Chinese surname · rank 298
乐
乐 is read as yu.
yu
Simplified 乐 · Traditional 樂
happy, glad; enjoyable; music
Earth
Time: Spring-and-Autumn Song Duke Dai/Yuefu and Yue Ju layers, Zhou and Spring-and-Autumn music-office layer, Song Baijiaxing rank 81 and Song Hunan-centered distribution, Ming Zhejiang-Fujian-Hubei-Jiangxi-Hunan-Shanxi-Sichuan distribution, and later Mongol Le-reading layer; Song textual or Bai Jia Xing layer, 960-1279 CE
Place: Song state and Shangqiu/Henan context; music-office contexts across Zhou and Spring-and-Autumn states; Nanyang and Henan-Song commandery traditions; Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shanxi, northern-Han Yue-reading regions, southern Le-reading usage, and Mongol Le-reading branch contexts
Origin note
Yue is the main Han-surname reading of , while Le is also a surname reading in some later or minority branches. The strongest Han line is a Zi-surname Song royal-descendant tradition: Duke Dai of Song had a son Gongzi Yan, courtesy name Yuefu, and descendants used the ancestor's courtesy-name element Yue as a surname. A related Song line links the surname to Yue Ju, described as a fourth-generation descendant of Duke Dai of Song and a chief justice or dasikou, whose descendants used his name. A separate occupational layer comes from Zhou and Spring-and-Autumn music officials such as yuezheng, yueshi, and dasiyue; descendants of people holding music and education offices could use Yue as a surname. Reading must be handled carefully: Hangzhou News reports that Han Yue lines normally read yu, while a Mongol-derived Le line is read l; modern speech often blurs the distinction. The page therefore sets yu as the main reading but records the l branch.
Historical figures
Historical figures to enrich
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