Chen (surname)
Encyclopedia
Chén or Chan is one of the most common East Asian family names. It ranks as the 5th most common surname in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, as of 2007 and the most common surname in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 (2000) and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 (2010). Chen is also the most common family name in Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...

, Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...

, Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...

, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 (spelt Chan in Hong Kong and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

). It is the most common surname in Xiamen
Xiamen
Xiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million...

, the ancestral hometown of many overseas Hoklo
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....

.

It is usually romanised as Chan in Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....

 (most widely used by those from Hong Kong), and sometimes as Chun. In Min (including dialects of Chaozhou
Chaozhou
Chaozhou is a city in eastern Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast...

 (Teochow), Hainan
Hainan
Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...

, Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...

, and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

), the name is pronounced Tan. In Hakka and Toisan, the name is spelled and pronounced as Chin. Some other Romanisations include Zen (from Wu), Ding and Chern. Chen can be variously spelt Chan, Chin or Tan in Singapore and Malaysia.

The Korean surname 진 (Jin) would be the Korean equivalent of the surname Chen.

In Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, this surname is written in Quốc Ngữ as Trần
Tran
Tran or TRAN may refer to:* Tran, Bulgaria, a small town in Pernik Province, western Bulgaria* Trần , a Vietnamese surname spelled as Chan in Cantonese or Chen in Mandarin. This is one of the most populated surname in both Vietnam and China. As the descendent of Han Chinese, many immigrated to...

, and is the second most popular Vietnamese surname, accounting for 11% of the population, after the surname Nguyễn (38.4%).

According to an unofficial count undertaken by the American company infoUSA, "Chan" is the 19th most common surname (and the third most common Chinese surname) found in Canadian telephone directories.

History

The initial surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

 Chen was from Gui , which was an ancient East Asia surname of descendants
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....

 of Emperor Shun, who was one of the Three August Ones and Five Emperors
Three August Ones and Five Emperors
The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were a group of semi- mythological rulers and culture heroes from ancient China during the period circa 2500 BC to 2100 BC. This period preceded the Xia Dynasty....

. When King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhou
King Wu of Zhōu or King Wu of Chou was the first sovereign, or ruler of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The dates of his reign are 1046-1043 BCE or 1049/45-1043. Various sources quoted that he died at the age of 93, 54 or 43. He was considered a just and able leader. Zhou Gong Dan was one of his...

 established the Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...

, he gave the Land of Chen to Shun's descendants to establish their own state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...

. To show his respect for Emperor Shun, the new state, which was also named Chen, was one of the Three Guest States of Zhou , which meant this nation was not a subordinate, but a guest of Zhou. However, the Chen state
Chen (state)
Chen was a minor Zhou Dynasty vassal state during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese History. It was a relatively minor state based on a single urban centre near what is now Huaiyang County in the plains of eastern Henan province...

 was occupied by Chu
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...

 after the 10th century BC
10th century BC
The 10th century BC started the first day of 1000 BC and ended the last day of 901 BC.- Overview :This period followed the Bronze Age collapse in the Near East, and the century saw the Early Iron Age take hold there. The Greek Dark Ages which had come about in 1200 BC continued. The Neo-Assyrian...

. Since then, the people of this state began to use Chen as their surname.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589), Chen Baxian established the Chen Dynasty
Chen Dynasty
The Chen Dynasty , also known as the Southern Chen Dynasty, was the fourth and last of the Southern dynasties in China, eventually destroyed by the Sui Dynasty....

 (557-589), the fourth and the last of the Southern dynasties in East Asia, which was eventually destroyed by the Sui Dynasty.

Other pronunciations

  • Sen, Chen, used in Limbu
    Limbu language
    Limbu is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Kashmir and Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India, by the Limbu community. Virtually all Limbus are bilingual in Nepali....

