Chinese surname · rank 338
支
支 is read as zhī.
zhī
Simplified and traditional 支
disperse, pay; support; branch
Wood
Time: Yao-Shun Zhifu tradition, Warring States Zhi Qi attestation, Zhou branch-son surname explanation in later surname books, Han-Jin Yuezhi/Xiaoyuezhi surname use in Hexi, Song Sichuan-Henan distribution, and Ming Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Sichuan-Hebei-Henan distribution; Xia-dynasty tradition, c. 2070-1600 BCE
Place: Yuezhi early range between Dunhuang and Qilian, later Ili River and westward regions for Dayuezhi, Qilian/Hexi/Liangzhou for Xiaoyuezhi; Zhou branch-line contexts in later surname books; Song Sichuan and Henan distribution; Ming Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Hebei and Henan distribution; Langya/Shandong as a later prestige locality in summaries
Origin note
Zhi is read zhi as a surname. The entry should separate three layers. One is a high-recluse tradition: surname sources tell of Zhifu in Yao-Shun lore, but 23mofang itself warns that his descendants are not visible in historical records, so this page labels it as transmitted tradition. A more concrete early-Han-before layer is the Warring States figure Zhi Qi, showing that Zhi existed as a surname in the pre-Qin period. Another Chinese lineage explanation comes from Zhou branch sons or zhi-zi: later surname books say some descendants of royal or noble branch lines used Zhi. The most important ethnic-name layer comes from Yuezhi, also written Yuezhi/Yuezhi in older transcription: Han-era people from the Yuezhi sphere and especially Xiaoyuezhi groups in Hexi often used Zhi as a surname. This page therefore presents Zhi as a layered surname from ancient tradition, branch-lineage terminology, and Yuezhi ethnonym history, rather than from the everyday meaning of branch or support alone.
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.