was a Warring States Wei official and water-control reformer.
西门庆 Ximen Qing
Ximen Qing is a notorious literary figure in Water Margin and Jin Ping Mei.
西门庆
Ximen Qing is a notorious figure in Water Margin and Jin Ping Mei, so the surname can feel dramatic but morally risky.
金瓶梅
Jin Ping Mei makes Ximen Qing central to a major late-Ming novel tradition, giving Ximen high literary recognition.