    , Limbuwan
    Limbuwan
    Limbuwan is an area of the Himalaya historically made up of 10 Limbu kingdoms, all now part of Nepal. Limbuwan means "abode of the Limbus" or "Land of the Limbus". Limbus themselves call Limbuwan "Yakthung Laaje" or "the country of the Yakthungs"...

  • Chen, used in Mandarin
  • Chan, used in Cantonese
  • Chin, used in Taishanese, Hakka and Japanese
    Japanese language
    is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

  • Jin, used in Korean
    Korean language
    Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...

  • Son, used in Hainanese
  • Tan, used in Teochew in Singapore
    Singapore
    Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

    , Malaysia, Min Nan
    Min Nan
    The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora....

     (including Taiwanese), and Hainanese
  • Tang, used in Teochew
  • Ting or Ding, used in Fuzhou
    Fuzhou dialect
    Fuzhou dialect , also known as Foochow dialect, Foochow, Foochowese, Fuzhounese, or Fuzhouhua, is considered the standard dialect of Min Dong, which is a branch of Min Chinese mainly spoken in the eastern part of Fujian Province. Native speakers also call it ' , meaning the language spoken in...

  • Trần, used in Vietnamese
    Vietnamese language
    Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...

  • Zen, used in Shanghainese
    Shanghainese
    Shanghainese , or the Shanghai language , is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Shanghai and the surrounding region. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Shanghainese, like other Wu dialects, is largely not mutually intelligible with other Chinese varieties...


Notable people

  • Rulers of the Chen Dynasty
    Chen Dynasty
    The Chen Dynasty , also known as the Southern Chen Dynasty, was the fourth and last of the Southern dynasties in China, eventually destroyed by the Sui Dynasty....


  • Agnes Chan
    Agnes Chan
    Agnes Chan or Agnes Miling Kaneko Chan is a pop singer, a television personality , a Doctor of Education, a professor at Japanese universities, an essayist, a novelist...

    , Hong Kong singer, also famous in Japan
  • Arthur Chin
    Arthur Chin
    Major Arthur Chin was an American pilot and a Second Sino-Japanese War fighter ace.-Biography:Chin was born in Portland, Oregon to a Chinese father of Cantonese origin and a Caucasian mother of Peruvian background. Motivated by the Japanese invasion of China, Chin enrolled in flight school in 1932...

    , fighter ace
  • Bruce Chen
    Bruce Chen
    Bruce Kastulo Chen is a Panamanian professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.-Background:...

     - Panamanian Major League player
  • Christine Chen
    Christine Chen
    Christine L. Chen is an American journalist who has been an anchor and reporter for several U.S. television news networks. She is an Emmy Award winner, and is presently the managing partner of Chen Communications,a marketing communications consulting group based in Seattle, Washington, and creator...

    , former Emmy award winning journalist and CEO of Chen Communications
  • Christopher Chen, known as Mr. Chentastic, CEO of Chen Management, LLC
  • Cheer Chen
    Chen Chi Chen
    Chen Chi Chen also known as Cheer Chen; born June 6, 1975 in Taipei, Taiwan) is a popular yet low-profile Taiwanese singer-songwriter, widely recognized as a talented musician among the Chinese music industry....

    , Taiwanese singer
  • Danny Chan
    Danny Chan
    Danny Chan Bak-keung was a 1980s cantopop singer, composer and actor in Hong Kong with origins in Taishan, Guangdong. Chan was of the first generation of pop idols in Hong Kong. He was already an electronic organ player, a songwriter, an actor and a promising singer at the beginning of his career...

    , Hong Kong actor, singer and composer
  • Chen Duxiu
    Chen Duxiu
    Chen Duxiu played many different roles in Chinese history. He was a leading figure in the anti-imperial Xinhai Revolution and the May Fourth Movement for Science and Democracy. Along with Li Dazhao, Chen was a co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. He was its first General Secretary....

