Zhurong
Zhurong (Chinese: 祝融), also known as Chongli (Chinese: 重黎), is an important personage in Chinese mythology and Chinese folk religion. According to the Huainanzi and the philosophical texts of Mozi and his followers, Zhurong is a god of fire and of the south. The Shanhaijing gives alternative genealogies for Zhurong, including descent from both the Yan Emperor and Yellow Emperor. Some sources associate Zhurong with some of the principle early and ancient myths of China, such as those of Nuwa, Gong Gong and the Great Flood (Nuwa patching the sky). Chinese mythology has in the past been believed to be, at least in part, a factual recording of history. Thus, in the study of historical Chinese culture, many of the stories that have been told regarding characters and events which have been written or told of the distant past have a double tradition: one which tradition which presents a more historicised and one which presents a more mythological version. This is also true in the case of Zhurong. In Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian (Shi Ji), Zhurong is portrayed as a historical person, who held the governmental office of Minister of Fire.
Zhu
Zhu or ZHU may refer to:
Zhu (string instrument)
The zhu (筑; pinyin: zhù) was an ancient Chinese string instrument. Although it is no longer used, three very old specimens in varying degrees of preservation survive. One with five strings, dating to approximately 433 BC, was discovered in the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, in the Hubei province of central China.
It first became popular during the Warring States period, when its most famous player was Gao Jianli, a citizen of the state of Yan who attracted the attention and played for Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China.
The instrument remained popular through the Sui and Tang dynasties, and was lost during the Song Dynasty.
Little is known about the instrument but it is believed to have been a zither with a rectangular wooden body, with silk or gut strings that were played with a slender stick. Although ancient sources state that the instrument was struck (implying that the stick was bounced on the string in the manner of a hammered dulcimer in order to elicit sound), it is possible that it was actually plucked with the stick in the manner of the Korean komungo.
Zhu (surname)
Zhu is the pinyin romanization of four Chinese surnames: 朱, 祝, 竺, and 諸. It is spelled Chu in the Wade-Giles romanization system mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
The most common of the four, 朱, was the surname of the Ming Dynasty emperors. Today it is the 13th most common surname in the People's Republic of China, with a population of over fifteen million.
Origination and distribution
The Zhu (朱) family originated from the minor state of Zhu (邾, later renamed Zou) (p. 43, Chao) in present-day southwestern Shandong Province. King Wu of Zhou granted Cao Xie, a descendant of the Yellow Emperor through his grandson Zhuanxu, control over the small state. He was a vassal ruler under the Lu (state) (魯) and held the feudal title Viscount (子), but later held the title Duke of Zhu (邾公) during the Spring and Autumn Period. (p. 138, Li Chi; p. 239, Tan & p. 306, Wu).
The ancestral surname (姓) of the ruling family was Cao). (p. 144, Li Xueqin). The state of Zou was conquered and annexed by the state of Chu during the reign of King Xuan of Chu (楚宣王) (369–340 BC). (p. 43, Chao). The ruling family and its descendants adopted Zhu (朱) as their surname in memory of their former state of Zhu (邾). (p. 43, Chao & p. 239, Tan).
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