Ji (Zhou dynasty ancestral surname)

Ji (姬 jī in Chinese) is the family name of the family in control of the Zhou Dynasty (周朝 late 10th century BC to late 9th century - 256 BC) (Wade-Giles Chou Dynasty), which followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty in China.

Thirty-nine members of the family ruled over China during this period.

Ji is a rare surname in China ever since it appeared. "Ji" (姬) literally means empress. Its originality dates back thousands of years. This surname was originally one the Yellow Emperor's surname, and although he had many sons to whom he could have passed the name to, he only gave the two chosen ones to possess this Ji surname. Not only this, one of the two sons that possessed this surname became the next emperor and passed this surname to only a few. The other sons all got different names such as Wang, Li, Ding, Yao, Zhang, Bai, and many others.

The emperor's surname cannot be used by people except royalty who received the emperor's approval. Hundreds of years later on, another emperor had the Ji surname, and all those who had this name had to change their name to something else other than Ji, thus people with this Ji surname is scarce.

Sovereigns of Zhou dynasty 1122 BC-256 BC

Posthumous names	Chinese names	Period of Reigns
Chinese Convention: "Zhou" + posthumous name + "wang"
Note: all dates are approximate until 841 BC when the first accurate dating of Chinese history began.
Xi Zhou dynasty(Western Zhou dynasty,西周)1122 BC-771 BC
Wu (武 wu3)	Ji Fa (姬發 ji1 fa1)	1122 BC-1115 BC
Cheng (成 cheng2)	Ji Song (姬誦 ji1 song4)	1115 BC-1078 BC
Kang (康 kang1)	Ji Zhao (姬釗 ji1 zhao1)	1078 BC-1052 BC
Zhao (昭 zhao1)	Ji Xia (姬瑕 ji1 xia2)	1052 BC-1001 BC
Mo (穆 mo4)	Ji Man (姬滿 ji1 man3)	1001 BC-946 BC
Gong (共 gong1)	Ji Yihu (姬繄扈 ji1 yi1 hu4)	946 BC-934 BC
Yi (懿 yi4)	Ji Jian (姬囏 ji1 jian1)	934 BC-909 BC
Xiao (孝 xiao4)	Ji Pifang (姬辟方 ji1 pi4 fang1)	909 BC-894 BC
Yi (夷 yi2)	Ji Xie (姬燮 ji1 xie4)	894 BC-878 BC
Li (厲 li4)	Ji Hu (姬胡 ji1 hu2)	878 BC-841 BC
gonghe (共和) 841 BC-827 BC
Xuan (宣 xuan1)	Ji Jing (姬靜 ji1 jing4)	827 BC-781 BC
You (幽 you1)	Ji Gongsheng (姬宮湦 ji1 gong1 sheng1)	781 BC-771 BC
Dong Zhou dynasty(Eastern Zhou dynasty, 东周) 770 BC-256 BC
Ping (平 ping2)	Ji Yijiu (姬宜臼 ji1 yi2 jiu4)	770 BC-720 BC
Huan (桓 huan2)	Ji Lin (姬林 ji1 lin2)	719 BC-697 BC
春秋時代 (chun1 qiu1 shi2 dai4) Spring and Autumn Period 722 BC-481 BC
Zhuang (莊 zhuang1)	Ji Tuo (姬佗 ji1 tuo2)	696 BC-682 BC
Li (釐 li2)	Ji Huqi (姬胡齊 ji1 hu2 qi2)	681 BC-677 BC
Hui (惠 hui4)	Ji Lucero (姬閬 ji1 lang4)	676 BC-652 BC
Xiang (襄 xiang1)	Ji Zheng (姬鄭 ji1 zheng)	651 BC-619 BC
Qing (頃 qing3)	Ji Renchen (姬壬臣 ji1 ren2 chen2)	618 BC-613 BC
Kuang (匡 kuang1)	Ji Ban (姬班 ji1 ban1)	612 BC-607 BC
Ding (定 ding4)	Ji Yu (姬瑜 ji1 yu2)	606 BC-586 BC
Jian (簡 jian3)	Ji Yi (姬夷 ji1 yi2)	585 BC-572 BC
Ling (靈 ling2)	Ji Xiexin (姬泄心 ji1 xie4 xin1)	572 BC or 571 BC-545 BC
Jing (景 jing3)	Ji Gui (姬貴 ji1 gui4)	544 B.C.-520 B.C.
Dao (悼 dao4)	Ji Meng (姬猛 ji1 meng3)	520 BC
Jing (敬 jing4)	Ji Gai (姬丐 ji1 gai4)	519 BC-476 BC
Yuan (元 yuan2)	Ji Ren (姬仁 ji1 ren2)	475 BC-469 BC
Zhen Ding (貞定 zhen1 ding4)	Ji Jie (姬介 ji1 jie4)	468 BC-441 BC
Ai (哀 ai1)	Ji Quji (姬去疾 ji1 qu4 ji2)	441 BC
Si (思 si1)	Ji Shu (姬叔 ji1 shu2)	441 BC
Kao (考 kao3)	Ji Wei (姬嵬 ji1 wei2)	440 BC-426 BC
Wei Lie (威烈 wei1 lie4)	Ji Wu (姬午 ji1 wu3)	425 BC-402 BC
戰國時代(zhan4 guo2 shi2 dai4) Period of the Warring States 403 BC-221 BC
An (安 an1)	Ji Jiao (姬驕 ji1 jiao1)	401 BC-376 BC
Lie (烈 lie4)	Ji Xi (姬喜 ji1 xi3)	375 BC-369 BC
Xian (顯 xian3)	Ji Bian (姬扁 ji1 bian3)	368 BC-321 BC
Shen Jing (慎靚 shen4 jing4)	Ji Ding (姬定 ji1 ding4)	320 BC-315 BC
Nan (赧 nan3) or Yin (隱 yin3)	Ji Yan (姬延 ji1 yan2)	314 BC-256 BC
Hui (惠 hui4)	?	255 BC-249 BC
Note: nobles of the Ji family proclaimed King Hui of Eastern Zhou (Dong Zhou Hui Wang) as the successor to the dynasty after Luoyang fell to Qin. However the resistance did not last long when Qin army advanced southwards. So King Nan of Zhou (Zhou Nan Wang) is conventionally considered as the last emperor of Zhou.