    , Communist Party of China founder
  • Edison Chen
    Edison Chen
    Edison Koon-Hei Chen is a Hong Kong film actor, Cantopop singer, Hong Kong hip hop rapper, model, record producer, fashion designer, and a pop icon. Chen is also the founder of CLOT Inc., and the CEO of Clot Media Division Limited...

    , Canadian born Hong Kong singer
  • Eason Chan
    Eason Chan
    Eason Chan Yik-shun is a prominent male singer in Hong Kong's music industry. Undoubtedly one of the most dominant male singers in the post-1997 era of Hong Kong music industry. Eason Chan has been praised by Time magazine as a front runner in the next generation of Cantopop...

    , Hong Kong actor and singer
  • Edward Chen
    Edward Chen
    Edward Chen Kwan-yiu , CBE, GBS, JP was the President of Lingnan University of Hong Kong. He is now an Honorary Professor and Distinguished Fellow of the Centre of Asian Studies at the University of Hong Kong . He is a non-executive director of Wharf Holdings.Edward Chen graduated with a Bachelor...

    , South African Engineer
  • Fala Chen
    Fala Chen
    Fala Chen is a Chinese-American beauty pageant titleholder. Chen has held the titles of Miss Asian America 2002 and Miss NY Chinese 2004, and placed as runner-up in Miss Chinatown USA 2003 and Miss Chinese International 2005.-Education:Chen was born in Chengdu, People's Republic of China, in 1982...

    , Hong Kong actress and model
  • Frankie Chan
    Frankie Chan
    Frankie Chan Fan-kei is a Chinese actor, film director, producer, action director, and composer.Chan is best known to Hong Kong action cinema fans as the main antagonist in Sammo Hung's The Prodigal Son where he faces Yuen Biao in the final reel...

    , nephew of Brian Leung
  • Chen Gang
    Chen Gang
    Chen Gang , important Moscow-trained member of the Chinese Communist Party’s security services prior to the founding of the PRC in 1949....

     (陈刚) (1906–1967), member of Chinese Communist Party security services
  • H. T. Chen
    H. T. Chen
    H. T. Chen is an American dancer and choreographer who formed his own dance company in New York in 1978.-Early years and education :Chen was born in Shanghai, China, raised in Taiwan, and has been a native of New York City since 1971...

    , American dancer and choreographer
  • Chen Hong, Chinese badminton player
  • Jackie Chan
    Jackie Chan
    Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...

    , Hong Kong actor; his parents Charles and Lee-Lee Chan and son Jaycee Chan
    Jaycee Chan
    Jaycee Chan Jo-Ming is a Hong Kong actor and singer. In 2004, he released his first Mandarin CD album in Hong Kong. He is currently based in Taiwan to continue his music career.-Biography:...

  • Jason Chan
    Jason Chan
    Jason Keng-Kwin Chan starred on Power Rangers: Ninja Storm in 2003 as Cameron Watanabe, the Green Samurai Ranger. He was born in Malaysia and moved to Perth with his family when he was only 5...

    , Actor
  • Jiebing Chen
    Jiebing Chen
    Jiebing Chen is a Chinese musician based in the United States specializing in the erhu .Born in Shanghai, China, Chen went to the United States in 1989 to study at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she received an M.A...

    , erhu player
  • Chen Jingrun
    Chen Jingrun
    Chen Jingrun was a Chinese mathematician who made significant contributions to number theory.- Personal life :Chen was the third son in a large family from Fuzhou, Fujian, China. His father was a postal worker. Chen Jingrun graduated from the Mathematics Department of Xiamen University in 1953...

    , mathematician
  • Joan Chen Chong
    Joan Chen
    Joan Chong Chen is a Chinese American actress, film director, screenwriter and film producer. She became famous in China for her performance in the 1979 film Little Flower and came to international attention for her performance in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor...

    , Chinese-American actress and film director
  • Jordan Chan
    Jordan Chan
    Jordan Chan Siu-Chun is a Chinese actor and musician from Hong Kong.Chan got his start by enrolling in the TVB Dancers' Training Class in 1985. Soon after graduation, he joined a few of the studio's troupes that would accompany popular singers during their live performances...

