Chinese surname · rank 264

植 is read as zhí.

Pinyin

zhí

Script forms

Simplified and traditional 植

Basic meaning

plant, grow; set up, establish; stand upright

Five element

Wood

Origin

Time: Traditional Yue-descendant and Nanyue fief-name account, Tang-or-later changed-surname layer, Song Dongguan figure layer, Ming Sichuan distribution layer, and Qing southern figure layer; Tang-layer tradition, 618-907 CE

Place: Yue or Nanyue contexts including Zhejiang and Guangdong traditions; Nanhai and Nanyue commandery or hall-name contexts; Guangdong Dongguan, Xinhui, Gaoyao, Qingyuan, Shunde, Hua County, and Wuchuan; Sichuan; Guangxi; Anhui; Taiwan; Hong Kong; overseas communities

Origin note

is treated as a rare southern surname with cautious source wording. One traditional line says it comes from the Si-surname Yue royal line: descendants of Yue rulers or a Nanyue Zhi place used Zhi as a surname. Mingmen Xiupu presents a fuller version in which descendants of the Yue royal house were connected with a Zhi fief in the south, later forming the surname. A second line in surname references says some Zhi families came from Tianzhu or Hu Buddhist communities. 23mofang adds that the surname appears relatively late and may have developed from other surnames in the Tang period or later, while warning that stories about adding a stroke to Xiang or evolving from Huan are folk traditions rather than firm evidence. The page therefore presents the Yue, Nanyue, Tianzhu-Hu, and changed-surname layers as separate traditions, not a single proven ancestor line.

Historical figures

Historical figures to enrich

This surname page is ready for a fame-ranked figure list. Later passes can add generals, poets, rulers, artists, scholars and modern public figures with source links.

Sources checked