The Hang Surname#

Surname: Hang, pronounced as “háng”

Regions where the Hang Surname is Found**#

Yuhang County, Zhejiang Province; Xuancheng region, Anhui Province

Origin of the Hang Surname#

The origin of the “Hang” surname can be traced back to two main sources:

1. The Hang surname originated from the Kang and Kangxi families. According to the “Yuanhe Xing Zuan,” the Kang family was from the Wei state during the Spring and Autumn period. One member of the Kang family, Kang Xi, later served as the governor of Hanzhong and had his surname changed to Hang.
2. The surname also came from place names. It is said that after Yu the Great controlled the floods, he granted a fiefdom called Yuhang. Descendants of Yu the Great adopted this place name as their surname.

Ancestor of the Hang Surname

The ancestor of the Hang surname is Hang Xu Bo. The Hang family originated in Danyang Commandery (the area around Xuancheng, Anhui Province). The surname “Hang” was derived from the name of this fiefdom. According to the “Xing Shi Kao Lue,” after Yu the Great controlled the floods, he assigned the management of all boats in the nine provinces to his younger sons and granted them the fiefdom of Yuhang in Zhejiang. Later generations removed the “hang” (boat) character from the name and replaced it with the character “hang” (mountain), thus adopting the surname “Hang.” During the Eastern Han dynasty, Hang Xu Bo, the governor of Mount Tai, was awarded the title of “Dongxiang Hou” for his contributions to suppressing rebellions. He settled in Xixiang, Yunyang (now Xindai Village, Hangjia Village, Quanzhou). To escape the turmoil of the Five Dynasties, his descendants moved from Yunyang to Yuhang Bo Shuiwan. During the Qing dynasty’s Qingli period, when the country was stable again, some descendants of Hang Xu Bo longed for their ancestral homeland and traveled back to Danyang, eventually settling in Xindai Village, Xixiang. Therefore, Hang Xu Bo is revered as the ancestor of the Hang surname.

Notable People with the Hang Surname

Hang Shijun: A scholar from Renhe, Zhejiang during the Qing dynasty (1696–1773), also known as Dazong. He was a renowned scholar of the Qing dynasty, passed the imperial examinations during the Yongzheng reign, and held various official positions, including that of censor. He contributed to the compilation of the “Thirteen Classics” and the “Twenty-Four Histories” and authored several scholarly works, including “Shi Jing Kao Yi,” “Shi Ji Kao Yi,” “Han Shu Shu Zheng,” and “Dao Gu Tang Shi Wen Ji.”