    , Hong Kong actor and singer
  • Johnny Chan
    Johnny Chan (poker player)
    Johnny Chan rather than his Chinese birth name. born in Guangzhou, China in 1957) is a Chinese American professional poker player. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, including 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker main events consecutively....

    , poker player
  • Joyce Chen
    Joyce Chen
    Joyce Chen was a Chinese chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur. Born in Beijing, China, Chen and husband Thomas left Shanghai in 1949 as the communists were taking over the country. Chen ultimately settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Chen opened her first restaurant, "Joyce Chen Restaurant", in 1958...

    , Chinese-American chef and restaurateur
  • Julie Chen
    Julie Chen
    Julie Suzanne Chen is an American television personality, news anchor, and producer for CBS. She has 16 years of newscasting experience. She is best known for co-anchoring CBS's The Early Show, alongside Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez. She has been the host of the U.S. version of Big Brother...

    , American television personality and news anchor
  • Chen Kaige
    Chen Kaige
    Chen Kaige is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema. His films are known for their visual flair and epic storytelling.-Early life:...

    , Fifth Generation Chinese filmmaker
  • Kelly Chen Wai-Lam
    Kelly Chen
    Kelly Chen is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. Kelly has also been known as a diva in Asia. She has a great success in Asia Entertainment industry with nearly 20 million record sales of 38 albums...

    , Hong Kong actress and singer
  • Chen Kenichi
    Chen Kenichi
    , whose name is often romanized Chin Kenichi in Japanese sources, is a Han Chinese chef best known for his role as the Iron Chef Chinese on the television series Iron Chef. He wears a yellow outfit and rises into Kitchen Stadium holding a cleaver in his hand. He is the only Iron Chef to have held...

    , the only "Iron Chef Chinese
    Chinese cuisine
    Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...

    " in the syndicated TV program Iron Chef
    Iron Chef
    is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1992, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient. The series ended...

  • Chen Kenmin
    Chen Kenmin
    Chen Kenmin was a Japanese chef of Chinese origin, also known as the father of Chen Kenichi, the Iron Chef Chinese on the television show Iron Chef....

    , father of the above and a prominent Chinese chef in Japan
  • Chen Lin
    Chen Lin
    Chen Lin may refer to:*Chen Lin , Chinese minister*Chen Lin , Chinese landscape painter*Chen Lin , Chinese general of the Ming Dynasty*Chen Lin , Chinese pop singer...

    , Naval general of Ming Dynasty
    Ming Dynasty
    The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

    . Commander-in-chief of the Battle of Noryang
  • Chen Lu
    Chen Lu
    Chen Lu is a Chinese figure skater. She is the 1994 and 1998 Olympic bronze medalist and the 1995 World Champion. Chen won the first ever Olympic medal in figure skating for China.- Amateur career :...

    , Figure Ice Skater
  • Ming W. Chin, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
  • Monica Chan 陳法蓉
    Monica Chan
    Monica Chan Fat-Yung is a Hong Kong actress/model. She won the Miss Hong Kong 1989 pageant.Before her acting days, Chan graduated from a high school in Canada & attended the University of Hawaii...

    , Hong Kong actress. Winner of Miss Hong Kong 1989
  • Moses Chan
    Moses Chan
    Moses Chan Ho is an award-winning actor from Hong Kong. Having started his career working mostly on films, Chan has gained remarkable success in recent years while concentrating on his TV acting career with Television Broadcasts Limited...

    , Hong Kong actor and model
  • Patrick Chan
    Patrick Chan
    Patrick Chan is a Canadian figure skater.He is the 2011 World Champion, 2010–2011 Grand Prix Final champion, the 2009 Four Continents champion, the 2009 and 2010 World silver medalist, the 2007 World Junior silver medalist and a four-time Canadian Champion.At the 2010 Canadian Championships, he...

