GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 8

赵

赵 is read as zhào.

Pinyin

zhào

Script forms

Simplified 赵 · Traditional 趙

Basic meaning

ancient Zhao state name

Five element

Earth

Origin

Time: Western Zhou tradition; Warring States Zhao layer after 403 BCE

Place: Zhao city tradition in today's Shanxi area; later Zhao state in North China

Origin note

A central Zhao tradition traces the surname to Zaofu, a skilled charioteer in the time of King Mu of Zhou. After his service, he was granted Zhao city, commonly identified around today's Hongdong, Shanxi; descendants then used Zhao as a surname.

Historical figures

赵匡胤 (Zhao Kuangyin)

927-976 CE · founder of the Song dynasty

Emperor Taizu of Song, whose dynasty made Zhao the imperial surname of the Song period.

赵云 (Zhao Yun)

died 229 CE · Three Kingdoms general

A Shu Han general remembered in both historical and literary traditions as one of the best-known Zhao figures.

Sources checked