GGood Chinese Name

Chinese surname · rank 53

钟

钟 is read as zhōng.

Pinyin

zhōng

Script forms

Simplified 钟 · Traditional 鈡

Basic meaning

bell; clock; gather

Five element

Metal

Origin

Time: Spring and Autumn Chu / Zhongli fief tradition, recorded in later surname histories; Spring and Autumn tradition, 770-476 BCE

Place: Zhongli, described in the surname tradition as a Chu place/fief, later associated with Haozhou/Huainan-region geography

Origin note

A source-backed Zhong surname tradition connects Zhong with Zhongli rather than with the character's bell meaning. Later surname histories say Bo Zhouli served Chu, held a fief at Zhongli, and that descendants used either Zhong or Zhongli as surnames. Because this is a later surname-history tradition, the page presents it as a recorded tradition, not as a proven single origin for every Zhong family.

Historical figures

钟繇 (Zhong Yao)

151-230 CE · calligrapher and official

A Cao Wei official and early master of regular-script calligraphy.

钟会 (Zhong Hui)

225-264 CE · Cao Wei general and writer

A late Three Kingdoms military and literary figure.

Sources checked