    , Canadian figure skater
  • Chin Peng
    Chin Peng
    Chin Peng, former OBE , was born Ong Boon Hua in Sitiawan, and was a long-time leader of the Malayan Communist Party...

    , Long-time leader of now disbanded Malayan Communist Party
    Malayan Communist Party
    The Malayan Communist Party , officially known as the Communist Party of Malaya , was founded in 1930 and laid down its arms in 1989. It is most famous for its role in the Malayan Emergency.-Formation:...

  • Peter Chan, the only "Chan" listed on the Vietnam War Memorial. He served on the U.S. aircraft carrier .
  • Peter P. Chen, a computer scientist, inventor of the Entity-Relationship Model
  • Priscilla Chan
    Priscilla Chan
    Priscilla Chan Wai-han is a female Cantopop singer in Hong Kong.-Background:Chan has a younger brother and sister. Her father is a retired senior officer of Hong Kong Immigration Service. She attended Marymount Secondary School in Happy Valley, Hong Kong...

    , Hong Kong singer
  • Robert Chen
    Robert Chen
    Robert Chen is a Taiwanese-born violinist who currently serves as the Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Violin at Roosevelt University...

    , violinist, Concertmaster
    Concertmaster
    The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...

     of Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...

  • Chen Shaoguo
    Chen Shaoguo
    Chen Shaoguo is a retired male race walker from PR China. He competed for his native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics.-Achievements:-References:*...

    , Chinese race walker
  • Chen Shi-zheng
    Chen Shi-zheng
    Chen Shi-Zheng 陳士爭 born in 1963 in Changsha, Hunan, China) is a New York-based theater director.Having earned a BA from the Hunan Art School in Traditional Opera, he received his MA from the Tisch School of Art at New York University...

    , Chinese opera performer
  • Chen Shui-bian
    Chen Shui-bian
    Chen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the 10th and 11th-term President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan...

    , first non-KMT President of the Republic of China
    President of the Republic of China
    The President of the Republic of China is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded on January 1, 1912, to govern all of China...

     (Taiwan)
  • Sisy Chen
    Sisy Chen
    Sisy Wen-hsien Chen is a Taiwanese politician and television commentator. She hosts Sisy's World News, a daily talk show at the KMT-owned China Television Corporation and UFO Dinner a daily radio talk show at the UFO Radio Station. She was an independent member of the Legislative Yuan from...

    , Taiwanese politician
  • Steve Chen, supercomputer designer
  • Steve Chen
    Steve Chen (YouTube)
    Steven Shih "Steve" Chen is a Chinese Taiwanese American and a co-founder and previous Chief Technology Officer of the popular video sharing website YouTube.- Early years and education :...

    , co-founder, YouTube
    YouTube
    YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

  • Tan Tin Boon (Chan Tin-Mun)
    Chen Tianwen
    Chen Tianwen is a Singaporean actor who made his debut in the 1984 show Youth . He stands 1.73m tall and weighs 67 kg...

    , Singaporean actor
  • Chen Tsyr-shiou, Chairman of Taiwan Province
    Taiwan Province
    Taiwan Province is one of the two administrative divisions referred to as provinces and is controlled by the Republic of China . The province covers approximately 73% of the territory controlled by the Republic of China...


  • Tze-Chung Chen
    Tze-Chung Chen
    Tze-Chung Chen is a Taiwanese professional golfer. In the U.S., he is often referred to as T.C. Chen. His older brother, Tze-Ming Chen, is also a professional golfer. In 1982, T.C. Chen became the first professional golfer from Taiwan to earn a PGA Tour card...

    , Taiwanese professional golfer
  • Vincy Chan
    Vincy Chan
    Vincy Chan is a Hong Kong cantopop singer. Before the handover of 1997 when Hong Kong was returned from Great Britain to China, her family left Hong Kong and went to Singapore when she was a child. She was signed by Emperor Entertainment Group, and debuted with the album Vincy on 27 July 2006.She...

