Liang (surname)
| Liang (梁) | |
|---|---|
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| Origin | |
| Meaning | "a beam," "a bridge," or "an elevation," or "a mast" |
| Other names | |
| Variant(s) | Leung, Leong, Lyang, Yang |
Liang (Romanization used in China, Chinese: 梁) is an East Asian surname of Chinese origin. Meaning "a beam", "a bridge", or "an elevation", or "a mast", the surname is often transliterated as Leung (in Hong Kong) or Leong (in Macau, Malaysia, and Singapore) according to its Cantonese pronunciation, or Neo / Nio / Niu (Hokkien, Teochew, Hainan). To Indonesia, it is known as Liang or Nio. It is also common in Korea, where it is pronounced Yang 양 or Ryang 량 . In Vietnam, it's pronounced as Lương.
The first Liang was Liang Kang (梁康）and was conferred the title "Bo" or "伯" (third ranking noble- equivalent to a Count or Earl) who was the ruler of the State of Liang, in what is now Shaanxi Province in the northwestern part of China. He was a younger son of Qin Zhong (秦仲- ancestor to the Qin Duchy and subsequent Qin Dynasty）who was killed in battle against barbarians to the west (西戎）in the service of the Zhou emperor. Liang Kang, amongst the five sons of Qin Zhong requested assistance from the Zhou emperor to retaliate and triumphed. The eldest son inherited the Qin state with the younger son being conferred the State of Liang and became the first Liang- henceforth also known as Liang Bo (梁伯 Count of Liang). The State of Liang lasted from 770BC to 641BC.
Wedged between the superpowers of the time, Qin and Jin, the Liang rulers were known for their Earthworks. They are regarded to be amongst the earliest wall builders, attempting to encircle the tiny county with a wall. Such was the quality of the works parts of the walls still remain standing today, despite predating the Qin Dynasty's original Great Wall of China by some 400 years. In the process it triggered an uprising, providing the opportunity for Qin to invade and conquer. The descendants of Liang Kang retained the name Liang as their surname in memory of the Liang state when it was annexed by the neighboring State of Qin in 641 BC.
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