    , Cantopop singer from Hong Kong
  • Vincent "Randy" Chin
    Vincent "Randy" Chin
    Vincent "Randy" Chin was a Jamaican record producer and label owner who ran the Randy's shop, recording studio, and record label, later moving to New York City and setting up the VP Records empire, now the world's largest independent label and distributor of Caribbean music in the...

    , founder of VP Records
  • Wing-tsit Chan
    Wing-tsit Chan
    Professor Wing-tsit Chan was one of the world's leading scholars of Chinese philosophy and religion, active in the United States....

    , a Chinese scholar
  • Chen Xiaoxu, the most famous Lin Daiyu
    Lin Daiyu
    Lin Daiyu is one of the principal characters of Cao Xueqin's classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. She is portrayed as a well-educated, intelligent and beautiful young woman. The romance between Daiyu and Jia Baoyu forms one of the main threads of the book...

     actress
  • Chen Yi
    Chen Yi (communist)
    Chen Yi was a Chinese communist military commander and politician. He served as the 2nd Mayor of Shanghai and the 2nd Foreign Minister of China.-Biography:Chen was born in Lezhi, near Chengdu, Sichuan, into a moderately wealthy magistrate's family....

    , Communist Party of China
    Communist Party of China
    The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

     military commander
  • Chen Yi
    Chen Yi (composer)
    Chen Yi is a Chinese composer of contemporary classical music. She was the first Chinese woman to receive a Master of Arts in music composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She is also a violinist....

    , composer
  • Chen Yi
    Chen Yi (Kuomintang)
    Chen Yi and later Gongqia , sobriquet Tuisu ; 1883 – June 18, 1950) was the Chief Executive and Garrison Commander of Taiwan after it was surrendered by Japan to the Republic of China, which acted on behalf of the Allied Powers, in 1945...

    , Chief executive of Taiwan Province
    Taiwan Province
    Taiwan Province is one of the two administrative divisions referred to as provinces and is controlled by the Republic of China . The province covers approximately 73% of the territory controlled by the Republic of China...

  • Chen Yonglin
    Chen Yonglin
    Chen Yonglin is a former Chinese diplomat who sparked fears of a diplomatic incident through his defection to Australia in the summer of 2005. The episode highlighted the tensions faced by China's trade partners when concerns arise from that nation's human rights record...

    , Chinese communist diplomat who defected to Australia
  • Chen Yu (badminton)
    Chen Yu (badminton)
    Chen Yu is a male badminton player from the People's Republic of China.-Career:Chen won men's singles at the Chinese National Championships in 2002 and 2003. On the international badminton circuit he won the 2006 Thailand Open by defeating two fellow countrymen , Chen Hong in the semifinals, and...

    , Chinese badminton player
  • Chen Yuanyuan
    Chen Yuanyuan
    Chen Yuanyuan , born Xing Yuan , lived near the end of the Ming Dynasty, and was a concubine of Wu Sangui. Her courtesy name was Wanfen . Her actual historical significance is disputed, although it is largely believed that Chen was pivotal in Wu Sangui's campaigns after the fall of the Ming. She...

    , concubine of Wu Sangui
    Wu Sangui
    Wu Sangui was a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644...

  • Chen Zhi
    Chen Zhi
    Chen Zhi is a Chinese guitar teacher and promoter, who is today known for the exceptionally high level that his classical guitar students reach...

    , classical guitarist
  • Chen Zhu
    Chen Zhu
    Chen Zhu , is a Chinese hematologist, molecular biologist, and current Minister of Health of P.R.China...

    , Minister of Health of the Chinese government
  • Shiing-Shen Chern
    Shiing-Shen Chern
    Shiing-Shen Chern was a Chinese American mathematician, one of the leaders in differential geometry of the twentieth century.-Early years in China:...

    , mathematician
  • Jin Sun-Yu
    Jin Sun-Yu
    Jin Sun-Yu is a South Korean short-track speed skater. She is a triple Olympic Champion from 2006 and a three-time Overall World Champion ....

    , South Korea
    South Korea
    The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

    n short-track speed skater
    Short track speed skating
    Short track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters skate on an oval ice track with a circumference of 111.12 m...

    .
  • Tan Kah Kee
    Tan Kah Kee
    Tan Kah Kee was a prominent businessman, community leader, and philanthropist in colonial Singapore, and a Communist leader in the People's Republic of China.- Early years :...

    , prominent businessman, community leader, and philanthropist in colonial Singapore and China.
  • Tony Tan Keng Yam, the current President of Singapore
    President of Singapore
    The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapore's head of state. In a Westminster parliamentary system, as which Singapore governs itself, the prime minister is the head of the government while the position of president is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was...

    , former Deputy Prime Minister
    Deputy Prime Minister
    A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...

     and Co-ordinating Minister for Security and Defence of Singapore
  • Tan Cheng Bock
    Tan Cheng Bock
    Tan Cheng Bock is a politician and physician from Singapore. Tan was a People's Action Party Member of Parliament in Singapore politics for 26 years and the first non cabinet minister elected into the People's Action Party Central Executive Committee .-Early life:Tan was educated at Radin Mas...

    , former Member of Parliament for Ayer Rajah SMC
  • Tan Cheng Lock
    Tan Cheng Lock
    Tun Dato Sri Sir Cheng-lock Tan, DPMJ, KBE was a Malaysian Chinese businessman and a key public figure who devoted his life to fighting for the rights and the social welfare of the Chinese community in Malaya...

    , Malaysian Chinese businessman and the founder of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA). An important figure during the independence of Malaya.
  • Lucio Tan
    Lucio Tan
    Lucio Tan is a prominent Chinese Filipino business magnate and is one of the most prominent business magnates in the Philippines...

    , Filipino-Chinese businessman. Owner of flag carrier
    Flag carrier
    A flag carrier is a transportation company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given country, enjoys preferential rights or privileges, accorded by the government, for international operations. It may be a state-run, state-owned or private but...

    , Philippine Airlines
    Philippine Airlines
    Philippine Airlines, Inc. operating as Philippine Airlines, is a flag carrier of the Philippines. Headquartered in the Philippine National Bank Financial Center in Pasay City, the airline was founded in 1941 and is the first and oldest commercial airline in Asia operating under its original name...

    .

Fictional characters with surname Chen

  • Charlie Chan
    Charlie Chan
    Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...

    , a fictional detective
  • Chen, a fictional character in the British science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf
  • Chan Ho-nam, the fictitious Hong Kong triad boss in the Young and Dangerous film series
  • Chen Jialuo, protagonist of the Wuxia novel The Book and the Sword
  • Simon Chen / Tan Peng Liang, a character in Ca Bau Kan, a roman by Remy Sylado
  • Detective Grace Chen, a central character in Martial Law
    Martial Law (TV series)
    Martial Law was a TV crime drama that ran on CBS from 1998 to 2000, and was created by Carlton Cuse. The title character, Sammo Law, portrayed by Sammo Hung, was a Chinese law officer and martial arts expert who came to Los Angeles in search of a colleague and remains in the US.The show was a...

  • Chen, the Holy Knight, a character in the Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
    Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
    Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a real time strategy computer game released by Blizzard Entertainment on July 3, 2002 . It is the second sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and it is the third game set in the Warcraft Universe...

    custom map Dota.
  • Chen Jin, Chinese badminton player
  • Chen Stormstout, a hero in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
    Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
    Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is a real-time strategy computer game developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Mac OS X by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the official expansion pack to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, requiring Reign of Chaos to play...

  • Chen Zhen, a fictional Chinese martial artist and culture hero

External links

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